Community› The Bump Message Boards› Preemies
Preemies
New Discussion

OT vent

lemen99lemen99 member
in Preemies

I hate Occupational Therapy days.  DS is always a monster on those days.  The OT comes for an hour to work with Andrew.  That seems like a LONG time to me, considering he's just an infant.  A lot of the time I have to wake him up for therapy, but even when he wakes up just before, he ends up being cranky the rest of the day.  It never fails.

DS has been up since 1:30 and is just a freakin' mess.  

Anyone else?  suggestions?  

It sucks.  She comes on my only day off with DS and I hate it because that means it "ruins" our day together. :(:( 

Report Reply to Post

Re: OT vent

  • sweetpea18sweetpea18 member

    I'm an OT and an hour seems like a long time to me!  I've never worked in peds, but an hour long session is long for almost anyone receiving therapy! Can you ask her to maybe only do 30 minute session and as he gets a little older and can tolerate more, increase the time?  Or can she split the session into two 30 minutes sessions during the week?

    Typically, with home health services, there is no set time per treatment-the therapist determines the amount of time they work with the patient.  I would just ask her why she does an hour long treatment. 

     

    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • lemen99lemen99 member
    Yeah, that's what I was thinking, but figured I didn't know what I was talking about.  Thanks so much for your input.
    Report Reply
  • mek10976mek10976

    We had EI for 1hr. until I went back to work.  One hour is really long, so our time included her write-up.  She was really flexible and understood that sometimes DS would only last about 20 min. before getting cranky.  She went with the flow.  Sometimes I could call her right when he fell alseep for a nap and change our meeting time.  Maybe talk with your OT and discuss your concerns and if he/she has any suggestions.  They may say that can shorten sessions.

    Report Reply
  • TriciaJoyTriciaJoy member

    Robbie's always done an hour and usually does fine, but if he starts to get cranky about things, she'll switch to something else, usually feeding or sensory stuff.

    Also, once I went back to work, they went to daycare to work with him. I try to take a day off once a month and be present for a session to keep up on new things we should be doing at home, and I email w/his OTa frequently as well. (And PT, for that matter.)

    I'm sorry it's going to cruddy. Robbie has never really minded it. I don't think I realize how lucky I was!

     

    Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickersLilypie First Birthday tickers
    My Blog
    Report Reply
  • lemen99lemen99 member
    imagemek10976:

    Sometimes I could call her right when he fell alseep for a nap and change our meeting time. 

    I need this.

    Report Reply
  • lstaylor73lstaylor73
    We have one hour sessions twice a week and really half the time is spent just getting the boys to play with our OTs (we work with 3 different people right now) so that they warm up to the person and the other half to actually do the OT work.  Maybe a little more friendly play at the start of the session will help him warm up.  Also, consider changing the time so you don't have to wake him up. 
    Report Reply
  • gizmo909gizmo909
    I'm an OT as well and I completely agree with previous posters on this one... an hour seems like a long time.  It's been a few years since I worked in peds, but when I did, we only saw patients for 30 minutes.  Usually only high level patients are seen for an hour.  I would talk with her and see if she would agree to varying the time she sees him each session based on how she is doing.  She may have a reason for seeing him for that amount of time (company policy - there are a few therapy companies in our area that have time requirements of how long the therapists see each patient.  Which is BS in my opinion but that's neither here nor there!)  She should be able to individualize his therapy based on his personal needs.
    Warning No formatter is installed for the format bbhtml
    Report Reply
  • mnberry18mnberry18

    like the pp said, our session is about an hour but includes her write up and a few minutes of talking to us. so overall probably 30 maybe 40 minutes of doing exercises, which is still very exhausting for him

    Report Reply
  • lemen99lemen99 member

    imagelstaylor73:
    We have one hour sessions twice a week and really half the time is spent just getting the boys to play with our OTs (we work with 3 different people right now) so that they warm up to the person and the other half to actually do the OT work.  Maybe a little more friendly play at the start of the session will help him warm up.  Also, consider changing the time so you don't have to wake him up. 

    We changed the time once - but Andrew is not even close to a routine, so we never know when he'll be sleeping.  It's anyone's guess as to if we'll have to wake him. :(

    Report Reply
  • lemen99lemen99 member

    The OT says he needs an hour. boo. :(

    Report Reply
  • JenniferHollyJenniferHolly
    My guys LOVE their OT and she makes the hour she spends with them really fun! I wonder if you just need a better OT?
    Report Reply
  • AviatorJJAviatorJJ
    why can't she just do 30 min twice a week? can she come at a better time that better suits you and your baby? that's crazy to have to wake him up for it, no wonder he is so grouchy!


    Rowen Alexander born 10 weeks early 1/28/07

    www.4wquestions.blogspot.com
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"