Optimal Spine Development

If you have been following my blog for a while you will remember that I wrote a post about infant movement readiness and our decision not to put Caleb into a fixed or sitting position until he could get there on his own. We desire to help his spine develop without the awful complications we both have (multiple forms of scoliosis and a hard right lean). Well, the hard work has paid off and we now have a completely mobile and capable little sitter. He is incredible agile, strong, and moves with such ease and strength. His posture is perfect, his core is ridiculously strong, and his upper body strength is a little bit terrifying. Curious how we helped him become a baby beast? Want to know the secret for helping a kid develop proper movement patterns and a healthy spine? Read on my friends.

What most parents do:
Most parents these days have loads of contraptions that put their children into a fixed position and limit mobility. Baby swings, bumbos, play saucers, highchairs, playpens, and even cribs are just a few of these contraptions that provide no additional benefit to the child's development and were created for the parent's convenience. In addition parents bring their infant carseat everywhere and their child is essentially in a fixed position for hours, which accounts for the rising rates of plagiocephaly. Another growing trend is parents propping their infants into a sitting position to "help them learn to sit" or to even purchase an item that claims it will help their child learn to sit.  This is mostly driven my parents thinking that their child "should" be sitting around 6 months. This is actually false and it wasn't until recently that this misconception arose. When my mom was parenting us she remembers, "Oh we knew not to put you into a sitting position until you were 6 months old because you couldn't support yourself. You don't hold a kid into a sitting position if they are going to fall over".  This wisdom has been lost!

The problem:
When your baby is placed in a sitting position before she is ready, this puts the entire weight of her head on her spine. When the spine and surrounding muscles have not developed the strength to properly support this weight, it can lead to the risk of spinal degeneration or issues with the surrounding organs.  Baby contraptions that limit movement are a big setback for infant development. Combined with parents "helping" their children sit, muscle imbalances arise and neurological pathways are formed differently for movement patterns. The main problems associated with putting a child in a fixed sitting position before they are ready are spinal development, sacrum development, and core development. Our shoulders are supposed to be the first weight-bearing joint in our bodies, not our hips. There is a very sequential way in which the infant's spine develops all of the curvatures we see present in adults. They are born with a "C" shaped spine and grow into an "S" shaped spine. Changing the order in which these curves develop may be detrimental to spinal health. The sacrum is not meant to bear weight until the ligaments and muscles surrounding it can support the weight of the baby's head and torso stacked on top of it. Core development is crucial to sitting and walking stability. When babies develop the skill of rolling before sitting they are practicing the twisting and pulling their core will need to get into and out of a sitting position with ease. When a parent "teaches" a child to sit by placing them into a sitting position before they can roll the child is more likely to fall over and injure themselves because they do not have the core strength to "fall gracefully".

Don't  be a sloucher! This baby is too young to have the full weight of their head stacked on her spine

The solution:
Be different starting with not putting your child into a sitting position! It might be hard to ditch all of the contraptions at first (especially the crib) but you can start with babywearing instead of carring your child in the carseat around town. This will help their vestibular system and core develop as you walk, move, and bend over with them on your chest or back. Understanding infant spinal development will help you make the best decisions for your child! Below is a great visual for the steps of spinal development. 

The pelvis and sacrum are not ready to bear weight until the spine have developed the lumbar curve (usually around the time they crawl)

"C' shaped at birth 

Cervical curve develops during tummy time 

Lumbar curve develops during crawling, sacrum begins to tuck

What we did:
-Lots and lots of tummy time (pretty much every time he was put down he was on his tummy)
-Provide non-battery operated engaging toys for movement motivation (place just out of his reach)
-Our carseat stayed in the car and we babywear when we are out of the home
-Limit stroller time to a few hours a week
-No bumbo sitting ever
-No highchair sitting until independent sitting is demonstrated (we didn't do solids until 7.5-8 months)
-No saucers
-Regular chiro adjustments
-No placing him into a sitting position by propping him up 
-Communicated with out Church staff and the YMCA staff that watch Caleb to NOT put him into a sitting position. I even made a card for them to quick reference on his backpack.

The benefit:
It was quite beautiful to watch Caleb learn how to get into a sitting position all on his own. It was pure perfection. We didn't have to do a single thing to help him learn what to do. It was so fun to see all of his hard work on his tummy finally pay off. Right before he started crawling and sitting he had been rolling all 4 ways for a few months and had started to be able to rotate/pivot on his tummy to do a full 360. He was rocking on all four limbs but would only move forward an inch or two when he lunged forward.  He started kicking out one of his legs when he was on all fours to a kickstand position. One day he kicked that leg out and then pushed with the other quad to go into a downward dog position! I was shocked and amazed. Later that day he went into his kickstand position and was rocking on his stable leg. His but touched the ground and he slowly walked his hands up to his crotch. He was sitting! The very next day he started army crawling. It was so fast and furious. Within three days of the downward dog incident he was getting himself into a sitting position, army crawling, and going into downward dog. His sitting position was stable and didn't need a spotter after 4-5 days (he would try to go from sitting to army-crawling and would lose his balance for a few days before he mastered it). Two weeks later he started crawling on all fours. Here we are one month after that first downward dog and now Caleb is a speed crawler, sits with the best posture in the whole wide world, and can move between sitting and crawling with ease. He amazes me. I had no idea how much fun it would be to sit back and watch his movement patterns develop without my interventions. The pictures below document his spinal development and gross-motor development from birth to 9 months! 

4 weeks old. Holding head up for 3-5 seconds

3 months- holding head up for 5-10 minutes

3 months- shoulders bearing weight 

4 months- shoulders bearing weight for 30 minutes

4.5 months-trying to push up

7 months- rolling over, playing with toys in supine for many hours a day

7 months-pushing up in supine 

7 months- practicing with friends

7 months- pivoting in supine

7 months- rocking on hands and knees

7 months- kickstand one leg out, trying to sit back when on hands and knees

8 months- downward dog

8 months- pushing back from hands and knees into sitting

8.5 months- stable sitting, army crawling, moving from floor to sitting with ease

9 months- crawling on hands and knees, sitting, and apparently throwing balls got thrown in there too 

9 months- crab crawling (1 foot flat on ground while pushing, a rare way of crawling) 

9.5 months, sitting, crawling, playing with toys at mid line, twisting, falling without injury, trying to crawl on top of pillows 

Further reading: 
From C to S: How to Nurture Your Baby's Spine Development 
Beware the Bumbo Seat- MamaOT