Tag Archive for: babies

Importance of Tummy Time

in , , ,

In a national survey of 400 pediatric physical and occupational therapists, two-thirds of those surveyed say they’ve seen an increase in early motor delays in infants who spend too much time onblog-importance-of-tummy-time-main-landscape their back while awake. Tummy time is an important and essential activity for infants to develop the strength and musculature they need to achieve their milestones in gross motor development.

What is tummy time?

  • Supervised time during the day that your baby spends on their tummy while they are awake

Why does my baby need tummy time?

  • Being on his or her tummy will help develop the muscles of the shoulder, neck, trunk, and back. This, in turn, will allow your child to achieve developmental milestones such as independent sitting, crawling, and standing
  • Tummy time will help prevent conditions such as torticollis and plagiocephaly (head flattening on portions of their head)

What if my baby doesn’t like tummy time?

  • The sooner you start tummy time, the sooner your child will get used to it!
  • If your child cannot keep their head up, use a towel roll, Boppy pillow, or small pillows to help prop them up until they can lift their head on their own
  • Place a mirror or their favorite toys in front of them to keep them entertained
  • Put them on your lap on their tummy

How much time do they need on their tummy?

  • You can start putting them on their tummy from day one for up to 5 minutes, 3-5 times a day. As they get stronger, they will be able to tolerate increased tummy time during the day.
  • But, always remember – back to sleep and tummy to play!

NSPT offers services in Bucktown, Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnwood, Glenview, Lake Bluff, and Des Plaines! If you have questions or concerns about your child, we would love to help! Give us a call at (877) 486-4140 and speak to one of our Family Child Advocates!

Meet-With-A-Physical-Therapist

5 Roles to Assign a Sibling When There is a New Baby

in , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s Friday night and you are at the dinner table with your 3 week old baby boy and 5 year old daughter. After taking a sip of water, your daughter looks at you and says, “Mommy, I need a diaper.” Because your daughter has been potty trained for 2 years now, these are words that you never thought you would hear again from her. Before you scream, take a deep breath and RELAX. She is simply adjusting to the new little one – this is normal. Since the new baby is taking up a lot of your time, your 5 year-old is going to act out (or act younger) to get your attention, especially if you are feeding or spending time with the new baby. The best thing to do is give your 5 year-old special “big sister” or “big brother” roles. The following are five roles you can assign to a sibling when you have a new baby:

5 Roles To Assign a Sibling When There is a New Baby:

  1. Baby Watch – Put your older child on “baby watch”. sister and new babyWhile you are still in the room, ask him or her to make observations about what the baby is doing and let you know. Ask your older child what he/she and the baby have that is the same and what is different.
  2. Night time reader– Let your older child tell the baby a story. Engage him/her in making a picture book with you that includes all the fun things that you have done together, so the new baby can learn about activities you do in your family. After you have finished creating this book, tell your older child that he/she is on “night time reader” duty. Explain the importance of reading this story to the baby and how important it is that the baby gets to learn who everyone is. Stress how great he/she is with learning who everyone is and how you want him/her to teach the baby… BECAUSE HE/SHE IS THE BEST TEACHER!!!
  3. Special jobs helper– When you are giving your baby a bath, ask your older child to help. He/she can get the soap and help wash the baby’s legs. If your baby needs a new diaper, you can ask your older child to go get it. You can ask him/her to help rub your baby’s back to calm her down when she is crying. Remember to praise your older child when he/she is able to soothe the baby!
  4. Advice helper– When you are dressing the baby, ask your older child what he/she thinks the baby wants to wear. If the baby is crying, ask your older child if he/she thinks the baby is tired, hungry, etc. You may already know the answer to this question; however, asking your older child for his/her advice makes him/her feel very important.
  5. Creative helper– Ask your older child to think of a creative nickname for the baby to help establish a special bond between them. Helping create that bond and relationship is one of the toughest tasks. Creating a close bond at an early stage will ensure that the bond will last a lifetime.

