Q+A With A Physical Therapist

We saw how much you loved our last partnership about the physical therapist tips, so we decided to partner with another Physical Therapist, Olivia Reyes, The Baby PT. Specializing in treating babies from newborn to three years, Olivia shares her most commonly asked questions below:

• What does Physical Therapy look like for a baby in that age range?

"We treat specific diagnosis like cerebral palsy, spina bifida, down syndrome, and then we also treat developmental delays and do a lot of education on promoting milestones, gross motor skills, things to help them develop and flourish in their first three years of life!"

• How can I make tummy time more tolerable?

"One way I like to make tummy time easier is to lower your expectations as a parent, we aren't going to get long bouts of tummy time initially it is something that we have to work up to for your little one! If they can only tolerate a minute to two minutes at a time, great! That's awesome, we definitely want to give them that credit! Let's do 1-2 minutes after their morning feed, and let's try it again after lunch or before bath time or after bath time! Then, cumulatively you have gotten a good substantial chunk of tummy time throughout the day! Another one to make tummy time a lot easier is to start with a modified tummy time position. Modified tummy time is anywhere on your chest, on a pillow, on a a wedge, on a stack of pillows verses completely horizontal on the floor. That will help your baby lift their head feeling more successful!"

• How do I help my baby crawl?

"I always say, in order to crawl you have to be able to do two things, you have to be able to sit on your own, or very close to on your own and two, they have to be able to hold that hands and knees position by themselves. Those two skills are going to take a lot out of your baby, so they are great places to start. I have a sitting and crawling masterclass available on my website where we get into the nitty gritty of everything, I give you tips, tricks, exercises, activities, and we troubleshoot for those funky crawlers, army crawlers, all of that is on my website so make sure you check that out!"

• How to tell if your baby has reflux?

"First, the spitting and vomiting, not gaining weight, really intense bottle refusal. But what I commonly see as a movement expert, as a developmental specialist is that overarching, what we call extensor tone, where they just want to expand their chest, and they either lay back and arch or stiffen up really significantly. A big concern we have when your baby has reflux, is that your baby is not going to have a lot of experience or time spent on their tummy, because it's uncomfortable so we give really good tips and tricks to stay on track with all of their skills."