newborn infant

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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Child(ish) Reads: Marigold and Rose

| Patti Webb

Next week is our spring break, and we are taking two weeks off and heading to the beach to enjoy our time with family. But before we go, we have a cute little Child(ish) Read to add to your TBR.

I was gifted a copy of Marigold and Rose by one of my colleagues. It is a short novella about two infant twin sisters in their first year of life. There isn’t an overarching plot or storyline. In fact, you could probably read this book in an hour. The author, Louise Glück, is a Nobel Prize-winning poet, so expect prose and getting into your feels.

The story switches narratives back-and-forth between the sisters, Marigold and Rose. They can’t walk or talk or read, but they are completely conscious of everything around them. The girls are quick to notice the differences between each other, and they have an internal awareness of their parents, grandparents, and the role they play in their lives.

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Defying Gravity: Tummy Time

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

As a new parent, you receive a lot of rules about how to take care of your new bundle of joy. But, one is a bit hard to implement once you get home: Tummy Time.

What is Tummy Time?

This cute, alliterative phrase refers to any time when your baby is on their belly while they are awake and active. This position allows them to lift and turn their head from side to side, and provides the foundational upper body and core strength/ stability needed for reaching and crawling. 

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