In the 12 months of having the condition myself, I learnt SO much about what I could do the second time around to completely prevent it from happening again.

And lucky us, our second baby came along, three years later…..and whaddayaknow……I could feel the tension building in my wrist again just weeks after bringing him home…..the ‘creaks’ were returning (often a first sign).

But I knew what to do. And I got it completely under control. No intervention needed.

And I’m going to share exactly what I did to change things for baby #2.

A very quick but incredibly important reminder today. I posted this on social medial a couple of weeks ago and the response was overwhelming. It was my most viewed and most shared post in the history of My Strong Little Body.

So many families were unaware of the dangers of turning their bub around too quickly in the car. So to keep the word out there, here it is again, version 2.0, in blog form. Hope it helps to make an informed decision about how long you rear-face your child for.

“In the weeks that followed I clung hard to denial (I can’t tell you how many times I Googled ‘cerebral palsy misdiagnosis’) and cried a lot. We had oodles of support from family and friends but what helped most, in those early days, was Arlo himself. The kid has some serious spunk and smiles with his whole self. It was hard to stay sad when he was around.”

“With no answers from any of these tests they decided it best we were flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital. We spent another week there; more blood tests, she had 2 GAs while admitted, an MRI, EEG and we saw neurologists, opthamologists, metabolic doctors and for the most part, a physiotherapist & occupational therapist.

It was here where my heart truly began to break.”

…..in Jacob’s case it meant he would not grow any more than what he measured at that routine ultrasound, and we would soon learn his placenta was quickly failing. He would need to be delivered immediately. For us that decision did not just impact Jake, but also his twin brother Alexander who was tracking along nicely.

It wouldn’t be our story to limp across the line, we were going to be a freight train…

At our 19 week scan we found out our baby had unilateral talipes (clubfoot), my pregnancy bubble definitely burst that day, as a parent finding out any little thing could possibly be wrong with your baby is devastating. Initially we were in shock, we didn’t even ask what clubfoot was but ferociously googled it while waiting to be seen by the doctor.

Introducing the second story from my new project:

‘My Strong Little Journey’

I’ve asked real Mums and Dads, with real experiences of paediatric physiotherapy to share their story with me (and you); to let their guard down, and tell it how it really is on the other side of the fence. What it feels like to be the “parent of the patient”.

Thank you for sharing your story today Penny, paediatric nurse and founder of Sick Happens.

Let’s hear about her Strong Little Journey and her experience with “Talipes Calcaneo-Valgus”

Make no mistake.

Low muscle tone is not the same as muscle weakness.

And most importantly, if a child has low muscle tone they are certainly not ‘lazy’.

I’m just so excited to share this with you all. I’ve asked real Mums and Dads, with real experiences of paediatric physiotherapy to share their story with me (and you); to let their guard down, and tell it how it really is on the other side of the fence. What it feels like to be the “parent of the patient”.

Giving us the opportunity to walk in their shoes, even if just for a moment, is a wonderful gift these parents are giving.

So thank you Linda, for sharing the first story in the ‘My Strong Little Journey’ series; about being Mum to Celina .

Joint Hyper-mobility Syndrome is a disorder of the connective tissue in your body, and basically means the tissue is floppier/stretchier than normal. This can cause a range of issues in the muscles, ligaments and joints, ranging from delayed milestones in a baby or toddler, to clumsiness, falls and difficulty with fine-motor tasks, especially writing, in an older child.

There are a number of markers that might indicate your child has joint hyper-mobility….

Whether it be a baby with developmental delay, a toe-walking toddler, a kid with low muscle tone, joint hyper-mobility, or even just the old ‘my child trips all the time’. It’s the key to almost everything we do.

But you might be surprised at the activities we physios do with kids to get their little trunk muscles fired up. No crunches here.

‘ideopathic toe-walking’ basically means ‘toe-walking for no reason’…. the thing is…….there is almost always a reason. And this is the reason that older toe-walkers are some of the trickiest patients to manage….because that reason doesn’t just disappear. It hangs around. And traditionally, they are left to ‘just grow out of it’. We physios see them when they don’t. And some of them are well on the road to getting surgery.

Being ‘good with a ball’ is a very worthwhile skill for a child to have - a kid with excellent ball skills will be at an advantage all the way through to adulthood. And here’s how to start them young.

EMOTIONS EMOTIONS EMOTIONS. QUESTIONS QUESTIONS QUESTIONS. TALKING TALKING TALKING. JUMPING. WRESTLING. AND JUST GENERALLY ROLLING AROUND LIKE LUNATICS.

Four Year Olds.

They are sassier than Beyonce.

They are clever.

They are curious.

They like making stuff.

They like figuring stuff out.

Here is my final round of the gift guide this year. For your sassy, clever and oh so jumpy four year olds. Enjoy.

Three. My favourite age kid to play with. For real this time.

They can (usually) have full-on hilarious conversations with you by now and they are getting so clever and curious. They are wanting to co-operate (some of the time) and join in with ANY game you conjure up, and they can start to understand more complex games like ‘doctors’ or ‘shops’ or ‘doll house families’ with roles and even simple rules to the game like ‘money exchanges’ and ‘turn taking’.

Here is round 3 of my gift guide, as recommended by a Paediatric Physiotherapist.

Two year olds are also much stronger and steadier on their feet, so ball skills, climbing skills and even fine motor skills are becoming more refined as they improve their postural control. Again, much more fun playing with a kid when you don’t have to worry about them falling over all the time!

But even more beautiful, two year olds are on the brink of imaginary play. And imaginary play is just so fun, especially when you are the one teaching them about it. Pretend cooking, farm animals, playing picnics and tea parties. Just so cute.

Here is my gift guide for two year olds. Developmentally appropriate toys that you’ll both love. Enjoy.

With Christmas just 50 sleeps away as my god daughter told me yesterday (feck)... I thought it was a perfect opportunity to share some of my ‘toy expertise’ with you.

Let’s make sure your kid’s pressies this year will be useful, full of fun, developmentally appropriate, shared between many siblings and friends, and loved for many many years. 

A paediatric physio’s gift guide for one year olds. No crap here.