Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For some reason we have used our baby "devices" a lot less with #2 than with #1 (you'd think we'd be the opposite, but I hated looking at that stuff and gave it back/gave it away/donated it/sold it), and he has been earlier on all of this stuff than his brother. Granted he is also smaller and in a daycare center vs. a home (he spends all day on the floor), but if he has spent much time in rockers, bouncers, walkers, etc., maybe it's slowed him down just a little bit. We also didn't swaddle #2 (didn't need to), and he was rolling and flipping earlier also.

I am not saying don't use these things as a practice, but I think for some kids, just having a chance to practice this stuff is all they need. Don't put him in a sitting position without him doing it himself and see if that helps.

Still sounds within the range of normal, though.

OP here. The only devices we use are the car seat when driving, stroller for walks, and the highchair for mealtimes. Never used anything else and we spend as much time in the floor as possible.

You're on the right track, OP. Keep doing what you're doing.

When my daughter was 5 months old, we started what turned out to be a parenting class on how to support a child's physical development. I thought it was a baby gym class before we started, lol. Anyway, I found out in the class that sitting and hands & knees crawling go hand in hand and will often happen one after the other. This was the case with DD; she started sitting up independently just two days after starting to hands & knees crawl. I encouraged her to crawl through different exercises (also learned in that class), but not sit. Since your baby is still army crawling, I would guess he is not ready to sit independently. I also was told in that class to not put DD into the sitting position because she's not ready to sit until doing so on her own. The reality is that sometimes parents myself included will want to have their baby sitting for one reason or another, but I think the point is to do it sparingly because it doesn't benefit the child. I would sometimes have DD sit before she started doing so independently and in hindsight, I see how much less comfortable she looked before she began to do it on her own.

I think there are two elements to a baby reaching their milestones: the physical strength to do so and something mentally "clicking" for them and there are exercises you can do with your baby for both. You can find baby core strengthening exercises on Youtube. DD was physically strong, but not one of those babies who was eager to learn new things physically, she was super duper mellow. I did exercises with her, such as putting toys on an elevated surface, have her play in the kneeling position as well as across my leg (so lower body on one side of my leg, upper body on the other side), all so she would get used to the feeling of having her upper body elevated. I truly believe these exercises helped her to crawl sooner than she would have given how mellow she was. Having said that, your baby needs to be physically ready to do any kind of exercise so if he looks physically uncomfortable, stop and try maybe a week or two later.

OP again, meant to add that I'll try not putting him into a seated position and see if that makes a difference.

Anonymous wrote:For some reason we have used our baby "devices" a lot less with #2 than with #1 (you'd think we'd be the opposite, but I hated looking at that stuff and gave it back/gave it away/donated it/sold it), and he has been earlier on all of this stuff than his brother. Granted he is also smaller and in a daycare center vs. a home (he spends all day on the floor), but if he has spent much time in rockers, bouncers, walkers, etc., maybe it's slowed him down just a little bit. We also didn't swaddle #2 (didn't need to), and he was rolling and flipping earlier also.

I am not saying don't use these things as a practice, but I think for some kids, just having a chance to practice this stuff is all they need. Don't put him in a sitting position without him doing it himself and see if that helps.

Still sounds within the range of normal, though.

OP here. The only devices we use are the car seat when driving, stroller for walks, and the highchair for mealtimes. Never used anything else and we spend as much time in the floor as possible.

For some reason we have used our baby "devices" a lot less with #2 than with #1 (you'd think we'd be the opposite, but I hated looking at that stuff and gave it back/gave it away/donated it/sold it), and he has been earlier on all of this stuff than his brother. Granted he is also smaller and in a daycare center vs. a home (he spends all day on the floor), but if he has spent much time in rockers, bouncers, walkers, etc., maybe it's slowed him down just a little bit. We also didn't swaddle #2 (didn't need to), and he was rolling and flipping earlier also.

I am not saying don't use these things as a practice, but I think for some kids, just having a chance to practice this stuff is all they need. Don't put him in a sitting position without him doing it himself and see if that helps.

Still sounds within the range of normal, though.