I am wondering if I should have Renee in pt? I feel like it is time to but my infant educator say's it would be too much and that she is doing so well she doesn't need one yet. The warm eater therapist say's she should be and is suprised that she isn't and doesn't know why my infant educator said that? I know and feel Renee is doing good! But I don't want it to be even harder when something does come along that is hard, Am I over doing it?
Thanks, Love Nicole! Mommy to Ashley 22 months old and Renee (ds) six months old

We had someone come out and do an evaluation when P.J. was about 3 months. At that time, they said he was doing what a 3-4 month old should be doing and didn't recommend any therapy. We had another evaluation at 6 months or so and they said he was a little delayed in some areas and he started PT about a month later by the time we got everything set up. He has about an hour session once a week. He seems to be doing well with it! I'm wondering now if he should be seeing an Occupational Therapist as well. I guess that will take another eval!

My sons Kyle has been getting PT since he was three months old. I would start as soon as you could, why wait till and see if she falls beyond. Keep her on the right track by having a PT come out so they can see what areas she is strong in and if she needs strenght in another area. Best of luck.

I am not a patient person, so I was anxious to get him started. Our ped. sent him for a private eval at I believe about 6 weeks. She gave us some good ideas to work with him on. Alex did have a problem early on with turning his head constantly to the right side (I have a picture of him at 1 minute after birth favoring his right side, so I think he was stuck like that in-utero......hard habit to break). He was stronger on that side of his body because he favored it which caused some problems that PT has helped him with. It's great that Rennee is doing so well, but even if she is not delayed with motor skills, the PT might help her work to acheive her next milestone.

Callum started out with 1 50 minute "infant stimulation" session a week, which is sort of a mix of different things. At around 8 months we started noticing more delays and requested a PT evaluation. It took forever to get the evaluation through EI so we got a private evaluation and used our insurance for his PT for a couple of months until EI got themselves sorted. We added OT about 3 months ago.

Callum now does, PT twice a week, OT once a week, infant stimulation once a week and a swimming lesson once a week.

Nicole,

My Raquel's development ped advised us to start right away. She was 1 month. She has a therapist and I don’t know witch type she is… I get a bit confused with the “PT” and “OT” in your posts 

She plays w/Raquel. Tells me some things I should do, like putting her on her tummy so her neck will get strong; put objects w/different textures in her hands and body; call out to her; make Raquel follow objects w/ her eyes and things like that. She says that therapy at this age could be described as games and interacting w/ Raquel A LOT.

Raquel is doing well for a nearly 3 months, she’s more alert and bright than I was her age (according to my mother) and moves a lot (much more than my nephews did at her age).
Apparently she has no delays (yet). The best time to start? Yesterday was the answer I got from that ped. He knows what he’s talking: he has a 18 year old daughter w/DS.

Hope I could help.

Love, Sofia

Nicole,
Tate started PT at 3 months to strengthen his head and neck. Like Alex, he had a tendency to keep his head turned to the right (I think he was positioned like that in utero too; in most of his sonos - he is facing us )anyway, he was going once a week for 30 minutes - right now he is accomplishing all of his milestones so only goes once a month until we see more needed.
Hope that helps..
Dianna Tate's mom 04-17-04

Abby started PT at 8 weeks even though she showed no delays other than obvious low muscle tone. We try to be proactive rather than play catch up once she gets behind. Also, our ped. recommended always staying ahead of the game because sometimes it can take awhile to get therapy going by the time there's an eval. done and you find a therapist that has an opening.

Dylan was only a month old when he started his PT!! I would talk to your infant educator and tell her that you REALLY want a PT. If that's who you need to go through to get it. Good luck!!

Grady started PT at 6 weeks old. The therapist comes to our house once a month and plays with him, then gives us suggestions of how to strenghthen him. He's doing really well so far and was even doing some things early for any child, but our EI said it was still good to go ahead and start so that we can stay on top of any delays.

We will increase the frequency of appt.s when he needs them.

Nicole, This took a while to get started with Mya. And since Mya and Renee basically go through the same place, I have one suggestion for you. PUSH PUSH PUSH and do not give up. Mya was due to start OT at 5 months, but then she got that stupid virus that put her in the hospital for 18 days. Then her heart surgery was scheduled for shortly after that. So I don't think the ball really got rolling until after that. Krissy could give you better details. I do forget things...I am just an old grandma ya know Of course Mya did have extinuating circumstances. But remember how Mya was still not in warm water therapy and yet Renee was. Krissy had to really push for that. I will tell you that Mya does not get PT, rather OT. Her therapist says that PT would be doing the same things that she is. Good Luck.....and keep us all posted on how it goes. Kisses to Renee and Ashley

Hi, I pushed for Kayli's evals, PT, OT, and speech. My ped. told me that studies have shown that the more stimulation children with DS get, the better they do. Also, you will learn a ton of good stuff. It just all makes sense after a couple of visits. Kayli was doing lots of things, but, therapies have helped her and me to do things right, and not to learn bad habits. I almost wish I would have had a PT, or OT with my first child. Its just good for them all around. But, on the down side, it also has to work for you. The schedule is that you have to keep is crazy. If you have to go to a therapy center, you feel as if thats all you do. But, for me, it is worth every minute. Vondaf

I'm sorry to keep posting. But, could someone tell me what warm water therapy is?? Thanks, Vondaf

Samantha was int he same boat as Mya in regards to the setbacks, she actually was referred at 3 months but did not start until about 3 months ago, she started OT today. But I agree PUSH PUSH PUSH for it and make sure they do not put the reason for referral is Ds, it WILL get denied, it has to say low tone, hypotonia, developmental delays or something like that! Elizabeth

Warm water therapy...lets see...I can tell you what they do for Mya, but she may have special issues that others don't. With Mya, her back muscles dominate, and are very strong. So when she does her tummy time and she raises her head, it is more like she is doing a back bend, using her back muscles to pull her head up, not her neck musles. It is hard for her to reach for things, because her back musles pull her arms back when she is wanting to move them forward. So the warm water therapy, they are actually in a pool, water is 92 degrees. The warm water, relaxes those dominate muscles while the work on strengthening the weaker ones. When Mya is in the water, she instinctualy (sp) kicks her little feet and this is great for her leg muscles as well. Now all that being said, I have never been to watch her, though I am going to one day, and take some pictures, but that is basically how it is related to me. I am sure Nicole can tell us maybe more acurately.

I started Briar as soon as we could. Briar was about 6 months old when we started. He was not to far behind. The earlier you start. The farther you are ahead in the long run!

Lori mom to Will 6 and Briar 3

philip started pt when he was 1 month old..........he has always been either right on or just a tad bit delayed in his phyical development.......we quit pt at around 15 months old and switched to ot..............as many others have already said.......PUSH PUSH PUSH!!!!!!!