my 9,5 - month - old daughter is sitting independently but only when I sit her down. She's raising her head to sit since sh was 4 months old. She just don't know how to help herself with her hands. She also doesn't crawl (get's frustrated when toy isn't in the reach of her hand) and hardly stand next to furniture ( i need to support her holding her bottom). Besides those things everything is great, she says mama, dada, baba and uses her thumb and 'pointing' finger to get small food. I know that every baby has his own time for learning everything but do you know any exercises that I can do with her to encourage and help her to do those things? the doctor is threatening us with PT....
i forgot to add that when i five her my finger when lying on her back she catches it and pulls her up to sit easily (i'm hardly pulling her) and when i try to put her on her knees she stands up.
thank you for your answers.
E.
at 10 months she started sitting up without our help, 11 months - crawling and standing up and cruising WITHOUT any outside help. DOctor says she's on her track and everything is great. Thanks to those who said not to worry. ANd to those who said that I should get her pt - that was not a question. and how can you judge me and say that I'm egoist? you don't even know me! if that was necessary, my doctor told me so, i would get her pt without any question cause it's my baby and i love her. and it's not about me.
besides, saying that the doctor knows your child best is delusional. just face the truth - if he didn't look into the files, he wouldn't even know your child name unless you come way more often than only for checkups.
she is age appropriate!! Expect all those things to develop in the next month or two. It's ok! I've taken care of LOTS of babies over the last 30 yrs and what you describe is EXACTLY what a 9 mos old should be doing.
PT is not a "threat". Like the pp said you are paying your doctor to monitor your child's health and development. Early Intervention will only recommend services if your child's skillls fall outside of "normal"(which gives leeway for some children developing slower). If not they can give you suggestions to help get her going. The evaluation is paid for by the state.
I would ignore the doctor for now , some of them are so quick to try and intervene when it really is not necessary. My 3rd child didn't sit up unaided until she was 8 months , didn't crawl until 11 months and certainly wasn't pulling herself up onto her feet until 14 months , she also didn't put herself into a sitting posistion until around the same time that she pulled to standing , walking didn't happen until 17 months , she is 21 months and runs , has started jumping , she climbs....basically is doing everything a 21 month old should.
If your daughter was born a little early then that is something to take into consideration , even a few weeks can delay them a little , my daughter was 6 weeks early and was around 2 months behind each milestone , my middle daughter however was 6 days late and still did things later than they say , she was 16 months before she walked.
First your Dr. shouldn't be threatening you, it just makes you paranoid. My grandaughter who is also 9mos. old, she will not crawl. If you sit her on the floor she tries to wiggle her little bottom to reach what she wants and if she can't she gets upset. Some little ones' get lazy. Try putting something in front of her so that she can reach it, when she does praise her. Then just keep moving it a little further away. My grandaughter doesnt get up to tables either. My daughter herself when she was a baby she wouldn't crawl, she started walking at 10mos. rather than crawl and then she reversed, quit walking and starting crawling backwards, then her first birthday she got up and starting walking and never went back to crawling. Every little one is so different I don't know how your Dr. even has the right to threaten you.
My grandaughter hates being on her stomach, she screams so why on earth would your Dr. make assumptions. Good luck with your Dr. I think your little one is doing just fine and she will do these things in her own time, not yours. You can't force them and she is doing everything else that a normal little one would do. If it were me I'd be switching Dr. sorry! Good luck and I wish you the best.
There is nothing wrong with putting a child into PT, it would not hurt, only help. Why are you considering it a "threat". My son is in OT and speech. He gets their total attention for one hour and everything they do is for his benefit! Any child would benefit from a therapist coming up with a lesson that completely revolved around his or her needs. Please do not look at PT as a bad thing. They will give you great ideas and activities to do at home, you will see that only good things will come out of it!!
Look into early intervention to at least have her evaluated. Every child is different and there may be children out there that were as delayed or more as your daughter that are fine, but there are also children that needed help. There's no harm in checking it out, only benefit. Your pediatrician is an expert and he is concerned, why not just have her evaluated???
I wouldn't consider the doctor's advice as "threatening with." If your little one needs PT, then it will be far better to get it as soon as possible as the benefit is greatest the earlier it is started. I would call Illinois' Early Intervention program and get an assessment. I have several friends who have used it and long term their children have thrived but they did need a little extra help early on. There is nothing bad about getting good help when you need it. Good luck.
First of all, if you feel like your pediatrician is "threatening" you, you might want to look into finding another ped. If he/she was more "suggesting" that you look into PT, that's something else. It was suggested by our ped that we see a specialist when our girl wouldn't straighten out her thumb. The specialist said all the muscles, tendons, and etc looked fine and we should just do some at-home PT and she should grow out of it. She did. It didn't bother me to see a specialist, I just figured we should go ahead and make sure that everything is as it should be.
You girl is probably still in the realm of "normal" for her age. Of course, as a mom, we worry. So, I guess it might partly depend on how much time you (or others--if she is in childcare) spend with her attempting these physical feats. My girl was in daycare early (9-weeks), so she was around bigger kids and smaller kids, and had to learn to move to get what she wanted. I practiced the same at home--put toys just out of reach so she had to figure out how to get to them. At first, it was rolling, then scooting (like an inchworm) and eventually she crawled. The walking took a bit longer--she didn't walk until 13 months (when the 2 boys in her class had started at 10 and 11 months)! You might also look into "mom & me" classes (like Gymboree, the Little Gym, or a local group). If your girl is not in childcare, she might just need to see other kids getting up and moving around. Good luck!
Try tummy time and put some toys at finger tip length and some things to the right and left of her.
Get a ball and see if you can get her to lean forward on it. Help her balance.. First try this with her on her knees and her arms over the top of the ball.
Hold her in her crawling position, have your husband bend her knees just to see if she can slightly balance.
When she is on her back have her grab onto your fingers and see if you can lightly lift her arms. see if she can hang on.. Then move on to lifting her so that her shoulders are slightly off of the floor..
Make sure that the area you are working on is not slippery. and slightly padded. When she gets upset, do not pick her up. Sooth her with your voice and place your hands on her. If she lifts her hands to you, have her grab your finger, pull her up slightly then hold her.
I agree, you should not consider PT as threatening in any way. No one should ever feel bad about their children needing help, in any way. If you are not ready to deal with her needing help do not wait any longer than her first birthday. The sooner you start PT the better. Remember this is about her, not you. I hate to say it like that but it sounds like you need to hear that. Keep working on sitting her up to build up her strength. Please think about everything that everyone is telling you. I believe that PT is free until the age of three. If nothing else, get her evalutated. A PT therapist will tell you if she really needs help or if it's just her way of developing.
Hi E.,
I have to back up J.G. Physical therapy could be exactly what your daughter needs, and your therapist can show you *so many* more things you can do at home with your sweetie!
If you end up taking your little one to therapy, please look at them as someone who is going to be excited to help your little one, and will love it even more because you are so interested in helping your child (so many moms, unfortunately, are not).
good luck!
t
