Category Archives: Babies

Sensory and Motor skills for Babies

Baby Owned Movements

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Baby Owned Movements

My son crawled at 9 months, sat at nearly 10 months, and walked at 16 months. According to developmental charts, his sitting and walking are considered to be within the later range of ‘normal.’  Charts indicate that babies sit at six months when placed in sitting by an adult.  The baby does not own that movement of sitting by being able to move in and out of positions. Most are actually stuck in sitting and struggle to get ‘unstuck.’

When treating babies, my main goal is for them to figure out and plan how to move their own bodies in and out of rolling, sitting, crawling, standing and walking. For example, to stand, the baby must be able to get onto hands and knees and push off the floor into standing. To cruise along the sofa, they need to crawl up to the sofa to pull themselves up and then cruise.  I do not put babies in positions that they cannot get into themselves. There are so many benefits to this including:

1) Baby uses their own muscle strength to get into a position versus being forced to hold a position that their body can’t handle which can lead to muscle strain or locking joints for stability.

2) Develops body and spatial awareness. As the child uses their own body (muscle and joint) sense to get in and out of positions, they develop an innate body awareness and sense of space around them. This is much safer as the child can get their own body not only in the position but ‘unstuck’ to get out of it. When placed in a physical position by an adult, they aren’t required to use their own body sense to move.

3) Develops motor planning skills – the baby has to come up with the idea to move, plan how to move their bodies, and then make the move. These skills are so important for motor planning and the beginning to problem-solving, sequencing, and figuring out how to do new things – all skills children need for pretend play, being independent and school projects.

4) Increases balance – by completing movements actively themselves, balance and confidence improves. Active movement develops ones movement sense and stability more than passive sensory input.  The movement system has strong links to one’s ability to calm and self-soothe, be alert and focused and much more so it’s a good one to strengthen.

In my professional and personal experience, I find that children who can move in and out of positions on their own versus being placed in positions are more safe and stable, have better posture and are less slumped over, more flexibility and variation in their motor skills, less sensitive or fearful of being moved, and are comfortable getting in and out of different positions.

As a paediatric OT, I will use sensory processing, Neurodevelopmental, myofascial, socio-emotional or play-based strategies to help the child develop the skills they need to be flexible and functional in their motor skills so they own their own movements, and can be more safe and independent in their play.

Here are some other interesting reads on this subject:

http://mamaot.com/2013/07/14/to-sit-or-not-to-sit-developing-functional-sitting-skills-in-babies/

http://www.janetlansbury.com/2012/04/sitting-babies-up-the-downside/

http://www.janetlansbury.com/2009/12/dont-stand-me-up/

http://www.janetlansbury.com/2011/03/9-reasons-not-to-walk-babies/

Breastfeeding & Sensory Processing Difficulties

BREASTFEEDING AS A THERAPY

This is my first blog post in perhaps two years!  I’ve been pretty busy with my now-toddler-then-baby but this is a topic very close to my heart. I lived it and breathed it for a whole year which is how long it took for my little guy, M, to become ‘functional’ at breast feeding. It is also something that many of the families I work with have or do struggle with so I wanted to share our story.

Here’s our abridged story.

Following birth, M immediately struggled to latch on and nurse. He was only 2.2 kilos so we were kept in the hospital for a few days. We received a lot of advice from the midwives of which all were conflicting and really, although my Occupational Therapy head knew better, my new-mum head was a bit overwhelmed and second-guessed myself. I always tell parents to trust their own gutt instinct.

Some feeding difficulties my son had were:

-Gagging (I hated it when the midwives or GPs would say ‘big mouthful’ and to put a lot of breast in the baby’s mouth. This did not work for my baby who was sensory defensive and couldn’t organise his body, let alone his mouth)

– difficulty latching on

-struggled to mould or ‘snuggle’ during feed and other times

– hiccups, gasped for air, guzzled liquid down while bottle drinking

– difficulty getting in a rhythm of suck swallow breathe

– took over an hour to feed

– struggled to move one side of his face, tongue, cheek, lip

– lopsided wonky smile (one side didn’t turn up or move), drooled only on one side, preferred feeding on one side

– jaws seemed to wobble

– held up his head from birth (yes, this is a red flag as he had tightness in his neck and back muscles which led him to always lift his head and arch his back. He could not relax at all when on his back. This position also brought his tongue back so he couldn’t bring it forward to latch on and suck /swallow.)

