W sitting - ways to correct?

nikinikinine

My kids are 1 next week. In the last month and a half Ryan has started w-sitting. He does it pretty much all the time. I will physically correct him, but everything I've read says to explain and correct or make them acknowledge the sitting and correct it themselves. These are clearly instructions for dealing with older kids.

Aside from readjusting him all the time is there anything I can do? I'm going to talk to our pedi about it at our 12 mo WBV too.

Is it bad no matter how young they are?

krissyh21

What it W sitting?

Edit - never mind, I googles. DS used to do this in his early stages, but I never thought of it to be a concern. He stopped doing it once he began walking.

srh08.05.06

I had one of my girls evaluated through EI somewhere around 13 months because she couldn't even pull up to stand at that point.  She sat in the w-sit all the time, which was because she had weak abdominal muscles.  They told me the best way to handle it was to say "big girl sit" and physcially correct her legs.  After doing this quite a few times, she finally put together what "big girl sit" meant and she would correct herself whenever I said it. 

My DD finally started pulling up around 13 1/2 months and walked between 15-16 months.  After awhile of correcting her, she stopped doing the w-sit and I rarely see her do it anymore.

keg

I don't have any great advice, although I will say that only recently, my girls have been telling me about W sitting so their current daycare class is making a big deal about it (mainly a 2 year old class).  They'll tell me who was W sitting and that their teacher said they should sit criss-cross-applesauce instead.  Under 1, I can't think of anything you really could do other than re-adjust.  It would likely be a good PT question (can't remember if there are any on this board).

PP:  W sitting is when you sit with your butt on your knees with your lower legs out to the sides (I hope I'm describing it right).  If I remember correctly, a PT friend said it wasn't preferred because it's not an active way to sit.  Often kids with low muscle tone prefer to sit this way (and a bunch of other kids if I believe what my girls are telling me :-)

missyjg

I'm an OT and this is what we have been told/learned. "w" sitting gives children a wider base of support and they feel more stable. It's been proven to be detremental in some children, especially children with low tone or bone/joint abnormalities. It stretches the hip ligaments which could cause increased mobility in that joint. It also can be linked to an anterior tilt of the pelvis (sitting back on tailbone) which isn't good for muscle development of the back and abdominal region. Over a long period of time research has also shown that it can be one of the causes for Femoral Anteversion (pigeon toes or knock knees). It is good alternative for a child to tailor sit (legs straight out in front of them), sit with legs spread out or "criss cross apple sauce" is what I tell children for changing moving from their "w" sit. At 1 years old, criss cross will probably be hard for them.

Just redirect back. Imitate and use the same saying every time, such as pp "big girl sit". B used to sit like this all the time. I just say "fix your legs" and she understands to go out of "w" sitting. I'm not saying she doesn't go right back to "w" sit but it's a work in progress:)

choco_lab

Interesting.  I never knew this was a no-no.

lovemymonkey

I seriously learn so much on the bump. lol. I had NO idea there was a name for that style of sitting and that it wasn't good for the baby to do it! Abbie sits like that all the time too and i thought it was cute! I guess I need to start having her sit "criss cross applesauce" style from now on!

sourpop

My brother always sat like this when he was little (there are so many pics of him like this) and he is totally fine. Actually, I remember my mom talking about it to her friends so I tried to make myself sit like that, lol.

 

ohiostategal

lovemymonkey:

I seriously learn so much on the bump. lol. I had NO idea there was a name for that style of sitting and that it wasn't good for the baby to do it! Abbie sits like that all the time too and i thought it was cute! I guess I need to start having her sit "criss cross applesauce" style from now on!

I was thinking the same thing! When I saw this post I thought maybe it was a type or something because I could not figure out what she was talking about!  Guess this is something else to look out for.

Mouseygail

ohiostategal:

lovemymonkey:

I seriously learn so much on the bump. lol. I had NO idea there was a name for that style of sitting and that it wasn't good for the baby to do it! Abbie sits like that all the time too and i thought it was cute! I guess I need to start having her sit "criss cross applesauce" style from now on!

I was thinking the same thing! When I saw this post I thought maybe it was a type or something because I could not figure out what she was talking about!  Guess this is something else to look out for.

  ha!  I had to google it too!  I have no idea if DS does this! 

howleyshell

I have nothing to offer but wanted to.tell you that I'm still working on this with Jace at age 4. It makes me nuts because we have a family history of knee joint issues and I really want to do anything possible to help him avoid them! Good luck.

nikinikinine

Sorry I had to post and run, breakfast was over! This is W sitting

  

missyjg:

I'm an OT and this is what we have been told/learned. "w" sitting gives children a wider base of support and they feel more stable. It's been proven to be detremental in some children, especially children with low tone or bone/joint abnormalities. It stretches the hip ligaments which could cause increased mobility in that joint. It also can be linked to an anterior tilt of the pelvis (sitting back on tailbone) which isn't good for muscle development of the back and abdominal region. Over a long period of time research has also shown that it can be one of the causes for Femoral Anteversion (pigeon toes or knock knees). It is good alternative for a child to tailor sit (legs straight out in front of them), sit with legs spread out or "criss cross apple sauce" is what I tell children for changing moving from their "w" sit. At 1 years old, criss cross will probably be hard for them.