What is Oral Motor | Pediatric Therapy Tv

in , , , , , , ,

Pediatric Speech and Language Pathologist explains what Oral Motor is and how it develops in babies through childhood. For more on Oral Motor and feeding problems read this blog: https://nspt4kids.wpengine.com/feeding/oral-motor-and-feeding-difficulties-in-young-children/

In this video you will learn:

  • What is Oral Motor
  • How babies can build oral muscles
  • How oral motor realtes to speech

Video Transcription:

Announcer: From Chicago’s leading experts in pediatrics to a worldwide
audience, this is Pediatric Therapy TV, where we provide experience and
innovation to maximize your child’s potential. Now your host, here’s Robyn.

Robyn: Hello and welcome to Pediatric TV. I’m your host, Robyn
Ackerman. Today I’m standing here with Allison Raino, a
pediatric speech and language pathologist.

Allison, a question we get a lot from our viewers is what
exactly is oral motor and how does it relate to speech?

Allison: Oral motor is essentially the strength and coordination of the
oral muscles in the mouth. There are thousands of receptors and
muscles in the face that all need to work in conjunction with
each other in order to say speech sounds accurately, as well as
being important for feeding and swallowing.

Many of our responses are reflexive, such as coughing and
swallowing. Those muscles need to be strong enough. We do those
while we are sleeping so we don’t even think about those while
we are doing them. Building up their strength is important, and
is especially important for babies and toddlers. We want to
provide an environment where they are exploring the environment
orally so we are providing multiple ways to develop that oral
muscle strength and coordination.

As you know, babies stick everything that they find in their
mouth. That’s their first way of learning about their
environment – it goes right in their mouth. We want to encourage
that, because with that they are learning a variety of different
tongue movements as well as increasing their jaw strength.

How that relates to speech is we see their development grow from
the cooing stage, where it’s the very basic sounds of the vowel
sounds. As their muscles mature and they become stronger and
more coordinated, we see the babbling stage, and then eventually
the move up to true words and then to phrases. We want to
encourage them to develop those patterns and provide a variety
of opportunities for them to strengthen their muscles as well as
coordinate them.

Robyn: Great. Thank you so much. And thank you to our viewers. And
remember, keep on blossoming.

Announcer: This has been Pediatric Therapy TV, where we bring peace of
mind to your family with the best in educational programming. To
subscribe to our broadcast, read our blogs, or learn more, visit
our website at LearnMore.me. That’s LearnMore.me.

Encouraging your child’s speech and language development through the holiday season

in , , , , , ,

You’ve got shopping to do, parties to attend and checklists to conquer. Yes, the holidays have arrived! Amidst the busy schedules and high demands of the season, keeping up with your child’s developmental needs can sometimes feel overwhelming. Worry no more, because the holiday season is filled with natural and enriching opportunities to encourage your child’s speech and language development. So instead of postponing that family getaway or neighborhood potluck, enjoy these parent tips to keep your child learning through the holidays.

Tips to Encourage Speech in Children

Holiday Baby• Take digital pictures during special family events. Whether you’re building a snowman, baking cookies, or packing your suitcases for a getaway, document the adventures! Afterwards, print out pictures and create a construction paper book. Guide your child as you put each picture in order and glue them onto the pages. Talk about what happened. Who was there? Where did you go? What happened first? Encourage your child to share their book with family and friends! Read more

Raising an Independent Child

in , ,

Childhood IndependenceIt’s summer time, the kiddos are out of school, and Independence Day is right around the corner!  It is the perfect time to help your children become more self-sufficient and confident by encouraging them to become more independent in their daily routines.

Where Childhood Independence Begins

Typically, children begin to demonstrate their independence by the age of two.  They may want to try everything by themselves and even act annoyed if you try to step in to help them.  This is perfectly normal and I encourage you to embrace this developmental milestone!

Bedtime should be the first area to be targeted when teaching your child independence.  Establishing a consistent bed time routine is a must.  Children should be sleeping in their beds independently.  They may still need reminders to stay in their room, but there are plenty of ways to work on getting this accomplished.  You can try giving them a signal of when they can leave their room (e.g., when the light comes up or when the clock looks like this: 7:00).  You can also keep a bin of toys in their room that they are allowed to play with in the morning.  It is very important to be aware of your reaction when they do get out of bed.  Firmly state the expectations (e.g., “Johnny, you need to stay in bed until the clock reads 7:00”) and guide them back to their room.  Do not provide eye contact or attempt to rationalize with them.  You may need to bring them back to their room several times over many days.  Don’t give up!  I promise it will get easier!

Read more