[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df7v27kyU6g&list=FL-6e8S9V_pq5n2SyKzxq6qg&index=1&feature=plpp_video[/youtube]
Every mother is very proud to see her baby sit up for the first time. She knows that the baby is eager to see more of the world around her and to use her hands to play with toys. Both of these activities are possible when babies learn to sit up. However, sometimes parents rush this process and put baby in the sitting positon when they are too young. A baby that is only three or four months old is too young to sit up. It takes time to develop the strength in the muscles which maintain the sitting posture, and a baby put into this position too soon will sit with a curved back. This is because she has not developed the necessary strength in her muscles and bones to sit upright. Also, baby needs to figure out how to get into the sitting on her own so she can get out of it when she needs to. This requires learning to shift her weight so she can organize her pelvis and legs in a pattern that allows her to lift her torso and head upright.
There are many possible configurations of the legs and pelvis for this milestone. We see yet another way to get into the sitting position in the above video from she1nke1t’s youtube channel. This baby girl moves from the 4-point crawling positon into sitting simply by going straight backward and keeping her legs under her. Eventually her legs form the butterfly position. This is a feat of baby coordination! She is proud of herself! She uses her newly freed arms to give herself some applause. When parents put the baby in the sitting positon too soon, babies do not get to experience the incredible job that comes with discovering a milestone on one’s own. This motor skill may take awhile to develop as many babies do not learn it until they are 6 or 7 months old. What a joy it is for them when they discover it on their own!