Second Child Syndrome

When Johnny was 7 1/2 months old, he was pulling up to stand and cruising around in his crib. By 8 months, he was crawling, and he walked at 10.

Maureen will be 8 months old on Sunday, and she still isn't sitting unsupported. I know I should take my own advice and not compare my kids, but sometimes it's really hard not to. What To Expect The First Year says that the range for sitting can be anywhere from 5 months to 9, and my instinct told me Maureen is fine, but I emailed our pediatrician just to check. She emailed me back and said that she was a little concerned and wanted to examine her to check her muscle tone. She suspected she may have something called benign hypotonia of infancy, a condition in which otherwise normal babies meet their motor milestones late, and thought she might need some physical therapy to get her going.

We took her for an exam this evening.

She's fine. She can't sit unsupported, but she's actually sitting better than she was when I made the appointment two days ago. She has more muscle tone than the doctor thought, and she has protective reflexes (if she starts to tilt over, she puts her arms out) and she can hold herself up with her arms.

She's still on the small side, at 15 1/2 pounds, which is tenth percentile, and the doctor suggested supplementing with formula since my milk supply seems to be dropping. I didn't really want to give her formula, and she still isn't taking a bottle or a cup, so I guess I'll have to mix it with cereal. I also just started giving her yogurt, which I had been holding off on because I was afraid she might be allergic to milk too, so maybe the high fat dairy items will help her pick up some weight. I so wanted to nurse her to a year, at least, and I feel like my body has betrayed me yet again, but that's another topic.

If she's not sitting by the time she is 9 months old, then the doctor will refer us to a specialist, but at this point, she feels like it's a case of second child syndrome, because she spends so much less time on the floor then Johnny did. Rambunctious toddlers and babies on floors don't mix. Since she also gets less one-on-one time than Johnny did, I tend to hold her a lot too, because I feel guilty if she spends to much time strapped into a bouncy seat or sequestered in her crib.

My instinct said she was OK, but it's nice to know the doctor thinks she is OK too.