Sensory Motor Programmes
(Why is my child crawling at school?)

Essential Moves is an early intervention programme targeting fine and gross motor skills, attention and concentration and activities to stimulate sensory integration.

Sensory Integration is the ability of the brain to classify, organise, recall and use information that is received every second- from both internal and external sources. If the brain can’t process information smoothly, that information can’t be used and this will impact learning, behaviour and social interaction. This will in turn impact the ability of the child to reach their greatest potential.

From the age of 3yrs to 7yrs children are developing language and starting to relate to others. It is an important period of Sensory Integration as the foundations laid at this stage will impact the higher functions needed to efficiently read, do maths and relate to peers.

Gross motor activities develop balance, strength , muscle tone and timing and rhythm used in later maths. They start to use monkey bars, ride a bike, a two wheeled scooter and skip.

Fine motor skills are developing (reliant on good muscle tone)and they start to use tools efficiently- pencils, scissors and knife, fork and spoon.

Cognitive, social and language development- through PLAY the child learns about his body and how to solve problems. How will I fit my body through that tunnel? They learn how to interact with others and take turns and they learn to use and understand language.

Common Characteristics in Children with Sensory Immaturity in this age group.

Weak oral language
Inability to understand cause and effect – repeats same actions despite punishment/ rewards
Weak reading comprehension – inability to recall what has been read to them, and later what they have read.
Reading and spelling problems- can’t remember numerals or simple words.
Poor at memory games
Reversals of numbers or letters when writing
Need repeated instruction
Behavioural problems
Messy handwriting/avoidance of written tasks
Delayed speech or language
Loses attention quickly
Toileting issues/ bed wetting
Poor spatial relationships- size and distance. Clumsy, falls over or bumps into things/ knocks things over
Poor sequencing ability – numbers, alphabet
Poor concentration – easily distracted or gets tired easily
Impulsive
Poor at following directions
Difficulty remembering nursery rhymes, songs etc.
Poor self-esteem/lack of confidence
Resists changes in routines
Poor coordination – gross and fine motor. Can’t ride a bike, hop well, ride a scooter, skip by 6yrs, use swings/ monkey bars,hold a pencil correctly, use a knife and fork, difficulty wearing thongs/ slip on shoes, use scissors.
Eating problems
Lack of clearly dominant hand/ foot
Difficulty relating to peers. Can’t make friends, fights.

The Essential Moves Programme is a “Sensory Maturation programme”, ensuring that the foundations are in place and the child is ready for efficient learning. Fraser/ Mustard Chair, Alberta Children’s Hospital, 2007 say “A child’s capacity to learn (e.g., process and retain information, recognize patterns, listen to and understand others in the classroom) is strongly influenced by the neural connections made in the brain in the first few years of life”

The child first learns about their environment through movement, and they go through set milestones in a set order to build the blocks for later learning. Movement is a sensory activity and reinforces learning. Remember the Chinese Proverb – “I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand.”

Commando crawling , followed by crawling on all fours establishes lateralization or “the dominant side” . This stage of development also integrates primitive reflexes and starts to develop vision- far focus and near focus (black board / book) and muscle tone needed for later fine motor skills.

This programme will benefit all children, having a positive impact in a range of areas, helping the brain sort and adapt to incoming information through movement. The exercises and activities used in the Essential Moves programme work to organise the lower levels of brain development that form the foundation for higher function.

Preliminary research by the Catholic Schools Office, Newcastle (2005) has shown that the programme has a positive effect on a range of children from those with learning problems through to the high achievers.

For more information go to www.essentialmoves.com.au

Many parents seek help and relief for their “unsettled baby” who “cries all the time” and report that the baby has “colic” or “reflux” and sometimes both! I immediately ask the parents if the colic or reflux has in fact been diagnosed by a paediatrician or their General Practitioner. Often the answer is “no” and the parents are only surmising that due to all of the  well meaning advice from friends and family that this is the obvious diagnosis.

Upon finding that the colic or reflux hasn’t been diagnosed by the health professional I set about investigating whether the poor little baby is actually just overtired and needing more sleep. An overtired baby can trick the parents into rightly thinking that they have reflux and colic by the way they respond to the delayed bedtime. First lets look at the usual signs of colic and reflux and then see how they mask overtiredness.

Colic: Is usually described as at least three hours of crying/screaming for at least three days a week, from about the age of three weeks until about the age of three months. Colic babies generally do a lot of screaming at different times of the day which is not generally consistent on any day, go red in the face while crying/screaming, roll up into a ball or pull their legs up, may or may not burp after a feed and do not respond to the usual methods of calming when really upset.

Reflux: Is a common thing amongst babies, where the contents of the tummy rise up and just burn the back of the throat without vomiting (silent reflux) or vomiting occurs with or without crying sometimes projecting across the room and all over mum and dad.

Reflux in a ‘happy chucker’(a baby who doesn’t cry when they vomit) is not generally a problem as long as the baby is still putting on weight and has at least 4 wet disposable/ 6 cloth nappies in 24 hours, therefore showing signs of hydration. The baby who has vomiting/projectile reflux and is in obvious pain while vomiting and not putting on weight or showing good signs of hydration is often in need of medical treatment.

