Hello,
Two related topics here.
Could Esther or another instructor show us how to install a baby for bottle feeding with good posture? Breastfeeding has so many possibilities for natural posture. Bottle feeding, not so much!
I put my six-month-old son across my lap, not facing away from me. I hold him with my left arm; my upper arm supports his neck/shoulder area, and I try to stretch his spine so that his pelvis is healthy. However, when I feel his upper back, his spine is always curved/jutting out. I can find absolutely NO way to fix it.
I think this is also related to his general sitting posture problem. He cannot sit without support, and with support his sitting is bad. When I hold him normally, with his chest against mine, upright vertically, his pelvis is well aligned (his upper back still curves though!). But anytime he tries to sit with support, whether on my leg (if he sits up straight from the bottle feeding position), in a high chair (which I've only put him in a couple times), or anywhere else, he tucks his pelvis horribly. And his upper spine juts out.
In my opinion he has these problems as a result of spending hours for his naps in an ErgoBaby until he was 3.5 months old. In the carrier, his pelvis was tucked and upper back curved. And now I think that bottle feeding since that time is continuing the problem.
Esther Gokhale said that we have to plant their pelvises well. That isn't work at all for us. Does it need to be on a very firm surface? She also wrote to hold his pelvis in an anteverted position for a minute or so to "reset" the muscles. I do this, but as I wrote, his pelvis is already fine in that position, and at any rate I haven't seen this help at all with his sitting issue. :-(
They say that in order to start solids, your baby must be able to sit well without support. From a Gokhale perspective, if your baby sits badly with support, does that mean he's not ready, or is it just a matter of him being carried badly? When he's in his high chair, he leans/falls forward. Otherwise, he's always had strong neck muscles.
Thanks for your help, from a broken-hearted mother!
1 month 3 weeks ago
09/11/2011 - 5:14pm
Hello
He is long bodied from tall parents. He did a week road trip in scar seat at 11months old.
When I sit and apply firm support in his lumbar he leans back into it - with almost a pushing force!
I would be so grateful if you could recommend some sources for his parents to go to for help with this budding issue.
Thank you ever so much!
Sincerely,
Rain Ackerman
4 min 58 sec ago
09/10/2008 - 8:36pm
Hi Rain,
When parents bring their babies / young children for me to show them how to guide on healthy posture, I often see this kind of habit of retroverting the pelvis. It takes quite a lot of determination / chasing after, and a surprisingly firm hold on the pelvis to get a child to change their habit. I also recommend using a small stool / chair / bench, as the child's glutes may have gotten a little short (this can be reversed, but more easily on a chair than on the floor).
Good luck!
4 min 58 sec ago
09/10/2008 - 8:36pm
Hi KGeorget,
I wish I could be more helpful but this really merits an in-person consultation. One part of your description that is concerning is your description of him "falling forward." I am hesitant to advise on this without seeing and working hands-on with the child.
Yes, a firm base is helpful for planting the pelvis on, but arms can shape a young child just fine. And bottle feeding is not more complex than breastfeeding in my experience. If some part of your child's spine protrudes, it needs to be well understood if this is genetic, learned, postural, structural,... before embarking in some direction.
Keep in mind that lots of improvement is almost always possible, so no reason to despair. But you do need to invest in gathering knowledge. Have you taken our course? I recommend that as a starting point.
Best of luck!
4 years 12 months ago
08/01/2014 - 12:23pm
Thank you, Esther. Yes, I have taken the course!
We finally came to a decision about a play mat: my husband prepared a wooden board, layered a couple towels on it, and topped it with an organic mattress cover. My son has been on this for some days and already his upper spine is so much improved. It seems that our habit of putting him on an old bed (not firm) was not evenly supporting his spine.
In encouraging a baby to learn to sit, how should we place them? On the back, tummy, or actually on their pelvis? About him falling forward, if he's out of the high chair, he will fall sideways or backwards... I figured it was just his inability to hold himself up yet. Should I be aware of other causes?
I don't understand the difference between "learned, postural, structural," but you mentioned genetic, which surprises me. I didn't know that you considered that genetics play a notable role in posture. On my maternal side, nearly everyone has a sort of buffalo hump (including myself). I considered that it was learned by unconscious imitation.
4 min 58 sec ago
09/10/2008 - 8:36pm
Yes, sitting a baby for an extended time on a surface that is not firm (like most mattresses) does not work well. About preparing a baby for sitting, does it make sense to let the baby decide when he/she is ready (showing a desire to, and able to without falling)? In Africa, they use a "mold" that is a tub with lots of blankets, etc.to help support - there's no possibility of falling in this arrangement. I'm not familiar with any other traditional way of accelerating a a baby's ability to sit and in these matters, I'm a traditionalist.
4 years 12 months ago
08/01/2014 - 12:23pm
Hello again Esther,
My son is now almost 9 months old, and about a week ago he was still not sitting up without support. We had stopped placing him in a sitting position (apart from during feedings) because we thought that it would continue training his tendency to round his back and tuck. In the last month, when retried occasionally, he had a new strange tendency to become rigid and fall backwards.
We took him to a kinesiotherapist specialized in children, and she sat him up (I was amazed at how well he sat for her, and she barely seemed to be supporting him!) and did some stretches at his pelvis/thigh area. When we came home we sat him up, and he remained sitting for rather long periods before falling backwards/sideways. So I think what she did helped.
However, he is still rounding his lower back some, which concerns me, naturally. I asked her about this and she said that they still have "the right" to do so. I asked when does this "right" end. She responded that "some stop at 7 months old, others around 9-10." I suppose she would say that they should be brought to her if they persist afterwards.
Your thoughts?