Getting strong now, won’t be long now

Louis has both physical therapy and occupational therapy in his house once a week. Having therapists come to his house makes a big difference for this little baby’s schedule! Plus, his therapists teach his parents how to do his exercises and activities so we can replicate them all week long. Here are just some things we’ve been working on:

Tummy time- Since Louis’s shoulders are tight, we started using a wedge to help bring the ground up to his body and make the stretch on his shoulders more gradual. However, he is tolerating tummy time on the ground now! He gets a really good stretch through his hips as well which will be so helpful for standing up straight! We also use wrist splints to help keep his wrists flexed when he bears weight on his hands.

Active and passive stretching- We have different ways of stretching all the joints in his limbs. But, we try to incorporate his stretches in a way that is fun for Louis and not just work. Louis loves playing with these O Ball toys as they are light weight, so they are easy for him to lift, and all the little ‘O’s are easy for him to grab. When he grabs and lifts the ball up, we help him bring it a little further to increase the stretch in his shoulders.

Sensory exploration- When babies put things in or near their mouth, it provides lots of sensory input and is a way to explore the world around them. When Louis plays, we watch for cues that he might want something in or near his mouth since he cant bring toys to his mouth yet. It feels counterintuitive as a parent to bring all sorts of objects to a babies mouth that haven’t been cleaned in the last minute, but it’s an important developmental experience. We also use these little EZ holds and put objects on Louis’s arms so he can bring toys to his mouth himself while getting an arm workout!

As mentioned, these are just some of the therapies we work in with Louis. He’s a busy little guy but he definitely has tons of time to just play and explore the world in his own unique way!