Brave Kids Physio | Businesses

Brave Kids Physio

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22.01.2022 WE ARE OPEN. At Brave Kids Physio we are dedicated to continuing to provide care to all our clients. We understanding the importance of continuing therapy as well as ensuring safety of your children and family. We have increased our cleaning and hygiene procedures, are following all ACT health guidelines and wearing masks. ... If you have any concerns about your Physiotherapy appointment please give us a call to discuss your options further. Stay safe and Be Brave, ~ Isabelle and Andrea

20.01.2022 JUMPING. Typically children learn to jump around 3 years of age. However, some will learn to jump before age 3 and some after. Jumping is an important milestone for kids as it interacts with multiple developmental areas: * Muscle strength: jumping requires strong leg and core/trunk muscles to squat down and propel from the ground * Balance: jumping challenges balance in order for 2 feet to leave the ground as well as land controlled. Learning to jump forwards and change dir...ection challenges balance further. * Bone strength: the leg muscle contraction and landing impact from jumping helps kids bones strengthen and grow * Coordination: Jumping requires motor planning to judge the height and distance, as well as plan the amount of power needed depending on what kids are jumping over * Health and social interaction: Lots of games and physical activities involve jumping which is good for kids fitness and encourages social play with friends. Brave Kids Physio’s 3 top tips to help teach your child how to jump: 1. Part of learning to jump is being able to land on 2 feet. Encourage your child to stand on a small step and to step off landing on 2 feet. Try getting them to land with 2 feet in a coloured spot or in a hoop. 2. Next is learning 2 foot take off and 2 foot land. Try to encourage a jump to land on something. This is great in an obstacle course or 'the floor is lava game'. Remember to make it achievable so that it is fun and encourages lots of practice. 3. Try jumping over something to encourage a bigger jump. Hurdles or skipping ropes are perfect but remember to start small (e.g. skipping rope on the ground) and gradually get higher. Be Brave

19.01.2022 WALKING. Babies will typically learn to walk anywhere between 10-18 months of age. After they pull up into standing, the next skill is cruising. Cruising is when babies walk sideways along furniture. This is an important prerequisite to walking as it develops the muscles at the side of the hip important for balance. Babies show signs of readiness to walk when they develop their balance in standing on their own, not holding onto anything. They will often try this for a few se...conds and gradually stand for longer periods which develops their confidence to be able to take steps. Should I let my baby fall? Learning how to fall is an important part of the development of standing and walking. Babies learn to put their arms and hands out to save themselves if they are put off balance. This helps to break the fall gently to the ground without injuring themselves. If babies don’t get the opportunity to fall, they may not learn this protective reaction. Brave Kids Physio’s 3 top tips to help teach your bub how to walk: 1. Cruising: Once your bub is happy standing at furniture it is time to start encouraging them to take a step. When your bub is standing at furniture move a toy to just outside of arms reach. Your bub will slowly start to take a step sideways to reach the toy. 2. Cruising between furniture: Place furniture apart just out of toddler arms reach. Once your bub is standing at furniture, move the toy they are playing with to the other furniture. Start by encouraging your bub to reach over the gap to get the toy and eventually take a step to move around to the next piece of furniture. As they get more confident with this start placing the furniture further away. 3. Taking multiple steps can be scary for bub, so what better way to encourage them to walk then to come to you! When your bub is standing, move to stand 2 to 3 toddler steps away from your bub (or just out of arms reach). Extend your arms out toward them so that they feel close to you and that you will help if they need it. Then encourage them to take a few steps towards you. As their balance improves start to move away 1 step at a time. Be Brave

