Sitting

How your child sits can be important

How your child sits while playing will help them develop balance skills. These skills are important for when a child starts school and is learning to read and write.

• High kneeling – could be while playing on a low table or a sofa.
• Sitting with their legs out straight in front of them – a tray over their legs can encourage this.
• Sitting cross-legged.
• Side sitting is also good and if the child is using their arm to prop themselves encourage them to do this on either side while playing.
  

Do not encourage children to sit between their legs, with their bottoms on the floor and legs beside them. This is often referred to as ‘W’ sitting because that is the kind of shape the body makes. Sitting like this means that a child has such a wide base on the floor that they do not need to develop balance skills which they will need in life, for example when they start school and are sitting at tables to learn activities such as drawing and writing. Not being well balanced at a desk means it is harder to write.

How your child sits is important in helping them develop skills

This position is often called as W sitting because the child sits in between their legs which forms the shape of a letter W.

Sitting like this does not help your child to develop their balance skills as they don’t have to work their muscles to keep sitting upright.

Also sitting this way for a long time can affect their ligaments and joints.

Encouraging your child to sit on a variety of positions when playing will help to develop their skills and help make them ready for school.

Reproduced with kind permission by Jill Steward, Occupational Therapist, Surestart, Stoke North.