How to Help Baby Learn to Crawl

I am anxious for my daughter to start crawling because her torticollis is likely to improve once crawling is established.  Her physical therapist has taught us several different exercises that encourage crawling. Here's one of those crawling exercises below.

Video Tutorial:

Range of Motion Exercise #3

Due to Kellyn's right torticollis, she has limited range of motion turning her head towards her right side.  This exercise will help increase her range of motion looking towards her right.  I like this exercise because I could sometimes get away with Kellyn not even realizing we're doing a torticollis exercise.   When babies are young, they often get pretty captivated by an interesting toy.  And since young babies are often too young to crawl, they can be pretty content just staying in one place and looking at something interesting.  Unfortunately, by the time your baby is mobile, this exercise may become near impossible to do since baby is unlikely to stay in one place for you.  I am including both a video demonstration and a written explanation of this exercise.

Video Tutorial:

Rolling Back-to-Belly

In addition to torticollis, Kellyn also had mild trunk curvature.  This trunk curvature made it difficult for her to roll onto her right side.  When she rolled, she usually favored rolling onto her left side.  Kellyn's physical therapist wanted her to become comfortable rolling to her less favored right side.  So here's how the exercise I do to help her become more comfy rolling onto her right side.  I have include both a video tutorial and a written tutorial below.  Please note that the written tutorial offers a bit more hands-on guidance and support for your baby doing the roll.  The video offers less hands-on support and is geared more for babies who can roll independently with a little extra encouragement.

Video Tutorial:

Side Lying Stretch

I started doing this torticollis exercise once my daughter became too mobile and wiggly for the side lying stretch using the Boppy pillow . This version of the neck stretch seems to work much better for her now.  Below is my video demo of this torticollis stretch. I have also included step-by-step written directions for this exercise.  Please note this stretch is designed for the right sided torticollis.

Video Tutorial:

Strengthening Exercise for Torticollis

With my daughter's right torticollis, the right side neck muscles are tighter and stronger than the left side.  In addition to stretching the right side of her neck, we also do exercises to strengthen her left side. Both types of exercises are important in helping to lessen her torticollis.  The exercise below works to strengthen her weak, left side neck muscles by forcing her to work against gravity.  I have included a brief video tutorial AND written instructions in the space below.

Video Tutorial:

Torticollis Regression Due to Illness

So Kellyn has a head tilt regression due to sickness. Poor girl has a runny nose, cough, chest congestion, and wheezing. Her torticollis was really looking better up until recently. However, once the onset of her illness occurred, her head tilt has increased. She's having trouble eating, sleeping, and especially doing her physical therapy exercises. She cries and resists her stretches and strengthening exercises much more than usual.

Still managed to get a smile out of this little sick one.

Torticollis Pictures: 11 Weeks of PT

So it's about that time again when I post Kellyn's progress pictures from physical therapy for her torticollis.  Comparing to her six week pictures, I would say she has improved tremendously.  Now keep in mind though that her six week pictures were taken on a day that she was having a "bad torticollis day".  Even still, I notice a great improvement overall as compared to when she first started physical therapy.

Her right head tilt is negligible in this picture,
and her right neck depression looks much less noticeable.

Last Chiropractic Appointment for Torticollis

So today was Kellyn's third and final chiropractic adjustment.  I don't necessarily think its what the chiropractor would have recommended, but that's what my husband wanted.  He was never super comfortable with the idea of Kellyn going in the first place.  And Kellyn's torticollis is doing pretty well lately, so he figured it was not worth the small risk of something potentially bad happening from the adjustment.  And I'm fine with this decision.  I plan to watch her over the next few weeks to make sure she doesn't experience any big regressions.  I also want to make sure that her improvement continues on in an upward trend.  If we notice Kellyn's torticollis worsening, Ryan and I will discuss whether or not we want to start back up with chiropractic.

My beautiful baby girl bundled up and ready to go to the chiropractor.

Torticollis Physical Therapy Re-evaluation

Kellyn had her eight week re-evaluation with her outpatient physical therapist today. Kellyn must have known she had to perform because she was having "a good torticollis day." Anyways, the physical therapist noticed continued improvement in her muscle strength and flexibility. She was also happy to see that Kellyn's head tilt was negligible while lying on her back.

As you can see, Kellyn's head looks nice and straight while lying down.
Maybe she's showing off for her big brother.

Kinesio Tape for Torticollis: Round 2

So Kellyn's first application of Kinesio Tape did not seem to improve her torticollis.  It was applied to the affected side of her neck (the side she tilts to) and in a method to encourage muscle relaxation.  After taking a little over a week break from the Kinesio Tape, our physical therapist from the early intervention program tried a different technique on Kellyn.  She applied the tape to the unaffected side of her neck to encourage muscle facilitation.  This makes sense since the unaffected side of Kellyn's neck has weaker muscles.

This is the second application of Kinesio Tape on her neck for torticollis.

Consultation with Chiropractor

We recently had a consultation with a chiropractor who has experience working with babies and children.  She came highly recommended to us by our daughter's outpatient physical therapist.  My husband and I have been considering supplementing Kellyn's PT with chiropractic since we have heard a lot of positive feedback from other parents of babies with torticollis.

