Developmental Delay is when an infant or toddler does not reach typical motor milestones Typically, milestones are met at the following ages:

• Good Head Control (can hold head up on their own): 4 to 6 weeks

• Rolling Over: 3 – 4 months

• Sitting Up Independently: 4 to 7 months

• Crawling: 8 to 12 months

• Walking: 12 months to 18 months

• Running/Kicking/Carrying Things: 19 to 24 months

• Developmental Delay can be experienced as your baby crying or “protesting” during tummy time, practicing sitting up, being put in the crawling position, or practicing walking.
  

Your child will get better in … 6 to 12 visits!

Treatment for Developmental Delay:

• Begins with a individualized, thorough evaluation of your child’s current abilities, function and daily activity

• Then, an easy, specific activity and exercise plan is developed to facilitate reaching the next milestone efficiently and effectively

• Parent Education – the findings of the evaluation, the rationale behind the treatment plan, and how you can help your child get there!

• Infant Torticollis is an imbalance in muscle function, strength and range of motion in an infant’s neck

• It can be observed as the infant favoring looking one direction with the inability to look the opposite way. It can also be observed as significant head or face asymmetry

• Infant Torticollis is most commonly caused by spending too much time looking one direction versus the other in early infant stages (i.e. feeding in same position, sleeping in same position, letting head fall one direction in baby seat, etc.)

• Common in babies born with misshapen heads due to position in utero – if head is heavier on one side than the other, it is easy to look one direction, and difficult to look the other.. Also common for babies with reflux – as they often have to sleep reclined in their baby carrier and their head flops to one side more than the other. An infant’s neck strength increases rapidly in the first month of life so asymmetries arise quickly with any “uneven” function.

• Less commonly, Infant Torticollis is caused by a neurologically over-active neck muscle (Sternocleidomastoid Muscle -SCM). In this case, it presents the same, but the underlying cause is neurological.

• Infant Torticollis is always treatable, but heals fastest and easiest with physical therapy when treatment begins before 6 months.

Your baby is going to get better in… 6 to 12 visits!

Infant Torticollis Treatment includes:

• Gentle, hands-on, soft tissue work and passive range of motion of the neck

• Parent education on sleeping, eating and playing positions

• A specific therapeutic exercise program to balance neck muscles and range of motion in all positions

• Treating Infant Torticollis early creates the best outcome! If Infant Torticollis or an imbalance in neck strength or head shape appears early and is left untreated, it can slow motor development in children and will worsen overtime. This often shows up as the inability to roll both directions, reach both directions, sit stably, or want to crawl.