Our Team:

I contacted a speech feeding therapist of mine whom I hugely respect at day 3! We were so fortunate to have her support as the NHS speech therapist said there’s nothing to do until M eats foods. Not only couldn’t we wait but I knew better. Please know this is so not true. It was important to strengthen and develop M’s jaws, cheeks, lips, and tongue so he could nurse and later, eat foods and talk.

At 4 months, we saw an osteopath I’ve known and worked with. She worked with M using a classical approach, loosening and mobilising tight areas, so he could be more comfortable in flexion and move his body forwards, ESP his tongue. She also worked on his gutt mobility so that his body could best absorb nutrients, digest, pee and poop.

A craniosacral therapist who treated me saw M and worked wonders on his cranial system so he could be less sensitive, relax his body, and again, bring his neck and tongue forwards for nursing

A Jin shin Jyutsu therapist worked with M on relaxing his body via different Asian flows.

I, OT mummy, worked with M to become more comfortable with touch, movement, and sounds, develop his body awareness to move with more flexion and be able to bring his head forwards, move smoothly in and out of positions, and coordinate both sides of his body versus only move via one side. We also worked on positioning M’s body so he could be more comfortable with feeds. Once his body was more comfortable, his mouth followed suit.

The oral motor therapist worked with us on different feeding positions for myself and M to support his breastfeeding needs, supporting and strengthening his jaw, how to strengthen the oral muscles using specific, targeted exercises on the tongue, cheeks, lips, and jaws.

Private DAN doctor inspired by Asian medicine – He confirmed he wasn’t concerned about weight and size, continue with breastfeeding versus formula, but was more concerned about gutt absorption of nutrients. So he prescribed us some chinese herbal supplements, vitamins, probiotics and MCT oil which apparently is a natural ingredient already found in breast milk.

By 10 months of age, breastfeeding had finally become very comfortable.

Later speech and feeding therapy sessions worked on spoon feeding, emerging munching, eating different textures and building interest in foods, working on chewing tougher foods, and developing sounds of consonants and particularly lip sounds such as ‘m’ and ‘n.’

Using breastfeeding as a therapy gave us the chance to work on M’s sensory processing and oral motor skills soooooo many times during and before every feed.

We were fortunate to receive a lot of amazing, private support from very early on. During times, we felt desperate so also tried many ‘wrong’ things before figuring out what they worked. But as they say, it took a village and I really believe we need to support families with breast feeding challenges using a whole body and a collaborative team approach.

What did I, OT mummy 🙂 do that helped?

-Worked on sensory defensiveness, flooding M with calm, sensory input. Deep pressure input, linear movement input, building tolerance for movement in different planes using music, rhythm and predictability, heavy muscle and joint work for added proprioception to his body and mouth, and building tolerance for multi-sensory input. ‘Baby wearing’ was a huge part of our life for all sorts of positive sensory input.

-Before every feed, we did some gentle body work to build motor skills and body symmetry and encourage flexion.

-Targeted oral motor exercises for cheeks, tongue, lips, and jaws before feeds and later, when starting solids, we had therapeutic feeding strategies.

-Used straw and open cups as no concerns with aspiration, or safety of swallow.

-Positioning – Swaddling for feeds was a huge help and he relied on this till 7 months. I laid semi- reclined so M kind of ‘fell’ into me and gravity could help.

-Music –I remember using classical 90-beat Baroque music for children feeding in the hospital so we tried this too.

-Mental stuff  – meditation, imagery, positive self-talk, trying to keep the feeds happy despite it being so stressful

-Surrounded myself by like minded and positive people

 

Resources:

Kellymom.com

-An invaluable source on breastfeeding and busts so many myths.

