It’s said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. True as this may be, before getting to their first step, sitting is one of the biggest milestones in your baby’s first year. This is an exciting milestone for your baby as it allows them to explore their world in a new way and gives them their first taste of mobility. Most babies will be able to sit by six months old with some assistance from you and then by propping themselves up with their hands. This development timeline varies from baby to baby, of course, but most babies will have mastered sitting independently between seven to nine months of age.

As a parent, the question is, how do you know when your baby is ready to sit? What signs should you look out for and what can you do to help your baby achieve this milestone? What role can a baby chair play in assisting with this milestone? In order to sit your baby needs to have good control of their head by around four months old. At this point, you can assist your baby by pulling at their hands gently to get them into the sitting position. You can also prop your baby up in a seated position by using pillows as support. You will have to keep an eye on your baby as they are prone to toppling over at this point. Also, keep an eye out for when your baby gets exhausted, as they are still learning to sit.

By six months old your baby will likely have developed their neck, trunk and back muscles, which allows them to sit up straight comfortably. At this age, your baby’s balance also improves drastically, which will assist them to move into the next milestone of crawling. At this stage of learning how to sit, practice makes perfect. You can help your baby get the practice they need with playtime. Have your baby in the sitting position and roll a ball towards them, balance them by holding and playing with their hands. Place a toy in front of your baby, slowly lifting it to their eye level. Your baby will reach for the toy to take it and play with it and naturally start getting into the seating position by themselves.

Once your baby is sitting by themselves baby chairs can help keep them stable. Sitting requires a lot of strength from your baby and most baby chairs provide extra support from straps and safety belts. The Bumbo® floor seat, for example, is perfect for infant seating support. It’s made from a moulded material that hugs around your baby’s body and offers a very comfortable seating position. The Bumbo® floor seat is a popular choice among parents and is appropriate for babies ages 3 to 12 months, or as soon as the baby can hold up their head. It’s also important that your baby isn’t entirely restricted in their baby chair. The Bumbo® floor seat is designed not to be totally restrictive. It comes with a durable 3-point safety harness to prevent wriggly babies from falling out.

You may want to wait until your baby is closer to reaching the sitting milestone to use a baby chair, though. Instead of propping your baby at three months old, consider waiting until sometime between six and eight months. Baby chairs help your baby with their sitting development but only when used responsibly and in conjunction with them practising sitting up using their own muscles as well.

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References:

https://www.parents.com/baby/development/physical/stages-of-sitting/

https://www.healthline.com/health/parenting/when-can-babies-sit-up#Baby-milestones:-Sitting