Infant/Toddler

It’s important to trust your intuition. You know your child best. Your pediatrician sees your child for a brief moment and does not see the day to day struggles that you may be having. Don’t discount your instincts. If you have a question, please call.

Birth to Three is based upon a teaching model. The Birth to Three clinician’s role is to teach you how to interact and carry over their therapeutic suggestions. Often times, the frequency of therapy is less than what is optimal for your child’s needs or only the early interventionist implements what the therapist outlines. As this is such a critical period of development, and it has been proven that early intervention provides the best outcome for your child, many times it is best to receive Birth to Three services and medically based services at the same time.  The Center for Pediatric Therapy is able to provide individualized, therapy services at the frequency appropriate for your child.

There is an average range of when certain skills should be met, such as crawling, sitting, walking, and talking. If your child isn’t meeting developmental milestones as expected, it means he is achieving skills outside of this typical range. While some children are late bloomers, others have an underlying reason as to why mastering skills is difficult.  It is important to find out what is causing your child’s difficulty as soon as possible so that he doesn’t fall further behind.

Drinking from a bottle requires many skills including latching on, managing the flow of the liquid, and coordinating the suck, swallow, breathe pattern. If your child is struggling with just one component, it can make the feeding experience unpleasant or challenging for both parent and child. Additionally, there may be times when an underlying medical condition is present, such as reflux, which can result in discomfort during and after eating.

It is common for some infants to keep their heads turned to one side. This is due to a tightening or shortening of muscles around the neck area and is called Torticollis. If you notice your child has a strong preference to keep his head turned to one side, and appears to have difficulty moving out of this position, it is important to call and address this as quickly as possible.

There  can be many reasons why your child is not sleeping through the night. For example, is your child in the habit of being fed during the night? Does your child know how to get himself back to sleep? Do you give your child attention if you hear him stir? If you have tried all traditional attempts to get your child to sleep during the night and nothing seems to work, there could be an underlying sensory processing difficulty that may need therapeutic intervention to resolve.

Sometimes, active children make diaper changing a nightmare! However, for some children, the feeling of clothing being removed or merely being placed on his back is uncomfortable. If you notice that your child consistently has an unusual or extreme reaction to having his diaper changed, there could be an underlying sensory processing difficulty.

Some children are eager to try the food on Mom or Dad’s plate. However, others can find the introduction of new foods to be a stressful experience. It is important to keep in mind that it can take as many as 15 exposures to a new food for your child to finally tolerate it. However, if you see significant aversion, such as constantly spitting out food, lack of chewing (i.e., swallows the food whole), frequent pocketing of food in his cheeks, or gagging, this can indicate a food aversion or oral motor difficulty.

There is a typical range of when children are expected to begin babbling, pointing, and saying simple words. If you notice your child is not participating in playful imitation sound games, seems not to respond to his name being called, does not point to objects, or is not making any attempt to use his voice to get your attention, it may indicate a receptive or expressive language difficulty. If your child is not babbling by 12 months; does not have single words by 16 months; or has limited sound production and does not consistently use sounds for communication by 18 months, this warrants a call to the office for a speech-language evaluation.

Children at this age are still learning how to put sounds together to imitate the words he hears from you. Frequently practiced words, such as “mama” or “daddy,” are naturally going to sound clear because your child has mastered them. Generally, by 18 months of age, 25% of what a child says should be understood by other people.

Some young children are naturally “late talkers” who find they can express themselves using gestures, movements, and noises. Children who are the youngest in the family may have older siblings who are willing to “talk” for them. It is important to encourage the younger child to talk, just as you encouraged your older children, and to encourage the older sibling to give the younger sibling a chance to speak. If there is a concern, you may want to seek a speech-language evaluation to investigate if there is a delay. It is never too early to provide intervention.

According to developmental milestones, walking should be achieved between 9 and 18 months of age. If your child isn’t walking by 18 months, this is considered a delay in his gross motor development. A physical therapy evaluation would be appropriate to determine the cause of the delay.

It is common for children to fluctuate between being happy, content, and miserable. Does your child consistently have trouble maintaining this balance or frequently have meltdowns that last a long time? Does your child have difficulty transitioning to new situations or struggle tolerating changes in routine? This can indicate an underlying difficulty with sensory regulation and should be evaluated by an occupational therapist.