Our PT delivered her own bundle of joy last week, so this week we met with a new therapist, which brings some new ideas. They recently had a presentation from PT students about treadmill training with Down syndrome kids. Studies have been done starting as young as 3 months, but usually 6-7 months of age. With frequent therapy, some up to twice a day, the kiddos with treadmill therapy were walking an average of 100 days sooner.
Basically the therapist had a bench over the treadmill to sit on and supported Eisley's upper body. Then allowed her feet to go with the treadmill (set at a mere 0.1). Sometimes she just let her feet slide along for the ride, but there were a few episodes that she actually took 2 or 3 steps and once 6 steps. The process helps them to learn the pattern of walking and eventually helps them build the muscles to walk as well.
Hmmm...maybe we'll have to invest in a treadmill for both Eisley and I. I just can't seem to find the motivation to leave my babes and hit the gym.
On another walking note, Sean's uncle (a PT for IA schools) was telling us about another study done with infants and exersaucers. For every 24 hours spent in the exersaucer, the child lagged behind 10 days in walking compared to those not in an exersaucer. Not that you should ban exersaucer use entirely, but just not to use it for long periods of time every day.
Spending most of my career at a teaching hospital and surrounded by research, it's nice to see that the therapists are on top of and interested by the cutting edge info as well.
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| A little tub therapy from days prior |
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| Finally got one of the toys, they float away SO quickly! |
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