Not sitting up at 7 months

My boys are 7 months and not sitting up on their own. If I'm sitting behind them I can let go for about 10 seconds but that's it. I try to practice but DS1 is so squirmy when I sit him up he just leans over and grabs for my legs. I'm not too worried yet but wondering what is normal, how I can help them and if other's LO's took awhile to sit up independently. Any tips, advice or reassurance is appreciated. Thanks!

 

I think it has a lot to do with personality. My oldest didn't sit until close to 8 months but he was crawling before he was 6 months old. My girls were the opposite; sitting at 5/5.5 months and crawling at 8.5 and 9.5 months. DS was/is a MOVER and couldn't be bothered sitting still. Are they doing other things they find more interesting than sitting?

 

Mine didn't sit up until 9 months! They didn't seem to be able to get it until they learned to crawl, and in the space of a week they were crawling, sitting and pulling themselves up to stand. Mention it to the ped at their next checkup so they can check to see their muscle tone, but I would guess that there's nothing really wrong, just more that they're not interested in sitting yet

 

They love playing on their stomach's. I'm curious, does "sitting independently" mean they can put themselves in a sitting position or they can sit by themselves if someone puts them that way? Either one, they can't do. I don't know if it has to do with them being small. They are just finally starting to pick up on their weight gain now that I've started supplementing and solids 3x a day... both at 14/14.5 pounds.

 

I wouldn't worry about it. All kids are different. I want to think my first was about 7mos when he sat up himself. He did great with support but didn't do it all by himself until 7mos. He sat himself up, crawled, cruised, and walked all within a month.

I once heard of a kid that could walk but couldn't stand without holding on to anything. As long as she was moving she was fine. If she stopped mid-way through the room she would just fall over because she couldn't hold her balance. So point is kids are strange in the way they develop!

 

Were they premature? Even though they weren't, I'd not worry yet.if they can sit with their hand push on the floor to support themselves, its still considered sit without support IMO...

My twins were 32w1d. My son could sit wo support at 5.5 months. We never thought my daughter could. But at 6 months check up, doc asked just let her do it. And she did it. But she didn't like to sit at all. She wasn't patient enough. She liked moving around a lot. She got up on her hands knees, crawled before she could sit without her hand support. I started worried and at xmas. She did it. She sat here watched tom and jerry for freaking long time. A week later, she sat and played with her toys....my son likes hitting milestones on time. She likes to do it her own way.

Another ex: she started talking so early around 3 months. But after 6.5 months until 2 weeks ago, she didn't say a word. At 9 month check up, the twins passed all the tests with high scores. But her social score was low. We concerned about her communication skills. But the doc said she was just 7 months adjusted. So she wouldn't worry now. Guess what 2 hours later, when she was playing in their play room. I sat next to her and said 'baby say something. Mommys worried about you' she started talking talking 'baba,dada,ahhhh,..' And she is very talkative now.
I think your kids are just fine.get 2 bumbo seats, let them sit and play in those.

 

Mine aren't quite there yet but I think it will be any day now. We've been practicing. Maybe you can try working with them during play and making it fun. One of my boys really loves to try and sit up when he can be eye level looking at us, and not on the floor. I hold on to his hands the entire time and stand in front of him but he really sits up tall and smiles if he is on the changing table, counter, or just about anywhere other than the floor. They also do pretty well sitting up in the boppy on the floor. If they start to lose balance and fall over the boppy cushions them.

 

Shera,

I have to tell you, every time I read updates on what your little men are doing it always makes me look at my girls who are just 2 weeks younger and think "whoa I hope you two are okay" they seem so much more advanced then my girls! Were your boys term?

 

I started to quote you for a reply but clicked that little vote icon on the bottom right instead. I'm not sure what it means but I guess I voted for you! LOL

My boys were 33 weeks, 6 days, so just about the same as your girls. I have to say though that they are changing so fast and doing so many new things just in the last 2 or 3 weeks. They would roll over on occasion before, but now they do it whenever they want, every time they play on their tummies. They are much more dextrous with their hands and playing with their toys. They're babbling all the time, making singing noises, talking to themselves instead of crying when they wake up in the morning. They're making effort to pull themselves in a sitting position and can sit unassisted for a shor time if there is a boppy or a hand or something to hold on to to help them with balance. I'm sure your girls are doing great. I watched their rolling over videos and thought they looked fantastic. This just seems to be an age when they do tons of new stuff. I really can't believe how quickly it's happening.

 

I wouldn't worry too much.
I had started to worry about mine at around the same age as they wouldn't sit independently either. Not long after though they were.
All babies are different, but it can be hard not to worry when it seems like everyone else's baby is doing more.

I sometimes thought that maybe the fact they were twins was part of it as maybe I didn't have as much time to physically sit and practise with them. (I have 2 older children).

Buuuuuuuuut......
now that they are sitting it's great as they can often keep themselves amused looking and playing alot more than when they were on their belly.