Health and Development

Things I Learned on Netflix: Babies

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

I enjoy good documentaries and Netflix has an abundance of them out right now. So when I came across the docuseries Babies, I had to check it out for the blog.

Babies explores the new research surrounding child development within the first year of life, following 15 newborns from around the globe. While I’d like to think I’m pretty well informed in this arena, there is still a great deal that I didn’t know and that was quite refreshing. It would be crazy to think that what I learned in grad school about babies 15+ years ago hasn’t been challenged or expanded upon since.

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Course Notes: Early Development and Intervention

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

To round out my CEU courses for the year, I finished with Effective Early Intervention: Innovative Solutions to Build Motor, Balance, and Social-Emotional Skills to Improve Overall Development. While this lecture was geared towards therapists, there is still some great information that parents can use about child development and what early intervention provides.

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Course Notes: Torticollis and Flat-Head Syndrome

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

When the Back to Sleep campaign kicked off in 1994, there was a noted decrease in SIDS. However, the number of babies with developmental delays rose. Interestingly enough, the cases of torticollis and flat-head syndrome (aka plagiocephaly) dramatically increased as well. Coincidence? I think NOT!

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Course Notes: SIDS

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Ever accidentally take a continuing education course that does not apply to your professional license/continuing ed? Yes, me?

Despite this unlucky incident, I still gained a great deal of useful information. A few months ago, I took a CEU course called Infant Positioning Strategies: Progressing Development while Promoting Safe Sleep. While it covered baby development and how positions can cause or reduce certain neck or head conditions, like torticollis or flathead syndrome, I was most intrigued by the topic of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). Sounds dark, but the intel presented was too fascinating not to share.

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March Madness: Daylight Savings Time

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Daylight savings time (DST) starts in a couple weeks and nothing sucks more than losing an hour of sleep. You’re dysregulated, the kids are dysregulated, everyone and their mom is dysregulated; it’s not a fun time.

According to a Better Sleep Council survey, 29% of all parents reported they disliked the Spring Forward time change. Once bedtimes and sleep routines are thrown off, everyone chimes in on how the practice is no longer necessary. It’s challenging enough to reset our kid’s circadian rhythm after summer break and again when DST ends. Now we must do it again, but with a time loss. Kudos to Arizona and Hawaii for staying out of the whole thing…

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