19 May Noticed that your baby is delayed in their rolling, sitting, crawling and walking compared to their peers

Noticed that your baby is delayed in their rolling, sitting, crawling and walking compared to their peersWondering why is your baby delayed in their gross motor skills

If you have answered yes to any of the above statements, rest assured you are not alone. Here at My Favourite Physio, our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists see many families who have exactly the same concerns and experiences as you do. Parents would often ask “Why is my child delayed? Was it something I ate or did during my pregnancy?”

So to help parents out there who have the same thoughts, here are 3 common reasons why babies may be delayed in their gross motor skills… (and none of them are a result of what mum ate or did during their pregnancy!)

1. Lack of Tummy Time play for baby each day. There are many babies who don’t tolerate Tummy Time play due to reflux or being irritable. We recommend that babies begin Tummy Time right from Day 1, and we teach parents how to help their baby learn to tolerate Tummy Time play so that baby can build strength in their neck muscles to hold their head up. This is the foundation to baby developing their gross motor skills.

2. Baby has learnt Adaptive Movement Patterns which is inhibiting them from learning their gross motor skills milestones. For example a baby who had reflux, did not tolerate Tummy Time play spends a lot of time in propped sitting, soon learns to bum shuffle to move. So this child will have difficulty then learning to move into a kneeling position to crawl.

2. Baby has Low Muscle Tone or High Muscle Tone which limits their ability to move easily. Babies who have low muscle tone tend to feel floppy when you carry them, and it can feel like their head is too heavy for them to even lift when on their tummy. While babies with high muscle tone tend to feel stiff like a board and wanting to stand and straighten up all the time. To determine your baby’s muscle tone, it is best to see an Expert Paediatric Physiotherapist.

If you are concerned about your baby’s gross motor skills, ring My Favourite Physio on (02) 9790 4233 or DM us @myfavouritephysio to speak to one of our Expert Paediatric Physiotherapists today!