W-Sitting and its effects
Have you noticed your toddler W-sitting?
W-sitting is when a child sits on the floor with their knees bent, and instead of sitting on top of their heels, their feet are either side of their bum. Standing directly in front of them and looking over them from above, it looks like their legs are making the letter W. Although this is most common in ages 18 months - 4 years, it can start earlier and persist into primary school.
The angle of the hips while a child sits like this is such that it’s a bit like screwing the hip joint in very tight, and leads to motor patterns of tightness in the local muscles.
These tight muscles might include the hamstrings, hip adductors, and as far as the achilles tendon down by the heel. This can lead to “pigeon toe” walking, difficulty maintaining balance, altered foot arches, and will likely even affect the pelvic floor and bladder control over time.
Sitting in the W position also affects some ligaments that are super important for stable hip joints, and the lower back and pelvis. Prolonged W-sitting as a habit may lead to back instability as they grow, which develops into pain as they hit puberty and adulthood.
Hip dysplasia
Although W-sitting is unlikely to be enough to cause dysplasia by itself, if your child has hip dysplasia already, it’s extra important that they aren’t allowed to W-sit. This is because it’s precisely the position of the hip joint that makes hip dysplasia significantly worse, and can begin to affect the growth plate of the thigh bone, altering the shape of the hip joint and how your child weight bears through their hips for the rest of their life.
How can they sit safely?
It’s much better for the hips if they sit either directly on top of their heels, with their legs crossed or with their legs stretched out in front of them.
There’s no need to panic if you see your little one W-sitting very occasionally for just a minute or two. W-sitting is only a real problem when it’s a regular habit that’s starting to create motor patterns. The more a child W-sits, the more comfortable it feels, and so the more likely they are to choose W-sitting as a position. So it’s important to try to stop them developing the habit if you can, and to immediately take them to an Osteopath if you feel it’s already a habit. When I treat a child for W-sitting and its consequences, I check all the way from toes to upper back, to see if there’s a primary cause and to treat the whole. I will often treat right from head to toe to gently unwind the patterns that have both led to, and resulted from, your child’s tendency to W-sit.
Book Online with Dr Anna Brown
W-sitting
Pediatric Osteopath Warrnambool
Hip treatment children
Walking with toes turned in children
