HMG: The Wedge – 12/8

Now that she is over 7 months old, Averi is learning to do some fun new things. We recently got the highchair out and she loves sitting up and playing with us in the kitchen and during meals.

She has also finally learned to ROLL OVER from her back to her stomach. It doesn’t happen all the time yet, but she is definitely getting there. She started by getting everything over except for her shoulder.

Then, the other day, I heard her crying and when I went to check on her I found her lying on her stomach upset that her arm was stuck underneath her. :)

It just recently hit me that Averi is going to be developmentally delayed. Obviously I already knew this, but seeing it happen is completely different. During our last Help Me Grow session we were told several things that Averi needs to be working on.

Her legs flop out because of low muscle tone so whenever she is sitting in a highchair or car seat we put blankets on either side of her legs to help turn them in and keep them together.

Averi arches back when put in a sitting position, again because of her low muscle tone (she tries to compensate for having no muscle to hold her up by locking every muscle in her body), so we are propping her up with pillows all the way around her and teaching her to lean forward by bribing her with toys.

We’re still working on imitating sounds with her because she hasn’t started making consonant sounds yet like dada or baba. She is becoming quite vocal, however, and will let you know when she wants some attention.

The thing that Susan was really worried about was Averi’s reaction to tummy time. When put on her stomach she would just leave her face down and suck on her hands, not trying to lift head much or use her arms at all. Her legs are pretty strong but she isn’t using her arms as much. The solution came a few days later after Susan talked to the PT and returned with a big wedge.

The wedge holds Averi at a 30 degree angle so that she doesn’t have to work so hard against gravity to push up onto her forearms.The difference was like night and day. I couldn’t believe it. Now she will sit up on her forearms and even smile for a good 10 minutes of tummy time.
As she gets stronger we can slowly raise the bottom end of the wedge until she is lying horizontally.