Babies: 9 - 12 Months

Gross motor delays- advice? (long)

I don't even know why I'm writing this, I already know what to do, I just want some unbiased input, I guess.

DD is almost 10mos, and has some gross motor delays. She cannot get into a sitting position on her own, does not push up on her arms and legs, nowhere near crawling or pulling up, no army crawling or scooting, and can only support her weight standing supported for less than 30 seconds. These are of particular concern because there is a possibility of brain damage resulting from extremely low blood sugar at birth. Her pedi has noticed and commented on her delays, and said she is"significantly" delayed. At her 6 month appt, we talked about the possibility of brain damage, and he mentioned one of the things we need to look out for is dropping off of milestones. However, at her 9 month appt I asked about EI- and he said he didn't think it was needed right now, and that we should wait and see if she continues to drop off at her 12month appt. He said he anticipates it is in our future, but to wait and see.

In my gut, I feel like she needs EI now. I do understand that all babies develop at their own rate, but at the point that she is significantly delayed, and he thinks we'll need it anyway, why wait, just so she can fall further behind and have more catching up to do? Especially if this is possibly indicative of an underlying problem. I trust my pedi, he has been my son's since birth, and he was my DH's before that, but I think he's missing the mark on this.

I am planning on calling EI tomorrow to setup an evaluation. I guess I just want to know that I am being justified in this. My DH says to do whatever I think is best, but I think he would be just as content following pedi's advice. My ILs say she's perfect and to let it go, and I think my mom would have been sitting outside the home of the country's top developmental specialist by now. (I'm not kidding). I always tell other moms to trust their gut and be an advocate for their kid, so why am I second guessing myself?

Re: Gross motor delays- advice? (long)

  • Wow, that was ridiculously long. Sorry.
  • Follow your gut!
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  • Absolutely trust your gut.  You don't need a pediatrician's referral for EI, correct?  So just go with it- the sooner the better.  My bf's kids had speech delays & her son ended up having low muscle tone & a disorder on the autism spectrum.  They accessed EI for him & it was great- it's amazing to see how far this kid has come.  I can't imagine anything negative from going the 'sooner rather than later' route.  Best of luck to you!
  • Becuase it's harder to follow your own advice when it's your child involved, but follow you gut, it's not going to hurt to find out early, where it could be worse to find out later, right? Good luck :)
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  • I just took an EI class. The earlier you get your DD into it, if she needs it, the better off she will be.  Go with your gut on this one. And GL!
  • rara855rara855 member

    Seriously we are in the exact same position. EI is something that has been brought up with us also. I have a infant physical therapist on my local board and just called out to her about this earlier this weekend. Reading her words gave me comfort and hope. Also a mom from my local board went through EI and in home therapy and had wonderful results and raved about it. Big hugs I know how scary and frustrating this can be.

    https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/16276024.aspx

    ?Jackson can sit by himself but no crawling. ?I hope you have good results with EI. I would love to hear how it goes. Our pedi didn't want to do testing till 12 months. Since she felt that was the "milestone cut off" for crawling. Hugs.

  • Go with your gut! It will put your mind at ease.?
    Married 07.07.07. Mom to 3: Ruby 11/08 and Oliver & Austin 12/11
  • You should trust your gut! If you already know this is something you'll need in the near future, than why delay it... go for it now.

    Hugs. I am sure it's not easy coming to terms that your baby needs a little extra help. 

  • imagerara855:

    Seriously we are in the exact same position. EI is something that has been brought up with us also. I have a infant physical therapist on my local board and just called out to her about this earlier this weekend. Reading her words gave me comfort and hope. Also a mom from my local board went through EI and in home therapy and had wonderful results and raved about it. Big hugs I know how scary and frustrating this can be.

    https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/16276024.aspx

     Jackson can sit by himself but no crawling.  I hope you have good results with EI. I would love to hear how it goes. Our pedi didn't want to do testing till 12 months. Since she felt that was the "milestone cut off" for crawling. Hugs.

    It is scary and frustrating. I feel like its my fault. DD was technically a preemie too (36w4d), and then her blood sugar was so low for so long, and the NICU, I just feel like my body failed her. And then she had horrible reflux, and it was painful for her to lay down, so she didn't get a lot of early tummy/floor time. And now she's delayed. I feel so guilty, like I've failed her so far. When I see other babies her age or younger, doing all the things she should be doing, I get so sad. And I wonder if there IS something really wrong. Ugh. And I'm sure the PPD doesn't help. D@mn mommy guilt!

  • rara855rara855 member
    imagemeggiekins:
    imagerara855:

    Seriously we are in the exact same position. EI is something that has been brought up with us also. I have a infant physical therapist on my local board and just called out to her about this earlier this weekend. Reading her words gave me comfort and hope. Also a mom from my local board went through EI and in home therapy and had wonderful results and raved about it. Big hugs I know how scary and frustrating this can be.

    https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/16276024.aspx

    ?Jackson can sit by himself but no crawling. ?I hope you have good results with EI. I would love to hear how it goes. Our pedi didn't want to do testing till 12 months. Since she felt that was the "milestone cut off" for crawling. Hugs.

    It is scary and frustrating. I feel like its my fault. DD was technically a preemie too (36w4d), and then her blood sugar was so low for so long, and the NICU, I just feel like my body failed her. And then she had horrible reflux, and it was painful for her to lay down, so she didn't get a lot of early tummy/floor time. And now she's delayed. I feel so guilty, like I've failed her so far. When I see other babies her age or younger, doing all the things she should be doing, I get so sad. And I wonder if there IS something really wrong. Ugh. And I'm sure the PPD doesn't help. D@mn mommy guilt!

    I completely understand. Jackson was 35w6d. I know how hard it is to see babies and think. Gosh by now he could be doing... The PPd doesn't help the feeling of failure. I'm sorry you have that to deal with on top of the EI testing.

    We have to remember our bodies didn't fail our babies. They gave us our wonderful babies and we go from there. Jackson had FTT and I was a mess at first. Honestly I couldn't even think about tummy time, the first three months were spent with daily weigh in's and heel pricks. By the time I "thought" about it he hated being on his tummy. Still does.

    Like I said before Big hugs. If you feel like you need to go ahead with the EI now. I say go for it. I know for us we will need a pedi referral for our insurance to cover it. So depending on yours you may need to call them to get the ball rolling. At the end of the day, if a little help now helps in the future you are being the best parent you can by doing this now. I'd love to email back and forth if you ever wanted to talk or vent. :)

    rara855 {@} comcast.net?

  • Your daughter is beautiful! ?Great pic!

    Follow your instincts and call EI, as you plan on doing. ?Your reasoning is very valid. ?And, if you think you want more than EI will offer, I bet you can convince your pediatrician to go ahead and write a script for therapy. ?I don't think she would argue with you too much if you flat out asked for it. ?

    For what it is worth (I am not a PT, but am a ST), I don't think the delay you are describing sounds "significant" - very likely that I little early intervention will go a long way! ?

    GL?

  • I just took my DS to his 9 month and mentioned my concern about him not crawling or pushing up yet.  My pedi said we could start EI now if I wanted  OR wait 6 weeks to see if he is pulling himself up at that point (next milestone) and maybe he was just going to skip crawling.  He wanted me to call in 6 weeks with an update rather than waiting until his 12 month so we didn't waste any time if EI was needed. 

    I say follow your gut.  The earlier you can EI involved, the better off your child will be.  Good luck!

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