15.01.2022 BALANCE TRAINING. Balance is a significant part of child development and is the ability to hold their body upright without falling. Once bub has mastered balance with walking, the next skill is shifting their weight onto one foot. Kids must learn this to be successful are higher level motor skills like walking up stairs, kicking a ball and hopping. There are 2 types of balance; static balance where we maintain a stationary position and dynamic balance where we maintain stab...ility through movement. In children, these 2 types of balance are important for them to participate in all aspects of life such as sitting on the floor or in a chair at school, getting dressed, walking on uneven surfaces, and playing on the playground. Typically, single leg balance is developed at the following ages: * 2-3 years: maintain standing on 1 leg to kick a ball * 3-4 years: balance on 1 foot for 3-5 sec * 6-7 years: balance on 1 food for 8-10 sec * >12years: balance on 1 foot for 2 min Weight shift We become stable on one leg by shifting our weight over to one side, to be able to lift the foot of the other leg. Early developmental patterns of weight shift is through leaning our trunk to the side like in sitting. However, this doesn’t work so well in standing. Weight shift in standing needs to come from the pelvis so that the head and trunk can stay upright without tipping to the side. Brave Kids Physio’s 3 top tips to help teach your child how to balance and weight shift: 1. Stepping over heights is a great way to practice weight shifting. Try stepping over shoes, blocks or hurdles. Each time you make it higher the longer your child needs to balance on one leg. 2. Try using a stomp rocket from age 3. Get your child to stand on one leg, holding up the other leg ready to stomp down. Then count down, 3..2..1 BLAST OFF. On blast off encourage them to stomp down. Countdown for more or less depending on your child's balance skills and age. 3. Incidental practice is our favourite. So try walking on unstable surfaces to challenge their balance, like garden edges, gutters, rocks or logs as you play in the park or walk to the shops. Be Brave

10.01.2022 STAIRS. Stairs are an important skill that offers benefits of developing leg muscles, balance, coordination and spatial awareness. Most children are ready to start using the stairs by 18 months. Children typically learn how to walk up stairs before walking down as descending stairs requires increased balance and coordination skills. Typically, stair climbing is developed at the following ages: * 1 year: Bubs learn to crawl up the stairs * 2 years: Toddlers walk up and down s...tairs using a step-to pattern (2 feet per step) with their handheld or hand on a rail* 3-4 years: Kids walks up and down the stairs using an alternating step pattern (1 foot per step) without the rail You may want to make stairs in the house a no-go zone for safety reasons, but taking time to practice with bub is a safer option. This helps children learn how to assess the risk themselves when around stairs. Here is some safety tips around stairs: * When first starting, stairs should still be blocked with a safety gate, usually until bub has learned to safely negotiate stairs on their own or they have learned how to open or climb the gate * Initially, encourage your child to go down the steps backwards, feet first on their tummy like they would off the couch * Stay a step or 2 lower when practicing stairs incase your child falls down * Supervise bub when around stairs while they are still learning Brave Kids Physio’s 3 top tips to help teach your child how to walk up and down stairs: 1. Step stools: start by practicing stepping up and down 1 small step at a time. You can also try this outside using the curb 2. Use the lower few steps: Initially, start practicing a few steps at a time before attempting the entire staircase 3. Alternating feet: Place stickers or make footprints on stairs or draw chalk feet on outside stairs to help your child develop a reciprocal stair pattern (1 foot per step) Be Brave

01.01.2022 PULL TO STAND. The view in standing opens up a new world view for babies to explore. Pulling to standing is an exciting milestone and continues to develop baby’s whole body coordination. We generally expect babies to pull to standing between 8-11 months however some may pull up earlier or later than this. Why is standing important around this age? Standing and weight bearing through the legs promotes healthy hip development. The hip joint is naturally underdeveloped and shall...ow before learning to stand. With weight bearing, the socket deepens and forms a stable joint. Equipment like activity centres, jolly jumpers and baby walkers that support baby in a standing position hinder the development of pulling to stand, as they reduce muscle strengthening and hip movement (see our previous post on this topic). My baby can now stand at furniture, what’s next? Once babies learn to stand, this is often all they want to do! Once pulling up becomes an easy skill for them, they then learn how to lower themselves to the ground rather than falling/plonking backwards into sitting. The next skill is then ‘cruising’ which is moving sideways along furniture. This develops the side hip muscles which strengthens their balance in standing in preparation for walking! Then it is soon time to proof the home ready for a mobile baby! Brave Kids Physio’s 3 top tips to help teach your bub how to pull to stand: 1. Place toys up on a small height like a step or your lap. Encourage your bub to crawl to the toy and then place 2 hands onto the step or your lap so their hands are higher than their knees. 2. Place their toys up higher on furniture to encourage bub to pull up into kneeling. Encourage bub to play in kneeling, with hands just for balance on the furniture. 3. Place toys on a couch or coffee table so that bub can pull into standing before reaching the toy. To start with you may need to provide some balance support - hold their hips lightly. Or you may need to help them push up with their legs - try lifting one foot and placing it flat on the ground, and holding it there until they push up. Keep an eye out for our next post on walking! Be Brave