Case Studies

Being proactive instead of reactive pays off in baby development!

Here is an example of how being proactive about baby development really works. A young couple was about to have their first baby. While mom was pregnant they read Building Babies Better. They understood the importance of giving both sides of the body equal opportunities for development. Plans were already made to position their baby on his stomach to develop good head and trunk strength. They knew what baby equipment could have a negative impact on development.

The exciting day arrived! Their beautiful baby girl was born. The delivery was not what they expected, but their daughter was more precious than they ever dreamed! Their daughter was breech and so was delivered by c-section. Because of her position in the womb, she had a condition known as torticollis. Basically this means the muscle on one side of the neck was in a shortened state so she kept her head primarily turned to one side. I first saw this baby for therapy at 10 days of age. This is very early for intervention, but happened because I know the family. Before I even saw the baby the parents were already doing the right things for positioning. I added just a little bit of information and then saw this baby at 5 weeks of age. She was moving her neck to each side with full range of motion! She was showing a slight preference for one side, so positioning continued to be important. The parents were putting their daughter on her stomach several times a day for just one to two minutes at a time. At first their daughter did not like being on her stomach, so the sessions were brief. On the day I saw her she was happy and moving for 3 minutes while on her stomach. Their work had paid off.

This baby was well on her way to having her torticollis resolved by the age of 5 weeks. In addition, her sensory motor foundation was not negatively impacted by her torticollis. Instead her parents had known how to enhance her sensory motor foundation from day one. Being proactive about baby development made a quick and positive impact for this child.

Parents want to be informed…

In my pediatric physical therapy practice, I have encountered parents who are questioning why they weren’t told important information earlier in their child’s life. For example, I was working with a little boy who was 18 months old. He was having delays in his development. He was creeping on hands and knees, but not yet walking. He was not playing appropriately with toys and had difficulty communicating his needs. In talking with the mother, I found out this child never tolerated being on his stomach and never crawled on his stomach. She reported she could not get him to tolerate lying on his stomach even for one minute when he was younger. During his development she did not realize this was important, so never worked on this skill. I explained to her that this skill helps the nervous system to integrate important sensory-motor information. It contributes to improved neck and back strength, understanding of right/left function, and eye hand coordination to name a few. These were all problems this little boy was having. In therapy we then had to go back and work on the important skill of tolerating being on his stomach and then belly crawling. It took a year to get this boy to the point where he easily laid on his stomach and began some belly crawling. When we did get to this point, he showed improvements in his gross motor skills, play skills, and communication. The mother was very happy, but wished she would have known these important foundational issues when her son was an infant.