Melissa:
As a physical therapist, there are many different settings and age ranges we can work with. My specialty is pediatrics and what some people don’t know is that PTs can see patients as soon as they are born. While I do not see newborns here, like I would in a hospital setting, I do see them as early as a couple months old.
Every child develops differently and in their own way, but sometimes they need a little help from a physical therapist.
I once worked with a little girl who was very behind on her developmental milestones. This little girl was close to a year old and not sitting up on her own. She was also having difficulty rolling over. These are skills that I helped her work on. Let me tell you, infants get just as tired as adults do with therapy-they just tend to be more vocal and cry! We took frequent rest breaks and used play as a distraction while she was still working hard at the tasks at hand.
The greatest joy I get from being a physical therapist is working on the skills that most of us take for granted because we can do them so easily. When this little girl was able to sit up on her own, she became much more interested in her environment and surroundings. She wanted to see what was going on and interact with everyone. This was great motivation to continue to work on her skills to catch up back up and to meet those milestones.
If you have concerns about your infant/child’s development please give us a call at 253.237.3405 for a “Discovery Visit” to see how we can help!