Hi I have been told that we will see a speech therapist and a physio. What are some things I can do now Aden is 4 weeks old. Our Dr said nothing we do will change his muscle tone so what’s the point of physio. Dr also said that by just treating Aden like any other baby is all we need to do and our older children playing with him will be part of his physio. How much extra stimulation would Aden need?
Thanks in advance Cathy

Cathy,

Just my humble opinion here, but I would have an issue with the doctor that says PT won't help because his muscle tone won't change. While his muscle tone may not change, PT (or any of the other therapies) can do WONDERS to help him! If nothing else, it will keep Aden from falling too far behind! Jaymes has low tone, no doubt about it. Always will, but that doesn't mean he can't learn to feed himself when appropriate (but you have to start early) or take his shoes off or walk or run or anything! Jaymes may have done these things later than a typical child would have, but he's doing them now! I truly believe that ANY therapy is beneficial in some way for our kids, be it ST, PT, OT, feeding, music, etc. And the earlier the better!

What is early intervention? EI, at least the way it has been presented to me, is like a combination of all the therapies rolled into one. Our EI specialist does OT (gross and fine motor skills), she does ST (oral motor skills and cognitive skills) and she does PT (lots of gross motor skills). She works with his other therapists to coordinate his care so Jaymes is getting the most he can from all his therapies. She's the one that actually recommended different therapies and when to start them - we started with EI and went, rapidly, to the others. I'm not trying to brag when I say this, but the head of the EI program has said several times that Jaymes is a great example of what the therapists can do when they get to the kids soon enough (and we started at 4 months!). I truly believe that's the truth. They have done wonders with him.

What can you do for him now? Play with him. Stimulate him - talk to him. Just be with him whenever you can. Yes, I think that Aden should be treated like any other baby, but at some point, the therapies have to kick in. It's the only way to help our kids achieve the most that they can!

Again, these are just my opinion.

Hi Cathy,

The best thing you can do for a 4 week old baby is relax and enjoy

When my son Ethan was born we lived in a remote area and the therapies that a lot of people have were not available to us. I worried about this alot but I read books and had consultations once a month from six minths with OT and PT, but no actual therapy. One therapist said to me to take him home, play with him and he will be fine. This seemed ridicules at the time, but this is what I did - he was crawling at 11 months and walking at 17.5 months. Now I am not saying that therapy is not important and if it is available to you, take advantage of it, but I think that so many people now believe that without therapy, they will not do well and this is not true - Ethan being proof We are a military family and now live in an area with therapists and we are taking advantage of these services. When we moved here Ethan was 3, the therapists were very impressed with him and said he was actually doing very well.

I would just enjoy your new baby, they grow so fast, there is plenty of time for therapy. The things things you did with your other children when they were 4 weeks old your new baby will love too. Oh and Congratulations!!!!!!!

Thanks Elaine

We live in an area where nothing is available 200km from the hospital the one in our town is emergency only.

I asked a mum over the net about her DD she had therapy at 5weeks and it's not anything different that we do already. so I have started to relax, now I can fully thanks to you.

Aden has lots of tummy time and being an infant swim teacher I feel confidant in using the water as a way of stimulating him.

Thanks again.

I got brooke into ei at 6wks she is doing really well. there are 2 other ds kids in her play group-for social interaction & brooke is doing alot more & they started at 6months. as elaine said every child is different & the most important thing to remember-we are who teach our children. the most a couple hour sessions a couple times a week are just to help guide us through so what we do with them at home is what benefits them

i starting the EI with Elias when he was 40 days old. we went to a EI school, from monday to friday 3 hrs per day since that april 5th, and yeah i can tell that he was sleeping most of the time, but they said that it was good for him being there bc he would be able to interact with other kids, and listen to other stuffs, etc.

my Elias doenst have low tone muscle, and he doesnt crawl, and he's almost a year. i think it really depends on every child and every parent. must of the succed on this kids, on my opinion, is because of US, most of the time is with us, so playing, and talking to them is a pretty good sample on what you can do to your 4week old baby.

palying music, mobiles, swings, low lights, balance exercises, singing, and some other stuff is what i did with elias when he was that age

My little one started physical therapy at 3 months. I think the best way it helps them is helping us as parents learn techniques to give them the boost they need. Jenna has low muscle tone. We have therapy 1x each week. I know they will do things on their own eventually but with therapy and practice with us they will usually do it sooner. I do think that some of the result depends on the child and some the intervention.

When my son is still small, we do baby massage on him. But luckily, my DH has an uncle who is a chinese doctor so he taught us on some tips.
1) Stroke his head with your fingers . It should stimulate the brain.
2)Rub his ears gently (I mean the inside) cos most of the acupuncture points on our human body can be found there so it should stimulate the body too.
3)Stroke the spine. up and down.