The crying/screaming reflux babies may scream with every or most feeds and usually have an unsettled period in the day. They are not consistently unsettled every day and while mostly uncomfortable when lying down, will sometimes cope well with tummy-time and sleep. Reflux babies tend to arch their backs as if to stretch their heads away from their bodies due to the pain.

An overtired baby: Starts to scream 5 minutes after they have given you their tired signs and should be in bed, to let you know they are in overdrive. This screaming will lead to extra wind in the tummy and lead to parents to attempt some burping. When the burping doesn’t work mum will think the baby is hungry and offer another feed, this may lead to some vomiting due to the tummy already being full and more screaming. By now the baby looks and acts like they have had 12 cans of coke and the extra feeds and screaming bring on more wind. By this time the baby is NOT going to sleep and mum, dad and baby are frazzled and frustrated. When this happens consistently during the day it is natural for the parents to think that their baby who “has a lot of wind and vomits all the time and screams at bedtime” has colic and reflux.

If the above sounds very familiar and you suspect your baby has colic or reflux there are some practical steps to try to prevent over tiredness before we look at your baby’s signs of either.

Be aware of your baby’s suggested uptime for their age and identify your baby’s tired signs so you can get them into bed within 3-5 minutes of being confident baby is tired.

Make sure your baby feeds efficiently in their uptime. Demand feeds and empties the first breast before attempting the second. Or demand feeds from the bottle. Try sleeping then feeding, then playing, then sleeping.

Ensure floor-play, including tummy time in every uptime even if for a short time.

It is only necessary to burp baby for about 2 mins after a feed, it’s ok if they don’t burp with every feed. Not all babies have gutsy feeds.

Some babies need a break in the middle of a feed, this is ok and  prevents some vomiting.

Try raising the legs at the head end OF THE COT ONLY if you suspect reflux, not the mattress, for SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) reasons.

If settling is needed, try rolling the baby onto their right side in order to pat their bottom.

Firm wrapping and tucking in so baby feels comfortable and secure and doesn’t overstimulate themselves.

It is sensible for all babies, especially unsettled ones, to be checked over by a Chiropractor or Osteopath to rule out spinal misalignment due to the birth process.

Tip: Understanding your baby’s routine, suggested uptimes, tired signs, and settling basics will help you prevent your baby being overtired and identify if your baby has genuine signs of colic or reflux before you head off to the pediatrician.

© 2008 Natalie Ebrill- Sleep and Settle-Baby Sleep Consultant 0-5 yrs
RN, Child and Family Health Nurse. Mother of three. I want to give you your life back! Would you appreciate being empowered with an understanding of your baby’s needs and a gentle strategy that you apply to your baby/toddler’s personality? Do you feel like you’ve read everything and nothing is working?

Visit www.sleepandsettle.com.au for my free report “Sleeping Baby Secrets”.

In this fast paced age, parents are often keen to get their bubs up onto two feet. In fact it is often seen as a sign of achievement when babies walk early. However, the old adage, “you have to crawl before you can walk” is especially pertinent in this case.

If babies are given plenty of time on their tummies from an early age, they will start to achieve gross motor milestones, which in turn develop the brain for later learning.

Rolling develops muscle tone and helps integrate primitive reflexes, followed in a few months by commando or soldier crawling. They start to coordinate the left and right side of their bodies, develop amazing muscle tone and strength, fine tune their hand grasping and reaching and their vision starts to develop. As the baby looks at something of interest across the room, then move towards it, their focus starts to adjust, formally called accommodation. While all this exciting brain stimulation is happening, they are also getting many messages from their skin as they glide across the floor- these messages in turn teach the brain about their body size and position, important for later sporting skills and coordination.

After a few months, baby starts to get messages to push up into a crawling position. After a few false starts, they learn to balance and coordinate hand and leg movements. This extremely important stage fires up the brain for later learning, develops timing and rhythm for maths tasks at school, and builds muscle tone in arms for fine motor skills such as beading and later, writing.

Funnily enough, the depth perception for the eyes in this position, is arm’s length. During this stage, baby looks at hands and floor then away for that toy in the corner. Far focus, near focus. Chalkboard, book!

During this time, baby starts to learn about his environment, explore a range of movements with his body and builds hip and back strength for later walking. It is a vital time for brain and body development and should not be interfered with by restricting movements or placing baby, too often, in walkers and the like.  Getting baby moving on the floor, under their own steam, will fire up the brain for school!!

By
Cate Larke
Director, Essential Moves Children’s Centre
www.essentialmoves.com.au

Permission to reprint this newsletter, so long as any use is not  for  resale   or profit and the following copyright notice is included in tact.© Essential Moves Pty Ltd 2005. All Rights Reserved.
ACN: 115 716 517 www.essentialmoves.com.au

Specific modes of Physical Activity & Cognitive Development in Children -JIM Dec 2011, Vol 16 No3, article by Wayne Haynes

AJPH Article on LOOK Project (2011)