Thursday, October 8, 2009

W-sitting

I've titled this photo "perseverance."

perseverance

Our greatest glory is not in never failing,
but in rising up every time we fail.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Until about three months ago, I had never heard of W-sitting. When we picked Hannah up nine and a half months ago in Taiwan (she was 11 months old, 8 months adjusted age) she was great at standing and pulling to a stand, but not so hot of a sitter. She preferred to sit in a W or hurdle style (modified W with one leg out front), but was more often in the hurdle style. It gave her better support and allowed her to tip over less frequently. I thought it looked kinda funny, but didn't think much of it until our pediatric nurse practitioner brought it to our attention three months ago. Hannah was held during most appointments, so they didn't get to see her sit. I don't even remember anyone asking me about how she usually sat... that is until she started showing walking delays.

Today, our physical therapist's assessment is that Hannah has underdeveloped oblique muscles due in part do to W and hurdle sitting. W sitting allows children to sit in a stable position without having to think about balance.

I did a quick google search and came across these two articles on W-sitting.
Just Say No to W-Sitting
What's Wrong with W-Sitting

The way she explained it is that if your oblique muscles are weak, you have a hard time learning to balance on one foot. If you can't balance on one foot, you walk with you knees held stiff.

Our assignments are to correct the W and hurdle sitting with the command "fix your legs" to encourage Hannah to sit Indian-style or with her legs straight out, practice sitting on a ball, and practice walking up and down Kevin's Wii Fit step.

Shoes. Sigh. Or as Hannah says, "Shoezzzzz!" Our physical therapist doesn't like most of Hannah's shoes. Most are soft sole Robeez or Pedipeds. Sob sob! I love those Pedipeds, and I thought I was being a good mama by buying soft soled shoes so she could feel the floor. Guess that's just not what's right for her. She says that Hannah needs shoes that have a lot of heel support and a flexible sole. These OshKosh shoes from Target had a flexible sole and some heel support. The physical therapist's favorite shoes from Hannah's shoe basket were Stride Rite hand-me-downs we bought from Lora and Allie that look kinda like this, but are still a little too big for Hannah.

I'm reading through the service report from today. "Hannah was a little reluctant to participate in activities requiring hand on facilitation." That's okay, baby. I don't like strange ladies putting their hands all over me and dissing my shoes, either. Hopefully she'll warm up to the physical therapist a little more next week.

Three day weekend! Ahhh!

15 comments:

  1. I'm glad you finally got to meet with the Physical Therapist. Thanks for sharing. I had never heard of the W sitting. I wouldn't have thought much about that before.

    Good luck with your homework!!
    Andrea

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  2. Fascinating. I had never heard of W sitting, either.

    Good for you for fighting so hard to get your little girl the services she needs to take her physical development to the next level. You go, Momma Bear!

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  3. I had never heard of this until this week, either. THIS is one of the biggest assets of having professionals consult with you. It opens your eyes so you know better what you should be expecting. You and Kevin are doing a great job!

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  4. Glad the PT is working with your little one.

    Fred Toenges- on Hobson Road- off of State Street has great Stride Right shoes for little ones.

    My Pipsqueak has narrow feet and SR are all she could wear at Hannah's age.

    Kikilia

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  5. Kilika, We were there TODAY and got a pair of white athletic baby shoes. Thanks!

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  6. yep, I was gonna tell ya about Fred Toenges!!! Our pediatrician told us right off, no Pedipeds or other soft soled shoes, he recommended Stride Right. Braylen was a bit delayed in walking too, that's how we got that info! Never heard of W sitting--I learned something! Thanks for sharing :)

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  7. Wow! News to me! I remember being told not to sit like that when I was little, but didn't think anything of it. It made me wonder about how my kids sit, and then I realized that they never, ever do.

    What a surprise about the shoes too! Happy shopping for new ones I guess!

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  8. Wow! Never heard of that. I will pray that its a habit easily broken. Hannah is just beautiful and so full of light!
    Hugs
    Susan
    http://livinlifeoutloud.blogspot.com/

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  9. ME NEITHER! We just went to Milana's assessment and she not only does the W but so does Jadyn... now we are full in the sing-songy correction of Cross Legs!!! Milana does it only because Jadyn does it and Jadyn does it only because Milana does it. Funny. Stride Rite's are awesome shoes. I didn't know that about the soft soled shoes either. I thought best was no shoes at all. You know which other shoes have good sole support, some of the Carter's... they even have baby air-soles! AW!

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  10. You are great for educating others on W-sitting!!

    Sorry to hear about the shoes. . .what about See Kai Run or Primigi, will those earn the approval of the therapist?! LOL

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  11. Tiff, Oooh. I'd never heard of those brands before. I checked out the See Kai Run website. Very cute! Hard to know how supportive they are around the ankle and flexing their sole without seeing them in person. This weekend I'm eBaying for some Stride Rites that I saw in store at $50 a pop... bidding on them gently used for $10.

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  12. Hsin does the W too...and the hurdle. We have to break her of it too...but it isn't going well. She is 14 months (12 adjusted) and is not walking yet...but thinking about it :-)

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  13. My 11 year old was a W sitter when she first came home from China. Today she plays soccer and is a runner. In addition to correcting the sitting position, the PT who worked with my daughter from about age 11 to 14 months had me do a lot of work on encouraging my daughter to reach for toys across the midline; the W sit encouraged her only to reach for things that were right in front of her. We also enrolled in Gymboree class to practice good balance. The results of the PT's and my efforts were quick and effective, and yours will be too.

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  14. I had never heard of W sitting either!! Thanks for sharing this. That is the cutest picture of her, BTW!!

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