Physical milestones

MissMeegs

I know babies all go at their own pace, and I will be discussing this with his pediatrician when we finally go to his 6 month checkup next week. But I was curious if anyone else's LO is struggling to reach the physical milestones.

DS is over 6 months now, and he still does not roll in either direction. He has rolled tummy to back twice, but I think both times were accidents. He still face plants and cries during tummy time. He fares better on his back, and twists his body trying to roll but he can't ever make it. He doesn't sit up without support for longer than a second or two. And he doesn't bear any weight on his legs. When in his jumper he keeps them tucked up like landing gear. We pull them down and try to encourage it but he's just not having it. Same when you hold him up to try and "stand" on your lap.

I think I asked about his refusal to use his legs before, and several of you pointed out that if he's very verbal, maybe the other stuff is just coming later (he babbles all day long, so he's definitely developing his verbal skills!)--but I am really worried about the fact that he's not even rolling yet, I feel like by 6m2w he should at the very least be doing that. Am I wrong? :-(

My sister suggested we might end up in physical therapy. Has anyone else had to do that?

painttheair14

This is no real help, but my 6month baby isn't rolling yet either.

He does bear weight on his legs though.

peanutmuse

I think you definitely should discuss this with your pediatrician and hold off on speculation until then. Seriously. If you don't feel reassurance after your appt next week, get a second opinion.

MissMeegs

Thanks ladies, I'll let everyone know what the doctor says next week. She's actually never really asked about motor skills stuff at previous appointments, I never thought about it until now because I wasn't worried until the last few weeks or so. We are actually switching doctors to one closer to home for his next appointment, I'll be sure to keep tabs on it with that doctor too.

blue_elle

I've only got a minute so I'll come back later. I'm speaking as sometime with a lo in pt for physical delays related to torticollis, so my perspective is perhaps skewed. If i were you is be on the phone with a physician requesting a referral to pt. They will do an initial eval. and that will really help guage where he is and what, if any, help is needed. Not to say he wouldn't get there without, but pt could be a huge benefit.

We requested a referral when M still wasn't lifting at all (not even a tiny bit) on his tummy at 3 months. He was diagnosed with the torticollis and we started weekly pt. It has made a huge difference. He is doing wonderfully now. He'll never be on the early side of physical milestones, but my mind is so much more at ease knowing why he was delayed and knowing we're treating the issue.

MissMeegs

@blue_elle: Thanks so much for your perspective. I suspect DS may also have perhaps a minor case of torticollis. He used to heavily favor turning his head to only one side (right). And we started doing some exercises the pediatrician gave us for it (she didn't think he needed pt at the time) and it improved a lot, and he does turn left now so I didn't even really think about that in relation to his delays. But it makes sense! He still struggles to lift up all the way and still hates tummy time with a passion. He gives up pretty quickly and just starts crying face down.

Since we wouldn't have time to go to anyone before his 6 month checkup next week anyway, I'll just wait until then and ask for a PT referral. I'm concerned enough where I think he should go get checked out, even if the pedi thinks he doesn't need it (and she probably won't, she kind of brushes off concerns, which is one of the reasons we've already made an appointment for him at a different place for his 9 month visit--bonus, it's only 5 minutes from home as opposed to 20!).

Thanks so much!

blue_elle

Our pediatrician blew us off a bit about our concerns initially, so we self-referred to PT at 3 months. When she saw him at his 4 month checkup she agreed we'd done the right thing. I'd spent hours watching videos on YouTube from PT groups about normal/abnormal physical development and knew he was falling way behind.

M's therapist has told us his torticollis is unusual. His neck muscles were tight on the left, his head turning preference was to the right, and he often curved (or slouched) his body to the right. No average person would have looked at him and thought anything was wrong since he didn't have a severe tilt, but the muscle weakness made things like tummy time really hard for him. The head turning is also why we're now in a helmet since he ended up with plagiocephaly on the right side.

He'll continue PT at some frequency until he's around a year old, since there's often regression during illness, teething, and when reaching new milestones. We've seen this to be true so far.