Gloria Rosazza © 123RF.com | glopphy

Kinesio Tape Removal

Kellyn has had the Kinesio Tape on the affected side of her neck for about four days. As I mentioned, I did not feel this first application technique we tried made a noticeable difference. However, I do not want to give up on it yet, as there are a few other application techniques we could potentially try. Ryan and I decided to remove the Kinesio Tape today since she had her big appointment at the Torticollis Clinic at Children's National Medical Center coming up. We wanted the clinic to see her torticollis in its "natural state" without any potential aiding from the tape.

Stretches Possibly Worsening Torticollis

Kellyn's outpatient physical therapist made an astute perception about Kellyn's torticollis at her physical therapy session last week.  She noticed that Kellyn was resisting frequently during her neck stretches.  The physical therapist said I should not stretch Kellyn if she is resisting because I could indirectly be strengthening the right neck muscle that is overactive.

These were the good ol' days when Kellyn was much more compliant with her torticollis stretches.
Amazing, how much can change within a few weeks time.

 

Seven Weeks into Physical Therapy

So here are some pictures seven weeks into physical therapy. Although Kellyn has had some plateaus and regressions since her four week pictures, today happened to be a "good torticollis day." I knew I had to capture it on camera. Basically, Kellyn was holding her head at mid line a lot more frequently than usual. In addition, she was not raising her right shoulder as much as she normally does.

Since she's looking straight ahead, her head tilt is less noticeable here.
Although she still has a slight C-shaped curvature in her trunk,
it's improved dramatically since the beginning of PT.

 

Kinesio Taping for Torticollis

So yesterday, I took Kellyn to a chiropractor who happens to be a Certified Kinesio Taping Practitioner (CKTP).  The chiropractor did a brief evaluation of Kellyn, asked about medical history, and then got started with Kinesio Taping. 

The process was pretty quick and simple.  She basically used three small pieces of Kinesio Tape on her neck area.  She taped her on the side of her neck that she tends to tilt.  The method she used should encourage muscle inhibition.  This makes sense because Kellyn's right side of her neck has tight, overactive muscles.  She explained to me that there are a few different methods to try.  She said we can give this method a few days to evaluate whether or not it worked.  If it doesn't work, we can try the other alternative ways.

If you look closely, you can see the beige colored Kinesio Tape on her neck area.

Six Weeks of PT

So I'm not as excited about these six week pictures as I was about the four week pictures.  As you can see her torticollis looks worse in these pictures than it did just a couple of weeks prior.  Her tilt has likely worsened because she is teething.

Overwhelmed with the Treatment Process

The past couple weeks has been pretty hectic for our family.   Ryan's back has been really bothering him and he is pretty limited to how he can help with the kids or with housework.  Unfortunately, he is now unable to help me get Kellyn's in-home exercises done, so its solely up to me to make sure this gets done.  Also, we have been spending a lot of time researching and shopping around for a new car since our car got totaled from the car accident two weeks ago.  In addition, we have also had so many things like doctor's appointments and various commitments to go to.  

With so much going on, its been tricky to get in the recommended minimum of five sets of physical therapy in-home exercises for Kellyn.  I feel that Kellyn's head tilt has gotten worse recently because I haven't been working with her as frequently at home.  Regardless of what else is going on, I need to remind myself daily to make her in-home exercises a priority.  Most days, I find it unrealistic to get all five sets of her exercises done, while also attending to daily household responsibilities and taking care of my family's needs.  Each day, I feel like I can't win no matter how hard I try.  

Discovered Torticollis Clinic Nearby

Today, Kellyn had an appointment with her physical therapist from the early intervention program.  I am still so thrilled that she comes to our house for the appointment.  That makes it so much easier!  Anyways, her PT shared some extremely helpful information with me.  She told me about a torticollis clinic at Children's National Medical Center in Washington DC.  That's less than one hour away from us.  You better believe I was on the phone almost immediately scheduling an appointment there.

Physical Therapy 4-week Evaluation

So today was a big day for us because it was Kellyn's 4-week evaluation at her outpatient physical therapy clinic.  Overall, it went pretty well.  Four weeks ago, Kellyn measured at about an eighteen degree tilt.  Today Kellyn was measuring at about a ten degree tilt.  So she is definitely tilting her head less.  The physical therapist also noticed improved strength in both her neck and trunk.  *Anna was also happy with how Kellyn's gross motor skills were progressing. She said that Kellyn has progressed faster than she expected in many areas.

Kellyn around the time of her four week physical therapy evaluation. 

Follow-up Helmet Appointment

About four weeks ago, we took Kellyn to get initially evaluated to see if she needed a cranial remolding orthosis. The cranial remolding orthosis is basically a helmet for children who have plagiocephaly. It helps to reshape the head into a more symmetrical shape. At that appointment, Kellyn's measurements fell within the normal range. However, she still had a flat spot on side of her head while the other side jutted out a bit more. The cranial remolding specialist did not recommend a helmet. She suggested lots of tummy time so that the head would likely fill in on its own.

This is the stockinette that goes over the head.