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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

8 month old Visually Impaired baby not sitting up

18 replies

mrjaz · 04/07/2015 21:26

Our 8 month old has been diagnosed at having very poor vision.

Her poor vision means that she is behind on her development milestones. However, we know that she will get there eventually but it will take her a bit longer.

We started her on solids a couple of months, she loves food but due to her poor vision, she is not sitting up yet, which would seem to be due to her poor coordination rather than a lack of muscle strength.

Feeding her is a messy job due to her lack of body control. We even tried her in a bumbo today but she just isn't ready for it yet.

Does anybody have any ideas on how to build up her balance so that she will learn how to sit up?

OP posts:

Zephyroux · 04/07/2015 21:30

I'm not sure on how to build up her balance but wondered whether you have heard of portage. They might be able to help and in my experience are very good at helping to build skills like this.

SillyBub · 04/07/2015 21:31

My DC1 didn't sit until he was 12.5 months old and he had no impairments, SEN or disabilities. She'll get there in her own time

purpleme12 · 04/07/2015 21:32

My baby isn't visually impaired and didn't sit til a week before turning 10 months so I wouldn't worry at this stage really. I think they start to look into it when they're not sitting at 10 months. My little girl reached all her milestones on the late end of normal

ElphabaTheGreen · 04/07/2015 21:36

What sort of therapy input are you having? Is the visual impairment a symptom of an overall syndrome of some kind? What you're describing sounds more like a generalised hypotonia (low tone in the muscles) if she can't manage a bumbo rather than a coordination problem or related to vision. What does she do when you put her on her tummy? That would be my next step - she needs to build up her extensors to help her get and remain upright. Stroke firmly down the muscles either side of her spine and tickle her back while she's on her tummy to stimulate the extensor muscles to work.

Original poster

mrjaz · 04/07/2015 21:45

It is just poor vision that she has, she has been given the all clear in all other areas.

She has an eye condition that also my wife was born with.

My wife is convinced that it is due to a lack of cordination rather than muscle strength as she is able to roll over without a problem.

OP posts:

purpleme12 · 04/07/2015 21:52

My baby could roll over loads before she could sit too. And she also didn't like the bumbo either

bishboschone · 04/07/2015 21:57

My son is visually impaired .. He didn't sit until he was 10 months . Have you got a jumperoo ? This really helped my son . Also I use to wedge him in between my legs and play with stuff in front of me , gradually I moved backwards so he had to use his muscles to get stronger .. It was a long road but we got there . I used an ikea high chair as it was comfy for him and easy to clean .

bishboschone · 04/07/2015 21:58

Does she have glasses ?

Original poster

mrjaz · 04/07/2015 22:06

Bishboschone - thank you for your thoughts, really interesting.

Bristol Eye Hospital do not think glasses will help at the moment.

OP posts:

penny13610 · 04/07/2015 22:10

DTS2 could walk before he could sit on his bum. He went from kneeling to crawling to walking and then eventually sitting. They don't all gain milestones in the right order.

bishboschone · 04/07/2015 22:16

Interesting . My son is long sighted .. His development improved immensely once he got the glasses .

Original poster

mrjaz · 04/07/2015 22:42

Reeva was born with damaged nerves in her eyes, think it's her cones.

The hospital was only able to tell by doing loads of electrical testing to see what messages were being sent from her brain to her eyes.

The sitting up dilemma is just one of the many dilemmas that we have at the moment ad we are trying to decide about childcare, where she sleeps and many other things.

OP posts:

RobotHamster · 04/07/2015 22:44

Is she having any physio?

bakingtins · 04/07/2015 22:51

My daughter has delayed development due to a form of epilepsy and we see Kirsteen Chalcraft at Bradley Stoke Physio, (private physio specialising in development delay £40 for an assessment) if you are in/near Bristol and looking for something. My DD sat at 10 months and is now on the cusp of crawling at 13 months. If she can't sit supported then I Would want to investigate if she has issues with core strength or muscle tone in general.

backtowork2015 · 04/07/2015 23:07

would a 'tot seat' fabric highchair help keep her upright for feeding?

DeeWe · 04/07/2015 23:15

I don't know but I'd guess that it would be harder to balance if you can't see to right yourself.

Ever tried standing on one leg with your eyes closed? We did that once as an experiment at school and found most people could stand for 5 minutes with their eyes open, but I don't think anyone made more than a minute with their eyes shut.

Dd2 was born without a hand and I was told she might be later to sit as she would have to learn to make more adjustments to balance as she wasn't even sides. She was walking long before she sat, so I don't think balance was actually her issue there though.

mackerella · 04/07/2015 23:19

My son is visually impaired and was slightly slow to sit up, crawl, walk, etc - all totally normal for a baby with sight loss. Something that really surprised us after DS was diagnosed was learning how crucial vision is for all aspects of development! For example, sighted children learn to speak partly by watching people's mouths move (and copying), they learn to crawl by spotting a toy just out of reach and trying to move towards it, and so on. Children with VI may need to be "taught" these skills more than sighted children, and they may also need more encouragement to sit or stand if they feel unsafe not being in contact with the ground. Generally speaking, the more severe the VI, the slower a child will be to gain these skills (although they all get there in the end, assuming no other issues ).

Has your DD got a QTVI (visual impairment teacher) yet? Ours had lots of useful ideas about supporting DS's development, and also gave us the Early Support Developmental Journal that is designed especially for babies and toddlers with VI (so it adjusts milestones to take that into account). There's also a very good Developmental Vision clinic at Great Ormond Street where they can assess your child's development and give advice/information about development. We found it very helpful - if you need more information about it, just PM me.

mackerella · 04/07/2015 23:25

X-posted with DeWee there! Yes, the VI itself can cause slight developmental delays (or not - all children are different and your DD may not have sat at this age even without an eye condition ), so I would get expert advice if you can. One of the things that we found difficult at first with DS was disentangling the difficulties he had due to his visual impairment from any difficulties that were caused by something else (e.g. poor muscle tone), or from things that were just the way he happened to be!

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