Anyone else - Developmental Delay?

preggersINschool25 · October 2012

Hey I really belong on the 6-9 board, but I wanted to pop over here to see if anyone is/has dealt with a baby with developmental delay.

My son doesn't reach for anything. He will grab things intentionally if placed by his hands, but he does not intentionally reach for anything, ever. He is going to be getting physical therapy starting tomorrow.

I also took him to a different pedi and that one recommended speech therapy too because he is not saying any "ma, da, ca, ba" type of sounds.

At first I felt good about therapy, but then I started thinking - How do you get a baby to do something that they don't want to do?? Then I thought, well maybe there is more of a reason why he isn't doing these things. Is there more of an underlying issue (medical or mental)?

So if you have/had a baby that wasn't meeting milestones to the extent that they have a developmental delay - Could you tell me your story? Thanks!

preggersINschool25 · October 2012

It isn't pointing that I am concerned about, it is reaching for things. He might stare at an object, but he never reaches for it. There is a very noticeable difference between what my LO is doing and what babies much younger than him can do. There is no question on him having a delay on this ability. He has been evaluated by 2 pediatricians and 2 physical/occupational therapist. We had to "qualify" for therapy, which we did, and we start tomorrow.

This is what your website says for 6 month olds:

Act early by talking to your child?s doctor if your child:

Doesn?t try to get things that are in reach
Shows no affection for caregivers
Doesn?t respond to sounds around him
Has difficulty getting things to mouth
Doesn?t make vowel sounds (?ah?, ?eh?, ?oh?)
Doesn?t roll over in either direction
Doesn?t laugh or make squealing sounds
Seems very stiff, with tight muscles
Seems very floppy, like a rag doll

He isn't making the vowel sounds. He is only squealing. My new pediatrician recommended the speech therapy. Trust me, I don't know what good speech therapy is going to do for a baby this young... but I am just trying to be proactive. I am more concerned with his lack of reaching, and the fact he doesn't use his arms to push up at all during tummy time.

My post is less about needing reassurance that nothing is wrong or not to worry and more about wanting to know someone else's experience with a developmental delay.

kerischrader · October 2012

Use the therapy! We had to go through that process due to DS's congenital hypothyroidism at birth, yet didn't qualify. I worked with children with delays in the past and therapy can really help a lot, they know what they are doing! You are doing the right thing and taking action now....as your LO grows you will know more. But for now you are doing the best thing and being proactive. Good job Mama, try not to stress, and just love and support your little one.... it will all work out!

crystaleyes39 · October 2012

My girls were born 2 months early and have been on the slower side of getting the hang of things from day one since their age is really ajdusted. We go for follow ups w/ the NICU at the hospital and the physical therapist there had told me that my girls are really delayed after only a few minutes of looking at them...BUT then we had them evaluated by early intervention (a whole team of therapists) at our house and they said our girls are right on track. We still are having our one daughter get PT and ST twice a month because of some tongue thrusting when eating and she's a little more awkward w/ her movements being that she had mild torticollis. I have nothing against the therapy, i figure it can't hurt. Also, on a side note....as a mom haven't twins you can't help but compare one baby to the other and what one is doing over the other, but I've learned they eventually always catch up and every baby is different. If you think PT will help go for it and i'm sure he will catch up when he's ready!

brewcitybride · October 2012

From everything I have experienced and read about, all babies reach milestones at different ages. That first year is one huge lump of milestones - but development happens at different times for different babies. The reason for concern comes in when many things aren't developing at ALL. However, only you and your pediatrician can determine if there is a need for therapy, and it sounds like you are already doing that. I would give it time and see what happens as the first year keeps going along, into the second year. Sometimes a baby you think is developmentally delayed in one area will pick up that missing skills in a matter of days!

brideinsummer04 · October 2012

DS has physical delays and gets occupational therapy and physical therapy. I'm not sure if you are talking about private physical therapy. If so I would highly recommend early intervention services. The therapists will come to your home and teach you what to do with him. Best if all it's free. In my state it takes quite a long time to actually get the services so if I were you I would start the process sooner rather than later. With EI my son is now on track with many things and not so far behind with others.

I am now editing this bc i reread and it sounds like you are talking about EI. I agree with a pp that it can't hurt. IMO better to get help early rather than find out later you should have done something. My son had grasping issues too and that's why he qualified for OT. You said your LO will be getting PT, what about OT? OT is usually for grasping problems bc that's a fine motor skill while PT is usually for gross motor.

preggersINschool25 · October 2012

brideinsummer04:
DS has physical delays and gets occupational therapy and physical therapy. I'm not sure if you are talking about private physical therapy. If so I would highly recommend early intervention services. The therapists will come to your home and teach you what to do with him. Best if all it's free. In my state it takes quite a long time to actually get the services so if I were you I would start the process sooner rather than later. With EI my son is now on track with many things and not so far behind with others. I am now editing this bc i reread and it sounds like you are talking about EI. I agree with a pp that it can't hurt. IMO better to get help early rather than find out later you should have done something. My son had grasping issues too and that's why he qualified for OT. You said your LO will be getting PT, what about OT? OT is usually for grasping problems bc that's a fine motor skill while PT is usually for gross motor.

I didn't know that what I am doing is called early intervention, but I think that is right. It is a state run program and co-pays are based on your income. It just happens that my PT is also trained in OT, but I was assigned a PT because it's not that he can't grab things. It's that he doesn't use his arms to reach for them. I can get him to hold things if I touch them to his hand. It did take forever... it took 6 weeks from the referral until our first appointment with the PT.

Could you please tell me more about your story? I would really like to hear how you and/or pedi came to the conclusion your little one was delayed. How you felt about the whole therapy process from start to now. If you needed to take any other steps other than therapy such as seeing a neurologist. If your LO was just delayed or if it ended up being something more (medical?)... Anything you wanted to share, I would really love to hear. I feel really alone and I don't have anyone who has gone through anything like this before. Thanks!

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Anyone else - Developmental Delay?

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Act early by talking to your child?s doctor if your child:

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