Summer is Almost Over...

At least the part where vacations and more laid back scheduling is concerned. The Texas Heatwave still has many more weeks to go. Its been a great summer but that last push to get back to the school year routine can often be hectic. My kiddos are grown and doing there own thing but we had some excitement with an unplanned overnight hospital stay caused by a painful kidney stone (for my husband). He's had these incidents for many years. The Texas heat and his propensity for outdoor activity puts him at more risk. If you've ever met a physical therapist you know we are type A people and I especially like to have a plan. My plan is to NOT wait for a kidney stone to pop up and see if we can manage it with pain meds. I'm recommending he hydrate like a camel in the dessert and prevent further problems. Hmmm.

So you'll now understand why the "wait and see" approach when it comes to your baby's gross motor skills doesn't quite sit right with me. I hear these dreaded words all the time. Lets give little one another month or so and see if they can catch up. Here's why those words cause me so much distress.

In the first year of life your baby is changing rapidly. Each month there are so many gross motor, fine motor and language skills your baby is going to be learning. If your feel your baby is not making progress and you wait a month or 2 you've now caused those skills to snowball. As a parent your aren't supposed to know each and every one of these skills and how they fit together. You don't realize many of your newborn's movements are reflexes and that tummy time helps integrate these into more mature movement patterns which leads to rolling. arm strength for crawling, transitional movements so baby can pull up to stand. Watching infant movement develop is a beautiful dance but if you don't know the steps its hard to follow along.

As a Pediatric PT I love to educate parents and give them simple tips on playtime with their babies. (Hence the name of my business.) I love to show you the handling skills that help your baby develop proper movement. It can be done with less crying and faster independence if you just have the know-how. As a parent you don't have to wait and see. You have pediatric PTs who are resources. We are here to help.

Hope you all have a safe last few weeks of August. Here's hoping for a cool front soon :)