Physical Therapy

Little M's first PT appointment was Wednesday. I have to say it was nothing like I expected. They started off with a  full evaluation of her physical and developmental development by playing with her and having her preform certain tasks. It was very interesting and she was having fun! Then they calculate it and tell you were she is on the charts. For example she is 24 3/4 weeks old but her motor skills are at 26 weeks, her verbal skills at 28 weeks and so on.

The PT really said they like to start seeing Torticollis babies much sooner than 5 months (ideal is 2-3 months), but that since her case was mild its not going to affect her much. She showed us 2 different neck stretches that we have to do 3-5 times each at each diaper change. One of the main reasons they like to start these earlier is because at 5 months, when you are trying to hold a neck stretch for 3-5 seconds- they resist! They are mobile fully aware little creatures now! You try holding a 5 month old down for 3-5 seconds in a compromising position while simultaneously taking a blow to the face, its challenging! So I try to squeak Sophie, or make a loud distracting noise to keep take her attention off what I am doing. (You can see some of the stretches we have to do here ). A lot of babies that have Torticollis, also have Plagiocephaly, or flat head syndrome. Those are the babies you see with the helmets on. Little M does not, so we don't have to worry about that.

So besides the stretches, tummy time is KEY! It is so so so important. It really helps stretch and strengthen those neck muscles, and actually helps them learn to sit on their own better. As they really start pushing up on those arms, they are flexing their glutes, which helps them become stronger independent sitters. Which little M is displaying here...

I was also informed that the fancy-new-best you can buy- Exercauser I just bought is the devil.

Its like placing your baby in the devils arms to a physical therapist. PT's are strongly against the use of any exercausers, jumperoo's, and walkers for any baby. It delays their development, reinforces bad physical behavior, and they should only be in them for FIVE MINUTES total a day, so whats the point of even having them? 120 dollars the down the drain....

The one positive is that this exercauser breaks down into a walk around activity table, so I guess we'll just save it and use it for that, because go figure I just threw the box away last week. Sigh.

So we will be doing the home stretches and following up with her in 6 weeks to check M's progress!