A week, two, a month passes, but the child is in no hurry to please mom and dad with his successes.
Alarmed parents ask their friends and find out that their child has been settling into the world for a long time.
These stories happen all the time; adults begin to hurry up the little one.
Why can’t this be done, especially when it comes to sitting down for the first time?
Main differences in development
It is a well-known fact that girls develop faster than boys.
On average, boys are delayed by about 3-4 weeks, sometimes even several months, although boys are heavier and taller at birth.
However, not only physiological, but also other features are important.
- First of all , of course, the physiological development of girls affects the age at which they can sit down. The skeletal system in female infants is more fragile, and it strengthens much more slowly than in boys. In addition, the muscular system of girls is weaker: this persists throughout life, because, as is known, men have more muscle, and women have more adipose tissue.
- Features of emotional perception. Girls are more sensitive to emotions; they need a lot of affection, tenderness, and warm words even in infancy. If parents are not gentle with their daughter, try to communicate with her as with an adult, and pay little attention, the girl may simply not be ready to take the next step in development.
- Psychological nuances. When parents are in a hurry to raise a child, to quickly teach the baby to walk, crawl, sit, she may experience psychological fear of demanding parents. So, the harder and harder the parents try to force their daughter to sit down, the more afraid she will be of this.
REFERENCE! Another important aspect is the individual characteristics of the child. If a girl has a calm temperament, is slow, and lazy, then she will comprehend new stages of development later than other children.
The main differences in the development of girls
In most cases, girls develop slightly faster than boys, this is a well-known fact. In the first year of life, a girl may be 4-5 weeks ahead of a boy in development, but such a difference is not necessary. Even at birth they are more developed. This is explained by the need for a high level of survival among the female sex in order to prolong the race.
Girls typically experience earlier head holding, rolling over, sitting, and crawling, and they often learn to walk and talk more quickly. However, such an advance in development compared to the male sex does not give them any special privileges or, on the contrary, contraindications regarding the time of planting.
What month is the best time to start?
According to pediatricians, girls should not be seated before 6 months of age. This may negatively affect the condition of the spine in the future.
But there is one caveat: if the child himself makes attempts to take a sitting position, you can carefully facilitate this.
As a rule, especially playful and active children begin to settle into the world a little earlier, and this is absolutely normal.
However, one must rely not on statistical data, because the norm in the matter of children’s development is always conditional, but on the personal desire of the child.
On the day when the baby was congratulated on 6 months of life, you should not stand over her and demand that she sit down. The child should try to sit down when he wants to. Even if at 6.5-7 months the girl does not try to sit up, there is no need to sound the alarm.
If parents begin to panic at 6 months and try to teach the girl to sit up in every possible way, they will only achieve stubbornness, whims and fear.
Most girls sit unsteadily at six months, leaning on their side. There are exceptions when the child not only sits straight on his butt, but also tries to reach for toys or tries to stand up.
At 7 months, female infants can sit without support from their arms.
After a month, girls can already take a sitting position from any position and do not get tired for a long time. But remember that these are averages.
Why girls under 6 months should not be imprisoned
Due to early planting, girls may experience health difficulties in the future. According to pediatricians, you should not force your baby to do this action. It is important to help her when she herself begins to make attempts to assume a vertical position. Moreover, the later this happens, the better it will affect your health in the future. Naturally, when the child sits up on his own, nothing can be done about it.
If parents, due to inexperience, begin to drop off their daughter earlier than expected, this is fraught with:
- an incorrectly formed spine, since it is not yet prepared for the load;
- deformation of the bone structure of the pelvis;
- poor posture;
- bending of the uterus;
- mental disorder due to fear of a new position;
- scoliosis.
Recommendations for parents
Let's consider the advice of doctors on the issue of planting a child:
- There is no need to put your baby in pillows, as this will prevent him from changing position.
- For preventive purposes, you need to massage your baby's back and buttocks. You can do this yourself or invite a massage therapist to your home.
- Once your baby reaches 8 months of age, you can sit him on your lap.
In some cases, the baby is not ready for a new position on a psychological level. When artificially planted, he may develop a feeling of fear and uncertainty. This is why children under 6 months should not be seated.
Why is it dangerous to place babies on their bottoms early?
If parents are really worried that their child is not trying to sit down, they should see a doctor.
He will assess the condition of the musculoskeletal and muscular system and come to the conclusion: is the unpreparedness of sitting due to physiological disorders or developmental characteristics?
If no pathologies are detected, the pediatrician makes recommendations on whether the child should be dropped off or whether it should wait a little longer.
Parents who decide for themselves when to try to nurse their daughter can cause irreparable harm to her health, both physiological and psychological.
- Firstly, the spine may be damaged. If it has not yet formed to the point where the girl can sit down, all sorts of bends and distortions are inevitable.
- Secondly, you will give the girl an ugly posture.
- Thirdly, curvature of the pelvic bones is possible. Sometimes they are minor and do not cause any discomfort, but more often they lead to problems during pregnancy and childbirth.
REFERENCE! It is widely believed that early implantation provokes uterine flexion. It has now been scientifically proven that this opinion is wrong.
Finally, dropping a girl off early against her wishes will also affect her psychological characteristics in the future. She may be unsure of herself, fear her parents, or, on the contrary, become capricious and stubborn and strive to do everything out of spite.
Gender doesn't matter
No matter how old your child is, this will not affect the ability to have offspring. Previously, it was believed that premature placement of a girl leads to a bend of the uterus, which makes it difficult for a woman to become pregnant.