Just redirect back. Imitate and use the same saying every time, such as pp "big girl sit". B used to sit like this all the time. I just say "fix your legs" and she understands to go out of "w" sitting. I'm not saying she doesn't go right back to "w" sit but it's a work in progress:)

Okay we'll start correcting this way. I'm glad to hear that your LO goes right back into a w sit. Because I feel like all I do is correct him, turn away for a few seconds and then look back to find him back in a W. It's exhausting.

He kind of crawls with his legs wider too, so this is his natural way to sit when he sits up from a crawl. I keep making excuses for him because he's a big kid (32" at 11 months), but really I know this shouldn't be happening...

nikinikinine

srh08.05.06:

I had one of my girls evaluated through EI somewhere around 13 months because she couldn't even pull up to stand at that point.  She sat in the w-sit all the time, which was because she had weak abdominal muscles.  They told me the best way to handle it was to say "big girl sit" and physcially correct her legs.  After doing this quite a few times, she finally put together what "big girl sit" meant and she would correct herself whenever I said it. 

My DD finally started pulling up around 13 1/2 months and walked between 15-16 months.  After awhile of correcting her, she stopped doing the w-sit and I rarely see her do it anymore.

Thank you for this suggestion!

Did they think that the sitting had something to do with her not pulling up? Ryan can pull up to standing just fine, and he can jump. But he's very stiff in the knees. When he does walk behind a walker he looks like Frankenstein. As long as he's on carpet he can move slow enough to actually "walk" but it's this weird exaggerated leg thing where his leg swing outward. If he hits the hardwoods or the tile and the walker picks up any speed he usually takes one step, eats it and then it looks like the walker is dragging him while he holds on from the floor.

We've joked for a while that he needs baby yoga, but he really is very tight in his joints.  

crystalgirl

I could be totally off-base, but I really think this is something overblown. EVERY baby sits that way. Most will stop doing it on their own without any need to "correct" them. DS1 certainly sat that way plenty as he was learning to move around but stopped without a moment's notice from us. DS2 does it, too. I would not worry until it became a real habit over the age of maybe two.

(If I'm being totally honest, *I* sat that way well into elementary school. No one ever said not to. I found it to be the most comfortable position. In fact, in 2nd grade, we were all made to sit "criss cross," and I thought it was uncomfortable. But I did it, no problem, and that was that.) 

srh08.05.06

nikinikinine:

srh08.05.06:

I had one of my girls evaluated through EI somewhere around 13 months because she couldn't even pull up to stand at that point.  She sat in the w-sit all the time, which was because she had weak abdominal muscles.  They told me the best way to handle it was to say "big girl sit" and physcially correct her legs.  After doing this quite a few times, she finally put together what "big girl sit" meant and she would correct herself whenever I said it. 

My DD finally started pulling up around 13 1/2 months and walked between 15-16 months.  After awhile of correcting her, she stopped doing the w-sit and I rarely see her do it anymore.

Thank you for this suggestion!

Did they think that the sitting had something to do with her not pulling up? Ryan can pull up to standing just fine, and he can jump. But he's very stiff in the knees. When he does walk behind a walker he looks like Frankenstein. As long as he's on carpet he can move slow enough to actually "walk" but it's this weird exaggerated leg thing where his leg swing outward. If he hits the hardwoods or the tile and the walker picks up any speed he usually takes one step, eats it and then it looks like the walker is dragging him while he holds on from the floor.

We've joked for a while that he needs baby yoga, but he really is very tight in his joints.  

Sorry, I had to LOL picturing the Frankenstein walk!  That's good your DS is already taking steps with the walker though - that's way ahead of when my DD was able to.

Thinking back, I believe EI actually came right around 13 1/2 months or just after when my DD started to pull up.  I had called awhile prior, but it takes them forever to actually come out.  When they evaluated her, they thought her muscle tone was a bit more weak than her sister's.  I don't think they said the w-sit caused it, but moreso that because of her weaker muscles, she preferred to sit in the w because it's easier (she didn't have to use her ab muscles as much to sit that way).  So that is one reason they advised me to correct her anytime she sat that way - it was beneficial for her to sit in a way that would use more muscle.  My other DD who hit all her physical milestones right on time has never sat in the w-sit (at least not that I've seen!)

At that point, since she was pulling up, they focused a lot of their evaluation on her form.  They watched her pull up, cruise for a step or two, etc.  She ended up not qualifiying for therapy because they said she had good form.  They actually said they would be more concerned about a child who was walking at that age with bad form vs. my DD who was not walking but had good form in what she could do.  They just gave me some advice on what might help get her moving more and build up her strength.

I'm sure your DS is fine but you could definitely mention the tight joints to your pedi just to see if they think it's worth getting checked out.