When do they start to sit up on their own? And is it ok to help them sit up?

Earl loves...and I mean loves...to sit up. Strictly he's far too young to be sat up for very long at all, and while he can hold his head well he's still a bit wobbly for a Bumbo for any longer than 1 minute. He tries to sit himself up (You can see his tummy tense and his arms lift forward a little) and can lift his head up a little when lying which is great. I let him do this quite a lot (we do wriggle time a lot each day to strengthen his arm - he was born with a palsy in it and it's still catching up a little) but as you can imagine he gets frustrated.

I'm a bit worried as I seem to spend a lot of time with him propped up with pillows or sat up on my lap. It's not that he has reflux or anything as he will happily sleep on his back, but he wants to see what's going on!

Am I going to be doing any damage by sitting him up like this? He also sits well in his bouncy chair and in his pushchair so I suppose it's not much different but I don't want to do any damage.He will go on your shoulder but has his back straight and rarely puts his chin on your shoulder now. He's a strong little boy really.

Thanks

I would say let him. Izzy was like that too, and always wanted to sit up when she was on my lap. We have only just got her a bumbo, so u r right to hold off on that. I think we have two very nosey babies that have got sick of looking at the ceiling!!! lol.

I'm not sure - but my LO has always liked to be upright too... we don't use a pram, we use a sling which also keeps her in an upright position. It doesn't seem to have done her any harm... ?

She doesn't stay in her car seat or bouncy chair long though - she doesn't really like them. I rarely use the bumbo - not sure why I just don't. She likes to be sat in front of us, on our knees, propped with a pillow or two... and like your LO she has always had her back straight when on our shoulder unless asleep.

Thanks both.

We use a carrier most of the time, but with the ice at the moment I'm reluctant to use it and have brought the pram in. We had to convert it though as he has grown out of the pram and seems ok in the pushchair....we've only used it twice so far.

I think it's probably a case of 'everything in moderation'. As long as where possible I prop him up rather than asking him to hold himself unless he wants to. He is simply happier when sat up and a right nosey monkey! lol

I would guess it's ok. When I brought LO to the docs at his 2 month checkup, he laid him down and took hold of his hands to sit him up. I went to try and support his head and the doc said "no don't, I want to see his neck and head control". After seeing it was ok to do, I play with LO and sit him up everyday now. He's getting so much stronger since the first time in the docs office.

My LO is like this too. He loves to sit up, but is perfectly fine to lay on his back also. If I have him proped up with some pillows I can grab a hold of his hands and he will tense his stomach muscles and pull himslef up. His head and neck control is very good, Still wobbly at times, but good. I assume it is ok. From what I have read it can not hurt they backs in anyway, if anything is makes there back muscles strong as they try to sit up.

I do this to Earl as it makes him grin from ear to ear! lol

Aiden's the same! I'm not gonna hold him back from developing just cos the books or hvs say he shouldn't x

My LO was the same. I used to put him in his Bumbo from about 11 weeks or so... for as long as he would tolerate it. His head would wobble a bit, but I let it. He would let me know when he was too tired of it as he would fuss. (Usually about 5 minutes at the start). I think it actually helped him improve his neck strength faster.

My LO started sitting up on his own in the tripod position for short stints at about 4.5 months. He's getting better and doing it for longer all the time now. But now he would rather practice standing! It seems he always wants to be on to the next! I don't see a problem with it and encourage him to do whatever he feels he is ready to try.

Adi will sit straight up with just a hand on his back to steady him. I let him, because he can, and he prefers it most of the time. Sometimes he prefers to lay down. So I lay him down. Sometimes he wants a slight incline. I prop him on a pillow.

SOMETIMES he wants to stand for a few moments and pushes off of me with his feet and legs. I let him FOR A FEW MOMENTS then I sit him back down.

We have strong, amazing little men. I plan to let him develop at his pace, even if he's fast, lol