{"id":16890,"date":"2025-02-19T04:17:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-19T03:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/?p=16890"},"modified":"2025-02-25T04:21:35","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T03:21:35","slug":"3-the-truth-about-sitting-in-w-sitting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/3-the-truth-about-sitting-in-w-sitting\/","title":{"rendered":"3. The truth about sitting in W-sitting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>&nbsp;[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>Oh my! So much fuss about this sitting posture!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s bring some order and clarity\u2014maybe it will help you understand this pattern,<br \/>\nits benefits, and its risks. And along the way, it might even improve your communication with doctors.<\/p>\n<p>The reality is that when <strong>spontaneous sitting<\/strong> emerges in a baby (around <strong>9 months<\/strong>), they have different options.<br \/>\n(<strong>Note:<\/strong> I\u2019m not talking about propping a baby up in a sitting position on the floor at <strong>5 months<\/strong> if they can hold their torso, nor about <strong>lap sitting<\/strong>, which is a wonderful earlier stage.)<\/p>\n<h3><strong>What do I mean by \u201coptions\u201d?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The baby can sit in at least <strong>four different ways<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bi-ischial sitting<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Mermaid position<\/strong> (one leg in external rotation, the other in internal rotation, allowing for quick transition to crawling\u2014very dynamic)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Half-kneeling position<\/strong> (with one foot supported)<\/li>\n<li><strong>W-sitting<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Each of these <strong>has its own advantages<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>mermaid position<\/strong> allows a quick shift into <strong>quadruped<\/strong>, making it highly <strong>dynamic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>W-sitting<\/strong>, on the other hand, <strong>provides a lot of trunk stability<\/strong>. By lowering the center of gravity, it stabilizes the <strong>pelvis and trunk<\/strong>, which in turn can lead to <strong>better hand function<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s why <strong>it\u2019s an ideal position for stacking blocks or playing with hands<\/strong>, especially when <strong>precision<\/strong> is required.<\/p>\n<p>For this reason, <strong>children with hypotonia or certain stability difficulties tend to choose this position more often<\/strong>.<br \/>\nBut that\u2019s <strong>not a problem\u2014it actually gives them an advantage<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Interesting, right? Seeing it as a problem or an advantage?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, it&#8217;s a <strong>very anterointernal pattern<\/strong>. <strong>So what?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does it cause hip problems?<\/strong><br \/>\nNo, I don\u2019t think so.<br \/>\nIt certainly <strong>doesn\u2019t cause dysplasia<\/strong>. A <strong>recent systematic review<\/strong> on the topic confirms this. You can find it <strong>here<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Will it prevent proper femoral anteversion maturation?<\/strong><br \/>\nMaybe\u2026 but only <strong>if<\/strong> there hasn\u2019t been enough time spent in <strong>prone position with extension and contralateral patterns<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If the baby has spent enough time in prone,<\/li>\n<li>If there is enough muscle tone,<\/li>\n<li>If <strong>physiological posture and movement patterns<\/strong> are present,<br \/>\nThen <strong>everything will be fine<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Remember that <strong>this sitting position has great advantages for fine motor development<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Try sitting on the floor with your legs stretched out and no support\u2014you\u2019ll see how difficult it is to <strong>play cards or build towers<\/strong> that way.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>So, what&#8217;s the real issue?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>If there is one, it would be that the child <strong>doesn\u2019t have any other sitting options<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>W-sitting doesn\u2019t allow for easy weight shifting or pelvic dissociation<\/strong>, so it&#8217;s not very helpful for developing locomotion.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s not its purpose.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Let\u2019s stop demonizing it so much!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>That said, <strong>do encourage other types of sitting<\/strong> that allow for <strong>side exits and transitions to quadruped<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>And how do you do this?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>That\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Hugs!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>See you on the journey!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>P.S.<\/strong> If you want to learn more about <strong>baby motor development and its connection to cognition<\/strong>, check out the book:<br \/>\n<strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ces1jC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">&#8220;Trastornos del Neurodesarrollo,&#8221;<\/a><\/em><\/strong> published by <strong>Elsevier<\/strong> recently.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Fresh off the press!<\/strong><br \/>\nThis book is going to be <strong>a game-changer!<\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Oh my! So much fuss about this sitting posture! Let\u2019s bring some order and clarity\u2014maybe it will help you understand this pattern, its benefits, and its risks. And along the way, it might even improve your communication with doctors. The reality is that when spontaneous sitting emerges in a baby (around 9 months), they have different options. (Note: I\u2019m not talking about propping a baby up in a sitting position on the floor at 5 months if they can hold their torso, nor about lap sitting, which is a wonderful earlier stage.) What do I mean by \u201coptions\u201d? The baby can sit in at least four different ways: Bi-ischial sitting Mermaid position (one leg in external rotation, the other in internal rotation, allowing for quick transition to crawling\u2014very dynamic) Half-kneeling position (with one foot supported) W-sitting Each of these has its own advantages. The mermaid position allows a quick shift into quadruped, making it highly dynamic. W-sitting, on the other hand, provides a lot of trunk stability. By lowering the center of gravity, it stabilizes the pelvis and trunk, which in turn can lead to better hand function. That\u2019s why it\u2019s an ideal position for stacking blocks or playing with [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":320,"featured_media":16893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16890"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16947,"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16890\/revisions\/16947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmpi-pimt.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}