Nursery keeps correcting her. Should I say something?

You can, and it is reasonable to share what the evidence says without turning it into a confrontation. The advice is very widely repeated by people acting in good faith. What matters more than winning the point is that your child is not being singled out or made anxious about how she sits.

So I should never discourage it?

There is no evidence-based reason to prohibit it. Offering variety — sitting on a low stool, cross-legged, side-sitting during a story — is harmless and fine if you want to. Policing it is what the evidence does not support, and constant correction has its own cost in a three-year-old.

What if they only ever sit that way?

That is the version worth mentioning at a check-up — not because the position is harmful, but because an inability to use other positions is a different observation from a preference for this one. Describe what you see rather than asking about W-sitting specifically.

How they grow · 3 min read

W-sitting, and whether it matters

Your child sits on the floor with their knees forward and their feet out to the sides, making a W. Someone — a relative, a nursery worker, an internet post — has told you to stop them.

The evidence does not support that advice, and it is worth knowing why before you spend the next two years correcting how your child sits.

Last updated August 20, 2026

What the research actually found

A 2025 systematic review in Acta Ortopedica Brasileira pulled together seven studies on W-sitting in childhood. Its conclusion is blunt: prohibiting W-sitting in children lacks evidence.

On the specific fear that gets repeated most — that it damages the hips — one of the included studies found no correlation between W-sitting and developmental dysplasia of the hip, which the authors note is compatible with what pediatric orthopedics sees clinically.

The other common claim is that it weakens the core by letting children avoid working for stability. The review found no significant difference in muscle activation across sitting positions, including W-sitting compared with the alternatives.

Their summary sentence is the one to keep: W-sitting fails to harm children's hips or development, and should thus face no restriction.

Why children do it

It is comfortable, and for some children it is the most comfortable option available.

The review notes that children aged three to six often prefer it, and links that to increased joint mobility and anteversion of the proximal femur — a normal variation in how the thigh bone is angled at that age, which makes this position sit easily for them.

It also gives a wide, stable base, which frees the hands for whatever they are actually doing. A child deep in a task tends to choose the position that costs them the least attention.

The narrower thing worth watching

None of the above means never look. It means the sitting position is the wrong thing to be looking at.

What is worth raising with your doctor is a child who cannot use other positions at all, rather than one who simply prefers this one. Also: pain, legs that seem stiff or floppy, a noticeable difference between the two sides, or being behind on walking, running or climbing.

Those are questions about how the child moves overall. The floor-sitting shape is a symptom people can see, which is why it gets the attention — but it is not the finding.

Common questions

Nursery keeps correcting her. Should I say something?: You can, and it is reasonable to share what the evidence says without turning it into a confrontation. The advice is very widely repeated by people acting in good faith. What matters more than winning the point is that your child is not being singled out or made anxious about how she sits.
So I should never discourage it?: There is no evidence-based reason to prohibit it. Offering variety — sitting on a low stool, cross-legged, side-sitting during a story — is harmless and fine if you want to. Policing it is what the evidence does not support, and constant correction has its own cost in a three-year-old.
What if they only ever sit that way?: That is the version worth mentioning at a check-up — not because the position is harmful, but because an inability to use other positions is a different observation from a preference for this one. Describe what you see rather than asking about W-sitting specifically.

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