As long ago as early last year, I started hearing that sitting in this "W" position could pose problems for very young children. I heard that kids who do so often walk late (which, at 14 months, I guess Jack did) and that it was bad for the knees. But I'd heard "bad for the knees" my entire life. I used to sit in this position all the time as a child, and I have perfect knees (KNOCK WOOD). I just dismissed these concerns with the fact that I'm extremely flexible and Jack probably got that from me.
But now I learn that this W position really is bad for a number of (knee unrelated) reasons. It is indicative of low muscle tone. Children often sit this way because they don't have enough muscle to provide their own internal stability, so they need a more elaborate base to provide it for them. But allowing them to do this means they are putting more weight on their ligaments, rather than their muscles, bones, and joints. This in turn affects how the muscles, bones, and joints develop, as well as how they integrate sensory information.
All of this may help explain why Jack gets so overwhelmed in situations where they're are a lot of babies or unknown children (i.e., unpredictable entities). The thought is that he isn't entirely comfortable in his own body, because he's not exactly sure where he is in the physical world, where he ends and others begin. Which is why he freaks out when he feels others are invading his personal space.
The long and the short of it is that we need to train Jack to not sit in this position. Ideally he would sit Indian-style instead, but right now we're just focusing on having him have his feet out in front of him. It's proving challenging, because he automatically flops down into the W every time he sits down, but he does seem to be responding pretty quickly to our efforts. So I'm confident we can kick this Dubya out of office very soon.
Yes, we can. :)
2 comments:
Yes we can!
You know, I remember sitting like this as a child. I cannot recall, however, why I stopped. I don't think I have ever been considered or labeled low muscle tone, but I am (or used to be) pretty flexible. So, so interesting. I had no idea there was so much to read-into about *how* a child sits.
No worries Jack, it looks like you are in good company. Janis, just read your last e-mail and I will respond at greater length soon, hopefully tomorrow!
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