Hi! That’s great that he’s crawling! Yes, w-sitting often happens when they push straight back. I like to teach kids to go in what I call the diagonal so they are incorporating hip and trunk rotation. Here’s an instagram post I did about it. With regards to the slouching it is typical but we would like to see them coming upright as well. Some things you can do are to work on side sitting and to also have toys at slightly higher heights. The higher heights encourages reaching up which helps to decrease the slouch. Using toys that have a vertical surface or are multi leveled are great ways, or put things on a stool or box or laundry basket. You can also do reaching games where you are encouraging reaching. Hope that gives you some ideas!
Hi @Mandy217, welcome! Yes to everything @Starfishtherapies mentioned! We do want to see movement in all planes so we want to encourage diagonal and rotational movements. Is he able to get into the traditional sitting position from crawling or does he always push back into the W sit?
Also, if he’s lying on his back, how does he get up into the sitting position?
Thank you both! These are great ideas.
To answer your questions @tots-mary, he does get into traditional sitting from crawling about 30% of the time. He gets up from his back by rolling to his side and pushing up into sitting or rolling to belly and then up into crawling.
@Starfishtherapies I tried the toys on a step stool yesterday and it worked well. I had to get the right height because if it was too high he just stood instead. Once I got the right height he enjoyed it and sat much straighter. Thank you both!
Yay! And yes you discovered the ‘just right’ challenge! That’s a constant game we play as PT’s! Keep us posted! And try to work in side sitting if you can!
Is slouched sitting always a sign of low tone or is it common in kids with normal tone? My son is 17 months and slouched quite a bit when sitting.