8 month old doesn't like to bend?

My almost 8 month old HATES to bend. When you try to sit him down he is like a board. When you try to get him out of the highchair he goes straight and its really hard to get him out. With trying to crawl he won't move just his knees. He can get on his knees with them bent but once he trys to move they go straight and he ends up on hands and feet. Now he is pulling up on stuff and I've noticed that when he falls he just goes straight back landing on his head. Doesn't even try to bend to land on his butt like most babies including his brother. I also noticed today that he WILL NOT bend his knees when we hold his hands to walk. His legs are locked and he just moves them forward and they end up tangling around each other because of the way he swings them forward.

I know a lot of babies will "straighten" out a lot, he just seems to do it A LOT more than I have ever seen another baby do. Is this something to worry about? Will he grow out of it? How soon? He "can" bend and doesn't seem to be in any pain when he does, he just refuses to on any occasion possible. He almost falls off our laps stretching into a straight postition when he is sitting on us. And to me it seems to be getting more frequent and not like he is in anyway growing out of it. My husband gets so frustrated with him all the time. It litteraly takes two hands to put him anywhere that requires his arms, legs, or body to bend.

Thanks

 

I would address it with your Ped at your 9 months appt. He or she should be able to put you at ease.

 

I can only give you my experience with my dd, Lia, so please take it with a grain of salt. First, did he have any issues at birth? I don't know if your babies were premature or if there were any significant issues.

Lia sustained brain damage as a result of TTTS and not receiving enough oxygen in utero. She does the same thing you're talking about but she does it all of the time. We started PT right after the New Year and she is now trying to crawl and will bend her legs when doing so, but usually stiffens. She doesn't pull herself up on anything...she doesn't do much of anything, actually--she's kinda lazy :lol: However, she is improving with therapy. Her team believes that the hypertonicity in her lower extremities resulted from the damage to her brain, but that's due to a number of factors, not just the stiffening. She also has multiple postures, which makes them think it's more neuro than anything else.

With that being said, they also said that some premature babies develop the same issue (without the posturing) and improve with therapy, and go on to lead average lives. That's why I asked if they were preemies. If I were you, I would either call your pediatrician and/or an early intervention service in your area. If he does in fact require therapy, the earlier the better (Lia was about the same age as your DS when she started PT but she's been in EI since about 4 months).

Above all else, if it doesn't seem right to you then investigate it. If you don't like the answer your ped gives you, get a second opinion. Call EI, get an evaluation (it's usually free). GL and keep us posted

 

I agree with pp's. If it's something you are concerned about, I would definitely bring it up with your doctor. It's probably nothing & he/she should be able to reassure you.