Hi guys, as I don't have email access at home & im not too sure on the blogging process I though I would take this oppertunity while im at uni to post this blog & get things started:
Being the youngest on both sides of my family I have never had the oppertunity to handle children between the age of 0-1 yrs old. On my 2nd day at prac I was given a 6 month old who would not stop crying! I had one hour to assess (Ax) and treat (Rx) this baby re: gross motor development problems & plagiocephaly (secondary to muscular torticollis), but I could not do anything as he was screaming & crying uncontrollably (which was distressing the mother who was already EXTREMELY ANXIOUS about their child)...
During the session I ended up doing blocks of roughly 5 minutes Ax or Rx (with the baby crying) & then giving him back to his mother to hold for 5 minutes (when he would immediately stop crying). I continued repeating this. In the end, a lot of the session was wasted & the mother had become more anxious. I tried guiding the mother to do the Ax and Rx instead, but any time he wasn't hugging his mother he was distressed (especially trying to stretch his SCM). I tried using singing, toys and music as distraction but nothing would stop this baby crying.
Some insight into techniques used to calm baby's would be greatly appreciated...
Also ideas on how to avoid situations such as these...
Thanks, caris madden
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2 comments:
I'm pretty much the opposite, I am the oldest and have 3 younger siblings, the younger of whom I helped look after when they were babies. Plus I have plenty of younger cousins and now a baby niece. But I still have lots of trouble getting babies to stop crying!! I think they know I'm nervous. I think its was really good that you broke the ax and Rx up to give the baby rests and to let the mother calm him and then tried to use techniques like singing, toys etc. Was there any way you could have done some of the assessments while the mother was still holding him, or perhaps tried to do the stretch while she was holding him?
I understand how difficult it must be trying to handle a 6 month old, especially considering you've never had any prior oppurtunity dealing with such an age group. Doesnt really do much for your confidence either when your put in a situation with a very distressed child and anxious mother. But breaking up the Ax & Rx into blocks and allowing for rest periods for the child was definitely the best thing you could do. Even if you find that distraction methods like singing and toys aren’t working initially, just keep trying, and you’ll find it’ll come more naturally, and the child will slowly respond. As we’ve had so little experience working with young children, we ourselves are feeling uncomfortable and scared, and as Mel was saying the child can probably sense this. Or you could get the mum to distract the child, whilst you Ax & Rx, not sure how well it’d work, but worth a try. Also it seems like the child just wanted to be picked up and held, so don’t be afraid to do it yourself, so just pick up the child yourself, bounce it around etc, might make the child feel more comfortable around you. Another thing you could do is just cut down the amount of things your assessing. With a child who’s very distressed, just assess the bare minimum that’s required, and spend time showing & teaching the mother.
Young children are very tricky to deal with, just takes a bit of practice I guess.
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