Today it has been proven that this phenomenon has nothing to do with the age at which a girl sits. This structure of the reproductive organs occurs with a genetic predisposition, or is a consequence of the inflammatory process.
Thematic material:
- At what months can boys be started?
- Child development by month up to 1 year
- How to teach a baby to sit at 6 months
But! Children who start sitting too early risk developing problems with the spine and curvature of the pelvic bones.
How to make the process safe?
If the doctor has confirmed that there are no disturbances in the development of the baby’s skeletal, muscular and nervous systems, you can gradually guide the girl to sit down.
- Establish emotional contact with your child. Hug and kiss the girl more often, praise, give compliments, talk about love, stroke her head. Be as gentle as possible with your child so that he can trust you.
- Provide a safe place. It should be a flat, soft surface, for example, a lined blanket, mattress or blanket in a spacious room. You can’t sit a girl down on a table or on a sofa—the feeling of heights can cause fear. Provide sufficient light. You can turn on fun music and play with different toys with your baby first.
- Adjust to your daughter's mood. A sleepy, hungry, tearful girl will not learn to sit.
- Encourage, but don't force. Give your child a massage, have your child swim in a circle, do special exercises and don’t forget to praise and encourage.
Exercises that are good for your child's back
- Place the baby on his back. Grab it by the handles (or let your fingers grab it) and gently, slowly lift it into a semi-sitting position. Do not make sudden movements, do not try to immediately seat the child. His back should only rise a few centimeters above the surface.
- Do the same exercise from a lying position on your stomach so that your back arches slightly. The adult must stand in front of the child so that he can see him.
- Place your baby on his stomach and stand behind him. Let him rest his feet on your stomach. Support your baby under your chest with one hand and place the other between your legs. Slowly and carefully lift the child above the surface, hold for a few seconds and lower down. Repeat several times.
- This exercise is suitable for babies who can already crawl. Place your baby on his stomach on the floor. In front of him, at a short distance, place a bright toy, maybe several. The child will become interested and crawl towards the toy and, if he is lucky, when he takes it in his hand, he will involuntarily sit down.
- Fitball exercises. Place the baby on a large inflatable ball, holding it on all sides, and let it fidget and move its arms and legs.
- Place your baby on his stomach with his legs facing you. Let him grab onto your fingers. Make movements with your hands so that his shoulders are raised and his shoulder blades are brought together (forward, upward, towards the table, along a semicircle trajectory).
What can harm?
First of all, this is the desire to imprison the child before he himself wants it.
IMPORTANT! Do not overdo it with gymnastics and massage. The child should exercise for 5-7 minutes.
You can also cause harm by using jumpers, which negatively affect the formation of the child’s bone system.
Artificial support is also undesirable: pillows and bolsters placed under the child’s back create additional stress on the spine.
Doctor Komarovsky's opinion
The famous doctor Evgeny Komarovsky also spoke on the topic of girls sitting down. His opinion can be summarized briefly:
- A child should not sit down when other children sit down or when his parents want him to sit down.
- Sitting is not good for a baby. The later the child takes a vertical position, the healthier and straighter his back will be.
- If the child tried to sit up for the first time, albeit awkwardly, and no longer tries to do this, then it is too early. There is no need to guard him and, at the slightest hint of a sitting position, surround him with pillows.
- Encourage crawling rather than sitting. Place your baby on his stomach with a large, bright ball in front of him. Let the child crawl after him.
- Don’t listen to your neighbors and friends who boast that their child can sit up at 4 months. Each baby has individuality and uniqueness, and if one sits at 4 months and the other at 8 months, none of them is better or worse.
- If the child is healthy, he will crawl, walk and sit down when he wants to.
Parents wait for babies to walk, crawl and sit, and when an adult son or daughter graduates from school, mom and dad sigh with tears in their eyes - “how quickly children grow!” Do not force your child to grow up ahead of time, do not try to adhere to any norms.
The parents’ task is to monitor the child’s health, and if the pediatrician concludes that the baby does not have any health problems, just wait until the child considers it necessary to take one or another step.
General strengthening exercises for the back muscles of an infant
To help the child master this skill, the mother can:
- take the baby by the arms (he should grab your finger) lying on a hard surface on his back and begin to pull him towards you. This procedure can be started from the age of three months, after the child has learned to hold his head. Gradually it is necessary to increase the angle at which you lift his body and the duration of this procedure. Thanks to this exercise, the abdominal muscles develop;
- rock the baby on the fitball and at the same time bend and unbend his legs;
- make him turn over as follows : lay the baby on his stomach - he will begin to raise his head, then gradually learn to roll over from his stomach to his back;
- put a bright and interesting toy near him so that he has a desire to reach for it. Thanks to these procedures, the muscular system is strengthened;
- Give him a daily massage yourself. By rubbing the skin, blood flow to the baby’s muscular system will increase, which will help relax his muscles and improve tactile perception;
- put the child on all fours and rock back and forth;
- put him on his stomach, and rest his legs against himself. Then begin to gradually lift the child, while holding the baby’s legs and chest. You need to hold it in this position for a few seconds, and then you can lower it.
All these and a lot of other exercises help strengthen the abdominal muscles and spine and acquire the skill of sitting.
With paratrophy (excess body weight) and with prematurity, this skill is acquired later in most children. If you consult a pediatrician in a timely manner and with correctly prescribed preventive manipulations, the baby will not lag behind in development.
