Gross Motor Skills

 Malcolm is doing great in the development department. He gets plenty of love and stimulation from his siblings. We are always trying to make sure he has the opportunity to strengthen his muscles.

 
Children with Down Syndrome usually have low muscle tone (hypotonia) so it is to their advantage to do certian repetitive exercises.  I learned of a book called "Gross Motor Skills in Children with Down Syndrome, a Guide for Parents and Professionals" by Patricia C.Winders, P.T. from another blogger at Pondered In My Heart.

 
At first I was a bit overwhelmed by all of the info in the book but soon realized it is broken down by stages and each stage is broken down further into activities. Today we worked on stage 1, activity 1,  Supported  Side-lying.

 
 The activity consists of putting your baby on his side supported by a cushion or some sort of back support. Put a colorful toy in front of him and shake it to get his attention. Try to get him to reach out and grasp the toy.

 
Something  I learned was that  the right toy is very important. The baby must be able to see the toy and it really needs to be one that is fairly easy to grasp, not to fat and have enough places to be able to grip the toy well. The toy in the second and third picture isn't suitable because it is too flat and could not be put in a  standing position where baby could see it or reach out for it.

 
 With the right toy and  hard work Malcolm was able to achieve the goal of grabbing the toy. In this position he really had to use quite a few of his muscles to reach out and focus on getting the prize.

 
I was so proud of his efforts, he was determined to get it and he did.

 
His lil' hands were workin' and he had a great time trying to get it to his mouth. Not bad for 3 1/2 months.

 Even though he didn't get the toy in his mouth he managed to suck on his arm. He has been doing this often but I'm trying to discourage it because he gave himself a hickie the other day.

 
Any way stage 1 , activity 1 was a success for today. Malcolm is a champ and is on his way to the special olympics (lol). Maybe some day but for now we'll keep practicing this and working on these gross motor skills. Go Malcolm!!

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Mary]

Yay!