my child can't fall properly

my LO with low muscle tone and the PT i hate (LOL) is not able to fall. he can get up and down ok but when he falls, he falls backwards, always slamming his head on the ground. i've tried to teach him to fall the 'right way' but he just goes flying back. is this a sign of a problem or just something that will come.

 

I have no idea?? I don't think it's a sign of a future problem. Get rid of your PT!!! I know you are just a worried Mama :grouphug:

 

i know. one more week of her and then their 3 month eval.
he can walk; she told me he's in the 5th percentile....that walking is just the beginning and he should be able to do it by now?? :headbang:

 

My LO is around the same age and also always hits his head when he falls. Last weekend we were at a friend’s party and he fell twice on the concrete hitting the back of his head each time. I think he is just a little clumsy like me. I am sure yours and mine will get there eventually. I also recommend finding a new PT if you can...I know there not a lot of Pediatric PTs out there. Good luck with the evaluation!

 

If he's walking and in the 5th percentile how does that make sense. The normal range for walking goes up to 18 months??

 

RIGHT?!?! she said he's just 'starting' to walk and isn't fully walking everywhere, so therefore he falls at the 5th percentile.
that he is lacking some basic skills and even though he can walk that doesn't mean anything.
am i nuts for thinking she's nuts!?!??!

 

No ...this is what you need to do to her... :catfight: and then get rid of her. She just sounds like a negative person, total debbie downer. I bet she has no friends.

 

This doesn't make any sense to me. Neither of my kids were walking at 14 months. And no one ever suggested that they were "behind" (except for my MIL, but that's just her). I really hope you are able to find a new PT that's a better fit for your family.

 

hahaha. I AM GETTING RID OF HER! I SWEAR IT LADIES!
i was really just waiting until their 3 month evaluation and then telling my EI lady that i wanted someone new. i go back to work anyway so i thought a whole new thing just might be better. she is VERY negative. i didn't know that kids weren't suppose to be walking until 18 months, either. she is a bi**h!
i am so done with her and her rude criticisms. she also always makes weird faces when he mouths his toys. like hello lady - im sitting right here!

 

Maybe this will help, an exercise my SIL ( a PT ) insisted we do with our kids. Lay them on top of a medium to large size ball (belly to the ball) and roll the ball slowly forward. Place their arms above their head and have them touch the ground with their hands before their head hits. Its supposed to teach them to brace their fall with their hands, not their heads! LOL! Our kids loved doing, it was a big game to them. My boy falls all the time, all the stinkin time, but he does put his hands up to try and catch himself.

 

The more you tell me the more I hate her!!! My 3 year old neighbor (who is as typical as they come) still puts things in her mouth!!! Drives her mother nuts.

 

My Julia didn't walk until close to 18 months. She had (still has) very low muscle tone and her feet are pronated. She also did not put her arms out when she fell. Needless to say she had a goose egg of a bump on the front of her head constantly. One fall was so bad she got two black eyes. Our pedi recommended that we get her a bike helmet for play. We did buy the smallest we could find and for a couple of months or so for the most part when she was out playing she had her funny helment. She had less injuries and I felt much better when she fell. Just an idea.

 

UGH can't wait until you can get rid of her! Both my girls didn't walk until they were 14mo and walk perfectly fine now The boys can stand holding onto something but Tanner, doesn't know how to get down when standing yet he just screams for help! This lady sounds like a complete loon!

 

My girls just got the hang of walking at 14 months and both fell backwards. I don't think there is a problem here besides the PT. Good luck!

 

My one twin I knew at 15 months "something wasn't quite right" she wanted to walk but couldn't keep her balance. She was evaluated for hearing and it showed decreased hearing. She still saw many PT and with low tone -- seems to be the latest buzz word in PTs. Also she would often put EVERYTHING into her mouth -- yes I know they do at this age but at the park she'd be eating dirt or wood pieces. We later found she had low iron, and low B12. ( Iron had to be given with a juice with Vit C and it couldn't be given with milk. ) Now, she has come a long way. I think it is always good to err on the side of caution like you are doing but always trust your instincts. Your PT sucks but I'm sure there might be the odd tid bit that she may notice which you could ask a Pedi about later on. I got frustrated many times too numerous to mention but their job is to look for what is WRONG and sometimes they get wrapped up in looking for what is wrong instead of also seeing what is right. Plus, some can't balance what is "normal range" for a kid. It can feel like a long road sometimes, but wow I'm so happy with the results for my daughter.

Heather

 

OK, so I am a PT, & firstly please allow me to apologize - we aren't all like that!! I'm not a young pediatric PT, so I'm certainly no expert, but the advice given above is so totally sound & I would definitely start doing it. (I start working with kids when they are about 8 or 9, usually in the context of sports injuries or accidents; sometimes I actually pick up on kids with "low tone" who are developing these injuries because they have co-ordination problems). Low tone isn't really a buzz word, it has been around for a really long time, but what is so frustrating about it is that it is so general and non-specific. Some kids really have low resting muscle tone - as they get older, they are able to compensate more, but a lot of the time it is picked up in school age children because they have really poor handwriting & start misbehaving in class; or get injured trying to play sports because coordination is a problem for them. The poor things are expending so much energy just to stay sitting upright all day long, that they have no energy left for anything else!

I'm so sorry your PT is such a nasty person. It makes me wonder why on earth she is working with children :unknw: - she certainly doesn't sound like she is cut out for that job!

Here are a few other "playtime" therapy style interventions to try:

Hold your little one under the arms and "swoop" them down towards the floor; make airplane noises to encourage him to stick his arms out. You might notice that at first he cannot hold his legs out or his trunk straight, but as he gets older and more used to the "game" you will be encouraging trunk muscle development as well as encouraging the protective reflex of sticking your arms out in front of you when falling forward.

With the same big therapy ball you use for rolling forward, hold your little guy firmly around the chest, sit him on the ball & bounce him gently up & down. This will give really good input to his inner ear (vestibular system) which in turn encourages increased trunk tone.

I'll talk to some of the paediatric PT's I work with & come up with a few more ideas for you. But "normal" milestones for walking are 15-18 months. If there is no walking/step taking by 18 months then we do worry a little, but saying that, one of the twin Mummies in my playgroup didn't have walkers until 19 1/2 months, & everything was normal - they just got around faster while crawling! They are 21 months old now & walking everywhere.

Hang in there, & definitely ditch that mean, nasty PT. She is giving all of us a rotten name, I HATE that! :gah:

 

THANK YOU :hug:
i will try these! he never really crawled. he army crawled around the house AND CAN CRAWL ON all fours! (quadroped!) BUT he doesn't go 'as fast' as she would like.
i hate this woman.
LOL.
he walks everywhere! he can hold my hand and we can walk outside and in stores together too. that doesn't sound like the FIFTH PERCENTILE TO ME!