5 Reasons Why Sitting in the W Position is Bad & How to Stop W Sitting

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Why W Sitting Is Bad 

1. Bad Posture

"W" sitting rounds the back and makes it impossible for your child to sit up straight.

Bad posture will affect

• how they move,
• how they see, and
• how they transition to different positions. 

2. Effects vision

"W" sitting creates tunnel vision. 

Tunnel vision is the loss of peripheral vision. 

When vision is affected the way your child moves and develops will also be affected. 

• Does your child look awkward in their movements?
• Does your child have a short attention span?
• Has your child been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD?
• Does your child struggle with eye contact? 

 Movement Lesson™ has spent over a decade correlating poor vision with poor milestone development. 

With over 30,000 hours of evaluating clients, Michelle, founder of Movement Lesson™, has decided not to ignore this crucial piece of information that vision does indeed affect movement development. 

When you improve vision, you improve movement, attention span, and a child's confidence to learn and explore. 

3. Less Movement

While in W sitting your child is not in neutral. What does this mean? 

This means that the pelvis is stuck and your child can not freely move around with ease.

A suck pelvis means that a child has limited upper body rotation,  which causes delays in movement and milestone development.

Note how difficult it is for your child to perform tasks that involve both hands. 

You can already see how your child's hand coordination development has been hindered.

More than likely your child has difficulty with or can't side sit and just struggles in general with sitting even when not W sitting. 

One way to tell if your child struggles with sitting, in general, is to have them sit with their feet in front of them

Do the feet curl in?

If so please note that this is their balance, and it's another sign to you that the pelvis is locked up.

If you free up the pelvis then the feet can relax and your child can begin to move around more freely. 

When the pelvis is in neutral a child will be able to easily go in and out of side sitting

Ask yourself, have you ever seen your child side sit?

Watch this video for 30 seconds to better understand neutrality and side sitting. 

(video starts a 4:30 stop at 5:02)

4. Tight Muscles

 In W sitting, the hips, abs, and leg muscles will become tight which negatively affects their coordination, balance, and the development of gross motor skills. 

(Watch the full video above where Michelle talks about why a child can't side it and learn more about how tight muscles affect coordination, balance, development of gross motor skills.) 

5. Blows Out Knees

In W sitting put all their support on their legs and knees, which can cause their pelvis to be stuck. In the long run, they can damage their knees.

Things to Remember

• Remember, they are sitting this way because they feel comfortable, stable, and safe in the “W” position.
• Rather than simply changing the way they sit, help them feel that they can be safe in a different way. 
• Don’t just put them on long sitting or crisscross but use a towel or pillow as a prop. 
• Placing a pillow under the pelvis will give your child stability and safety while letting them be comfortable. Does your child prefer to “W” sit? Is “W” sitting more comfortable?