Like mentioned by @charmingthemoon‌, each state has an early intervention program. We applied to ours with the help of our PT and pediatrician and got approved. M was assigned a team of therapists who help us monitor progress and develop his ongoing treatment plan. Our PT cost was reduced to 15%, so it's definitely worthwhile to look into.

Good luck with the appointment. Keep us updated!

holly142

My daughter also goes to p.t. each week for torticollis.  In the beginning I was sad that DD needed it.  However, it isn't bad at all!  Our pediatrician referred us to p.t. at 8 weeks.  It has helped so much! Our physical therapist is great and makes it (mostly) fun for my daughter.  I think it has helped strengthen her other muscles as well and I have learned lots about how to help my daughter develop physically.  At 6 months, she rolls multiple times each way, inchworms her way forwards, pushes her way backwards, turns in 360 degree circles on her tummy, sits up for long periods of time, and her legs are strong enough to hold her up.  I am writing this to let you know that if you do end up doing p.t., it can be a positive thing! 

During the initial evaluation, our physical therapist said that many babies with torticollis also have hip dysplasia.  However, an ultrasound or evaluation can easily rule that out.  I would talk to your dr. about what you child is doing.  However, your dr. might just tell you to wait and see what happens in the next couple of months.  That is what happened to my cousin.  Her daughter was behind on physical milestones at her 6 month appointment and walking by her 9 month appointment!  Very unusual, but each child is different. 

blue_elle

@MissMeegs‌ - how did the appointment go?

MissMeegs

@blue_elle Thanks for asking! Sorry I didn't update here, been so busy I have only briefly been on TB in the last couple weeks.

The pediatrician was unconcerned about the rolling/sitting (and she was right because he actually did just start both of those things last week. Still won't roll tummy to back, but he's great at back to tummy, and he sits up perfectly with no support for long periods of time. It is great!

But she did have concerns about him not bearing weight on his legs, and referred us to PT. We had our eval this morning and the therapist said he does have minor torticollis, which probably contributed to his rolling delay and the fact that he mostly only rolls in one direction. She gave us home stretches to do and we will go see her once a week. She also gave us some tips for his legs, and we'll address that at the weekly sessions too. So things are looking up! She actually seemed really concerned about the leg thing too--she said she'd never seen it before and had to consult one of the other physical therapists to give us exercises to do for it. Here's hoping she researches it a little before we go back next week.
:-S

Babychuu

MissMeegs said:

@blue_elle Thanks for asking! Sorry I didn't update here, been so busy I have only briefly been on TB in the last couple weeks.

The pediatrician was unconcerned about the rolling/sitting (and she was right because he actually did just start both of those things last week. Still won't roll tummy to back, but he's great at back to tummy, and he sits up perfectly with no support for long periods of time. It is great!

But she did have concerns about him not bearing weight on his legs, and referred us to PT. We had our eval this morning and the therapist said he does have minor torticollis, which probably contributed to his rolling delay and the fact that he mostly only rolls in one direction. She gave us home stretches to do and we will go see her once a week. She also gave us some tips for his legs, and we'll address that at the weekly sessions too. So things are looking up! She actually seemed really concerned about the leg thing too--she said she'd never seen it before and had to consult one of the other physical therapists to give us exercises to do for it. Here's hoping she researches it a little before we go back next week.
:-S

Glad things are looking up!

blue_elle

Glad they gave you the referral! Wonder if there's someone else in the PT practice that has had experience with the leg weakness that could see you?

growingmybun

We are the fairer sex. Boys just don't always get it as readily. My son was late on every single milestone. He's a happy healthy (still behind) 3 year old. My daughter is a milestone rock star.

Sorry--didn't read your update. Glad things are going well.

MissMeegs

blue_elle said:

Glad they gave you the referral! Wonder if there's someone else in the PT practice that has had experience with the leg weakness that could see you?

I need to call today to set up his schedule for the weekly visits, and I'm going to ask about this. The woman we saw was very nice but if she'd never seen DS's main physical issue before and the other therapists have, I'd rather see one of them!