Dr Jen 4 kids

–http://www.drjen4kids.com/

www.talktools.com

Book-

Supporting Sucking Skills in Breast Feeding Infants by Catherine Genna Watson

It’s very in depth, but I love it’s team approach and whole body outlook

 

Babies – Early Signs: How do you know?

Does my baby need Occupational Therapy?

People often wonder how soon can you tell a baby requires early intervention therapies. I thought I’d share a little bit based on my experience with my own son and babies I treat as well as common red flags from other parents.  I hope it will help others.

First of all, parents just know!  They have a gutt instinct and are always right. Sometimes as a mum, I know it’s hard to follow your own gutt especially when others around you say it’s too early or your child will grow out of it. Please know that as a parent, you know your child best.

Secondly, babies’ main daily living activities are to move, sleep, feed, and poop. Usually, if these areas are a challenge, you will have an idea that they need some support.

For my son, I knew as soon as he was born and we were moved into the maternity ward. He was the only baby constantly crying, he had a hard time with breast feeding – struggling to nurse more on one side, startled at every sound that went by, only wanted to be on his tummy being very uncomfortable on his back, had too great head control for a newborn, and was unable to fall asleep.  Everybody, including strangers on the street, always commented on his head control (which was too good for his age because of tightness) and how alert he was (due to being in an over-stimulated state of arousal).

Babies benefit from Occupational Therapy when the following red flags are present: 

Sensory processing

– doesn’t mould their body to you when held, hates baby massage

– arches back, lifts head as a newborn (newborns should be able to turn their head and clear their airway but not hold up their head yet)

– only sleeps or soothes with intense movement input

– needs to be held all of the time

– startles to sounds easily, appears on edge or in distress, doesn’t like busy places

– very alert (as in sensitive to all sounds, sights, movements)

– difficulty sleeping, takes hours to fall asleep

– unable to tolerate sitting in car seat or stroller

– difficulty with car rides

– becomes upset when laid down on their back for diaper and clothing changes

– described as ‘colicky,’ upset or unable to settle

– doesn’t move and prefers sedentary play

– does not interact or make eye contact with parents

Motor

– only wants to lay on stomach and cannot tolerate laying on back (due to strong back muscles, weak flexors, and overall imbalance of muscles on front and back of body)

-arches body backwards

– flat spot on head, turns head more toward one side

– uses one side of body more than other side – babies do not have a hand preference or sidedness

– delayed motor milestones

– moves to one side only such as rolls or comes up to sit via one side

– tightness in limbs during dressing, diaper changes, or bathing – parents may feel arms are stiff to get into sleeves, or legs do not open for diaper changes

– motor milestones are a bit delayed

– doesn’t move, described as ‘lazy’

Feeding

– nurses better on one side or unable to nurse on both sides

– pulls away from breast

– difficulty figuring out how to latch on during breast feeding

– takes excessive time to nurse

– difficulty drinking from the bottle, liquid pooling out at sides

– drools on one side of mouth, smiles a bit wonky

– difficulty transitioning to foods, refuses to eat

– does not put toys in mouth for exploration

These are just some examples. If you have any concerns about your child’s development, please see an occupational therapist right away. Do not wait and see. Start early, there’s so much to do from the beginning versus when the child starts school and skills become ingrained. Babies are like sponges due to brain plasticity. Its really so encouraging to see how quickly they respond with the right support and early intervention.

