Infant Motor Milestone Physiotherapy Assessment
When it comes to infant motor development milestones, it can be difficult to know where your baby lies in the varying ranges of “normal.” If you have concerns about how your child is developing, they may benefit from a physiotherapy infant motor development milestone assessment to determine if there is are any active interventions or exercises you would benefit from performing at home to get them back on track.
What are motor milestones?
There are specific age-ranges where we expect to see certain infant motor skills development in infants. The skills associated with physical movements are known as motor milestones. A common example of an Infant milestone is reaching hands to grasp feet as well as rolling over, sitting independently, pulling to stand, and walking.
What is motor milestone delay?
Each skill anticipated in infant motor development has a typical range associated with when we expect them to acquire and master that skill. These time ranges are quite variable, but when an infant moves outside of these expected timelines, it may indicate a motor milestone delay. Delays can happen for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:
– A lack of opportunity: for example, your baby may not pull themself up to stand if all of their toys/ exciting objects are on the ground
– A lack of space: children need room to explore and move to acquire skills, so if they are spending most of their time contained in small spaces, they may struggle to progress in their motor milestones
– Weakness or low tone: some children have more weakness in their core muscles, typically defined as hypotonia or low tone. These children have more difficulty holding their bodies upright and may need facilitation to improve their core strength to develop their motor milestones
– Other conditions or developmental disorders: children with developmental disabilities often lay outside of the “typical: ranges of motor milestone development and acquisition, and need an individualized approach to achieving their gross motor gains
What does an infant physiotherapy motor milestone assessment look like?
At your first assessment, our physiotherapists will take time to learn about you and your child to get a better idea of what may be causing a motor infant milestone delay. We will ask questions about pregnancy, birth, and day-to-day life with your child, including sleeping, feeding, and what skills they have and have not acquired.
Our physiotherapists will then perform a physical assessment including but not limited to looking at range of motion, strength, functional movements, sensory integration, and play skills. We will often use specific outcome measures such as the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) for milestones and craniometers to measure head shape if there are concerns of a flat spot (known as plagiocephaly).
The physiotherapist will then see what movements they can facilitate or help your child achieve with a bit of hands-on cueing and support. These infant physiotherapy exercises are performed in a play-based setting with toys and specialized pediatric equipment used to facilitate the acquisition of new skills.
Your physiotherapist will always accompany this assessment with education on their findings, recommendations for any equipment deemed appropriate, and an individualized home exercise program, including pictures, videos, and detailed instructions through an online application.
Subsequent treatments will involve infant milestone re-assessments of outcome measures and hands-on therapy to continue to work toward your goals and getting your child back on ‘track’ for optimizing gross infant motor development.
How Alpha Health Services Can Help Your Infant Reach Their Motor Milestones
Our team of pediatric physiotherapists can perform detailed, individualized motor milestone assessments aimed at helping ensure that your child has the tools and education they need to acquire age-appropriate skills. If you have any concerns about how your child is progressing in their development, an infant motor scale and infant milestone assessment is a good place to start to ensure you leave with tangible education and tools to help your child thrive.
See what ALPHA families are saying about infant motor milestone assessments:
“Recently I went to ALPHA because I was worried about my 11 month old. She wasn’t hitting her motor milestones and I was starting to freak out a little. I saw Kali and she was amazing! She reassured me about my baby girl’s development, was very patient with assessing her, and came up with some movements we could incorporate into our daily play. Within 2 days, my daughter was hitting the milestones she was missing before seeing Kali at Alpha. Highly recommend going here – whether for an adult or pediatric assessment!”
–Kali Haydenluck, Registered Physiotherapist
Click here to book with Kali!