Whoop! Ds has just crawled!!!!

[hazeyjane]

Ds is 21 months, he can do a wobbly walk holding onto a walker, but has never crawled, as he has very low tone in arms, but this morning he did it!!

A wonky, wobbly crab crawl to get a ball that rolled away from him. Dh and I ran around the house high fiving each other, while dds looked on bemused!

It has made my Easter

If you can sit her in the 'bunny position' (lol its easter) then gently lift her bum so that she is in 4 point. Then rock her back and forward and shifting weight left and right through her shoulders. Its what NT babies do pre crawl. Make sure you've got an arm under her chest or she might face plant in the carpet and that will really put her off! It builds up strength and sensation through her arms and shoulders. Make sure her hands are open to get maximum sensation.

Have been reading ABM book and on the basis of what anat baniel writes I would do these movements very very slowly. You need to read to book to understand why! I suspect your DD is anxious in this position more than anything and just needs to strengthen and aclimatise.

Sleepstarved - ds seems to have really weak arms, he is also a really big boy but his arms are skinny, making it more difficult to bear the weight.

We did a lot of over the knee stuff when he was younger (just over a year), we did a lot of putting him into a crawling position and holding the whole length of his arms, moving his legs and arms for him so that he could get the co-ordination of it, IYSWIM. The thing that i think helped most was kneeling him against the stairs, and lifting his arms and legs up so that he could climb the stairs - he loved doing this, which i think encouraged him to crawl, and it must have helped strengthen his arms (it is a killer for my back though!)

If you had asked me a week ago, whether he would ever crawl, i would have said, 'probably not', but he seems to have suddenly got it.

sleepstarved, have you tried rolling her on a physio ball, it helped dd3 a lot? You'd lay her on the ball on her tummy and roll it slowly forward so she has to put her arms down on the floor to stop the roll, you can then control how much weight she has to put through her arms and as she's supported by the ball so she only has her arms to think about.

Sally, Sneeze, Hazy and Ninja, thank you so much for your suggestions.
We do have her on all fours across our legs and she can get from sitting to that position and back again ok.Physio also gave us a roller to do that with too.
Ninja, Our fit ball is too big for her to lie on and be able to reach the floor but I will get DH to ask physio about that this week.
Sneeze, I am not sure what you mean when you say bunny position.
Would that be a low kneel, sitting with her bum on her heels?
Hazy, did you push DS to do stuff even if he protested and got upset? Our physio says we have to but I am torn between pushing her to do a bit more each time but not going so far that she loses trust in us or stops cooperating altogether. Fine line I guess.

I would never push to the point where they get upset and tearful about it. What would be the point? Hardly a very rewarding experience. Lots of encouragement, rewards and incentives plus heaps of praise. Stuff that I am sure you are doing already. Remember though, that some kids never crawl. There are other ways to strengthen their core and arms that might not be so stressful.

Stairs are a very good idea (unfortunately DGS gets too excited and arches back, causing major backache!).

Bunny position is as you say. If you've not got it get this book - its the best thing ever, loads of pictures, explanations, very good descriptions, and explanations about the various types of CP and how to manage them. Honestly the best book we have ever seen (we've got quite a few!). Bunny position enables them to transition to sitting, high kneeling, pull to standing etc as well as put weight through their arms and shoulders.

wrt the physio ball. We had a big one too and when DGS was the same age as your DD one of us would control his shoulders (draped over the ball) and one of us his hips and we would roll him onto his hands as ninja says, then roll him back onto flat feet and let him take his weight. Def needs 2, i wouldnt risk only one person. We now lean him over the ball and get him to pick up one of the animals lined up there as we roll him over. Its to strengthen his weak trunk end encourage reaching.

Agree totally with sallybear, if the LO doesnt enjoy it he's not learning! In fact it can make for a mental block wrt that activity. If you read Anat Baniels new book Kids beyond Limits it goes into so much of how the brain learns, I am a real fan as we have seen real improvements in the quality of DGSs movements, and those quality movements should eventually come together. Already his feet go flatter to the floor at times which is better than never, and we have been v naughty with his AFOs - as in not putting them on much

Sleepstarved - do you have a 45 cm ball? We've got this one which is good - it has a soft feeling surface but is strong www.amazon.co.uk/Togu-MyBall-Exercise-Ball-Durchsichtig/dp/B000M5I5M8/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1333997345&sr=8-7

DD also hated 4 point crawling position for ages. We kept going with it for brief but regular periods each day as physio suggested. Literally one day she just started moving and we never looked back. Her upper limbs are weak - she often used to collapse onto her face poor little thing!

Brilliant, brilliant news. You've made my day hazey jr

Thank you all, again, you are great.
I have ordered those books, although it feels a bit odd ordering a book on CP when the docs are 99 per cent certain she doesn't have it. But as our physio said, the dx doesn't really matter, we need to treat whats in front of us and she has a gross motor delay.
She commando crawled all the way over DH's leg for a toy yesterday, twice, which she hasn't ever done before and with some assistance she pulled to standing on me.
It is hard finding the right motivation for her because if it is too hard or the toy is not exciting enough she just won't try.
Hazy, I will try the stairs with her but she may be a bit overwhelmed, she is very cautious and gives up easily. Hence the pushing her question. Some days she moans at the slightest thing so we have to push her a bit or she won't do very much.
Sneeze, she sits in the bunny position well already if we put her in it but I have not tried to get her into all fours from there, just up into a high kneel and back down again. So will try all fours. I think it feels like a long way down onto her hands from that position.
Ninja and Surviving, I am a bit worried about using our big ball to roll her about on as she would be nearly vertical (in a handstand) before her hands touched the floor. Will ask physio about getting a smaller one.
I think the more alternatives we have, the better, so she doesn't get fed up being pushed in the same way all the time.

Sorry again Hazy for hijacking. Yeah for mini-Hazy [hands in the air cheer emoticon]

Please don't apologise for hi-jacking, it is very hard to have to agonise over things that just seem to come to other children with ease.

Ds is also very cautious, hugely clingy and tires very easily, so we have never pushed him too hard, and his physio thinks it would be counterproductive. We have tried to find things that he enjoys, that will also improve tone, core strength etc. He loves swimming, so I take him 2 or 3 times a week we do endless row row row your boat and horsey horsey etc.