Therapeutic Benefits of Babywearing

 

I’ve an 8-month old baby with sensory processing difficulties and who has had a bit of a rough start from a traumatic birth.  Babywearing has been a huge part of our lives as he struggles to tolerate any seating devices especially strollers and car seats.  We started with a ring sling when he was home from the hospital, then a hop tei (a modified mei tai Asian carrier), and now as he is older, we also use a more supportive Ergo carrier. It’s our favourite therapeutic, ahem “fun, ” activity. 🙂

 

I have found many therapeutic benefits to babywearing and often recommend it to parents for these reasons:

 

SENSORY:

 

1) Deep pressure input, warmth, and comforting smell of parent are calming and organizing. This is particularly helpful for babies who are sensitive to touch, movement, or sounds, who have had long NICU / SCBU stays, or who need support settling into the big, outside world.
2) Boundaries of the carrier give body input and awareness for comfort and motor skills development such as babies with low tone, sensory motor difficulties, or prematurity.
3) Vestibular / movement input – the gentle bouncing, rocking and swaying motions provide movement input which is again soothing but also helps stimulate tone for balance and coordination and make sense of one’s body. The vestibular system is also strongly connected to the visual, auditory, and emotional centres of the brain. Movement helps kids focus, learn, and coordinate both sides of their bodies.
4) Powerful way to bond after a traumatic birth and from personal experience, so fun to interact with baby wherever you go.
You can see how it can either help decrease sensory overload for sensitive babies or provide extra input to babies who need more sensory information.  By integrating, touch, body and movement input, we are helping develop multi-sensory processing.
MOTOR:

 

1) Encourages flexed  positioning – oftentimes babies with traumatic births, brain bleeds, prematurity, low tone, or sensory processing disorder assume an extended posture due to tightness, arching their back or sensory overload.  Heathy, full-term babies are in a flexed curled-up position from the womb. Extension is a red flag. Slings and carriers can be used to help encourage this flexed position.  Have your occupational or physical therapist help with positioning.
2) For positioning, remember it is important to face inwards and assume a squatt position. See this article:

http://blog.ergobaby.com/2012/02/facing-inward-or-outward-the-physiological-aspects/

3) Alternative to tummy time – many babies struggle wit tummy time for varied reasons. Baby carrying can be a gentle step towards tummy time by holding your baby against you.
4) Upright positioning can be more comfortable for babies with reflux, gutt, or respiratory problems.
Resources:

 

UK Sling Libraries
Visit a sling library to try different carriers and find what suits you and your baby.

http://www.ukslinglibraries.co.uk/

Babywearing International

http://babywearinginternational.org/

Sensory Processing – Early Warning Signs for Babies

In my practice I work with many children with sensory processing difficulties that are identified during their school years.  These children may struggle with concentrating in class, coping with transitions or changes, or playing with peers.  They can be clumsy, have difficulty holding a pencil or writing, awkward with their movements, or be either withdrawn or aggressive.  Oftentimes, they are very bright and as a result, their sensory processing difficulties are misunderstood.  Usually, warning signs were present as babies however parents were told to ‘wait and see,’ ‘your child will grow out of it’ or that their child is misbehaving.

Early signs of sensory processing difficulties I have seen amongst babies include:

  • Hates tummy time, prefers to sit or stand
  • Plays while sitting still versus moving around and exploring their environment
  • Tend to get ‘stuck’ with their movements, delayed milestones (e.g. rolling, crawling, clapping hands, waving)
  • Cautious with movement, dislike being laid down or moved
  • Fussy or irritable babies, cry easily sometimes for no known reason
  • Not a ‘cuddly’ baby, resists being held
  • Struggle to settle down or going to sleep
  • Difficulty with nursing, transitioning to other textures
  • Startles easily to loud sounds, distracted, avoids eye contact
  • Very easy going, described as a ‘lazy baby’, don’t know they’re in the room

These difficulties indicate that a child’s central nervous system is struggling to process sensory information.  It is a neurological problem that can impact on their movements and development, learning, and social-emotional skills.

Here’s a nice article that discusses the early warning signs of Sensory Processing Disorder amongst infants.

Due to the plasticity of a young child’s brain, there is hope and good potential for progress and improvement with Early Intervention.  If you are concerned about these early warning signs, seek advice from an Occupational Therapist who specializes in working with infants and younger children, particularly those with sensory processing difficulties.  It is never too early or never too late to get help.

Look here for links and books about sensory processing.