Hi Aden’s now 8ths and has just found his legs at 7mths pushing on them when we hold his up. He still hardly ever will push with them. As well when I put him in his Bumboo he just folds in half. When I hold toys up in front of him he can hold him self up but not for very long.
What kind of things do you all give your baby’s when there in their bumboo’s to play with, to help them want to sit up??
Also what are some things I can do to encourage him to put weight on his legs?? He will kick at toys and activity gyms things like that but he want stand and put pressure on his legs.
Any idea’s how to help strengthen his middle for sitting up, he loves time on his tummy now so that’s good.
Please any help will be appreciated, thanks

When we started Talitha in her bumbo we just put her there for short periods of time at first because she did the same thing - fold in half. I would put her in and try and distract her to keep her head up. When she got cranky I would take her out. I put her in several times a day. Each time I tried to leave her in a little longer and eventually she could sit for around 20 minutes in her bumbo without getting cranky or folding.

To get Aden to weight bear on his legs try sitting on the floor with one leg out and sit him on it like you would on a horse but with his feet resting on the floor. Hold him as low on his trunk as you can so he uses his legs to help him balance. This also builds his tummy and back muscles.

Is Aden getting any physio? The physiotherapist is the one showing me what to do to help Talitha build strength. I had to hassle to get her though as the nearest EI services don't have a physio.

Thanks for that great idea (horse ride), I have been putting him in for about 2 mins holding toys up, but yeh he just gets too cranky. I will just try more often I think that’s were I’m going wrong thanks.

Yeh, no physio out here where we are. We have seen an OT and DSQ assessed us for services and have never heard from them again. I will ring around tomorrow, I better hey, there are a few in Mackay 350km drive but I’ll just have to do it I think.
Thanks for sharing what you have learnt. ckay about

We use to put Brock's bumbo under his activity gym - it was a gym that you could hang things from above his head. Maybe you could also try giving him extra support by putting the boppy pillow around him while he's sitting in the bumbo seat?

The tummy time is great and will help strengthen his mid section.

You could try an exersaucer for strengthening legs - or helping him to become comfortable with weight bearing on his legs.

He may not be ready for this yet, but the one thing we bought Charlie that made a world of difference in helping him to strengthen his trunk muscles for sitting was an "Excersaucer." I'm sure it would also encourage Aiden to push up with his legs.
--K

Is an excersaucer like a baby walker?

Natalie really seems to like the bumbo so we put her in it and put a toy bar (the same one they lay under) in front of her. ( like Jen said she did for Brock). She grabs the toys and puts them in her mouth. hahaha I think I have a pic. If you want it just let me know and I will get it on here.

We started putting her in it first thing in the morning when she had the most energy and only until she squawked to let us know she was done. At first it was only 2-3 minutes and she was VERY wobbly. Now she can play there by herself for up to 10 minutes or so and she sits steady as a rock. We also put her in a chair at the table (on the bumbo) so that she has to look up to see us. That works great! Just give him time and do it a little longer as he can tolerate it. What a cutie!!!

Thanks for all the idea’s it’s very helpful, very reassuring too. I will be away for a few week or two not sure if I will be able to log on, on another computer but will be reading. If you have the photo, I would love to see it, I think our baby gyms might be to low.
Thanks again.

Yep, and Excersaucer is like a baby walker without wheels. It has toys all around and allows the baby to rotate in the seat 360 degrees. I bet a walker would help in the exact same ways. We got Charlie his Excersaucer when he was 7 months old and could not sit without folding over. Now at 8 months he can sit upright for about 20-30 seconds. I just put him in for a little bit at a time until he was strong enough to stay in it for longer periods.
Here's a picture of the one we have:

Excellent thanks, we have a walker with lots of toys then wheels lock too. I just hadn’t thought to pull it out.
He's so cute I love the look on his face in your sig pic.

Here is the pic of her in her bumbo.




I am also attaching a pic of her in her jumper b/c she seemed to love it too. We just tried it for the first time this weekend. She was happy in this for about 10 minutes or so.

I'm sorry, I hate to hijack the thread but I was going to post asking if bumbo chairs are good for ds kids...apparently they are!

Good luck getting him to bear weight, everyone had great ideas!!

We also put Joey in front of his activity gym that way he can reach for the toys hanging from it. His PT and OT both thought this was a great idea to get him reaching for things.

Thanks everyone!!!!! How exciting he’s sitting up !!!!!!
Thank you all so much, we have been away and didn’t have the Bumboo with us, but every opportunity I had I had him sitting up in front of my with one of my hands across his tummy for support, soon as we got home I put him in and after a minute or two he did it. He just doesn’t flop in half at all, thanks heaps. I think I was just giving up too soon before thinking he wasn’t ready, but he was I just needed to encourage him.



Now he can sit up like the big boy he is and enjoy the world from a different view.
Ok I did have to buy a new toy as we had nothing that was high enough, for him to reach up to.



This is me trying to capture Aden feeding himself, then the battery went flat. I’m posting anyway so you can see how clever he is putting the spoon into his mouth.

Click to view video






Just for fun, Matthew with his cousin on holidays. We were at Mt Cootha the boys were in a photo both outside the restaurant. The boys were screaming the place down having the time of there lives, every time there sisters opened the Curtin. We over heard a young guy in his 20’s say to his mate “and you want kids” Oh lol it was so funny, we had lots of bad looks, but who cares your only young once.

Hope you enjoy, wish you could all hear the screeching

Ps how do I put up the video image with out everyone being able to view all my other photo's??????