Occupational Therapy for Infants

Our Individualized Approach To OT Supports Your Infant's Unique Needs And Abilities.

Why do parents choose Alta Pediatrics?

Personalized

At Alta Pediatrics you are not just another number. We value each patient as a unique individual and a member of our community. Your therapist knows you and your child's name, ask for updates on what you are observing, and provides updates on what they are observing during the session.

Play Focused

Play is at the center of our sessions and your child will improve over time through play-based therapy. Whether that is in the sensory gym, running through an obstacle course, playing games, or working on their fine-motor skills what feels like play is your child developing skills and enhancing their abilities.

Experienced

All therapists are trained and experienced in their specific field (occupational and speech therapy) and have specific experience with a pediatric population. Therapists have graduate level degrees, participate in research projects, and attend continuing education to ensure they stay up-to-date on the latest and most effective evaluation and treatment techniques.

Collaborative

We believe communication and collaboration are key. We work with you as the primary caregiver to provide clear updates on progress and goals each week after the session ends. In addition, we can communicate with other stakeholders that are providing care to your child. By coordinating with speech therapists, school staff, ABA, and other specialists we ensure that there is a holistic view of the care your child is receiving.

What does Occupational Therapy for Babies Look Like?

Babies have occupations too! Despite what it sounds like occupations are not what we normally think of as jobs. For babies from birth to 1 years old, their main occupations are eating, learning to interact with their environment through their senses, moving their bodies, bonding with their caregivers and playing.

During infant occupational therapy sessions, you will likely find your OT focusing on these occupations to help your baby. While it is important to remember each baby develops at their own pace, it’s also important to keep an eye on their developmental milestones. If you believe your child is falling behind in their milestones, it may be time to talk to your pediatrician and they will determine if therapy is necessary.

Occupational Therapy for Babies By Age

0 to 3 months

During infancy, babies are adjusting to their new environment. At this stage they should start to visually track objects or people and explore their bodies by moving their hands. Your baby should start to have emerging control over their head (head control) and start pushing up during tummy time. The bond between baby and caregiver is flourishing, as a lot of your time will be spent feeding (I.e. breastfeeding, formulas, etc.)

As Occupational Therapists, our priority in this stage of infant occupational therapy will be parent education by teaching tips and tricks to reach these milestones. That may look like ways to incorporate tummy time in your daily routine, introducing you to specific toys that are visually stimulating, oral motor exercises to improve control in eating, and ways to encourage bringing hands to midline during play.

4 to 6 months

By 4 to 6 months infants are learning how to use their eyes and hands in tandem to reach for their favorite toys or for their caregivers. Toys are being explored by bringing them to their mouths or shaking them. Your baby should start to roll from tummy to back, which may be scary for them at first. They should continue to gain strength with their head control and pushing into hands during tummy time.

As a means to strengthen these skills, occupational therapists will show you ways to encourage rolling such as where to position toys or how to use your own body to facilitate their movement. OT sessions will provide sensory experiences by exposing to toys with various textures, sounds, and visuals to help motivate them to reach and play with toys in a variety of positions (I.e. on their side, back, or in sitting.) Parent education will also address positioning throughout the day, so your child isn’t spending too much time on their backs or in chairs.

6 to 9 months

In this stage, motor skills are bursting. Your baby is starting to sit independently, army crawling and 4-point creeping and learning how to get around to where they want to go. Babies in this stage are transferring items between their hands such as toys or their bottle, and even starting to use their fingers to pick up small objects.

Occupational therapists will continue to address and strengthen the milestones above, while also teaching ways you can set up your environment to promote independent movement and transitions. For example, placing suction cup toys on a vertical surface such as a mirror encourages reaching in independent sitting. OTs can help show you toys that are age appropriate to work on those fine motor skills and bringing hands to the midline. Some of our favorites for this age are pop tubes, bubbles, and books.

9 to 12 months

Just like that, your baby is inching toward the one-year mark! Not only are they showing more of their personalities, but they are also showing more purposeful play. You should see them start to understand the concept of in and out, whether that’s putting their blocks into and out of a bucket or stacking household items like tub-a-wear containers. They should start copying your actions, so it’s time to break out a game of peek-a-boo.

Babies at this age are becoming more independent eaters, as they are starting to finger feed and drink by holding their cup all by themselves. In terms of movement, babies in this stage should start to pull to stand, cruising by holding onto furniture and may even start taking a few steps independently. Therapy sessions may address working on those fine motor skills to help with finger feeding and working on their core and upper body strength to help them gain the strength to pull to stand and maintain their balance when taking steps.

About Alta Pediatrics

Alta Pediatrics is a leading pediatric therapy clinic, offering pediatric therapy for babies, toddlers, and children of all ages. We are committed to helping children lead their happiest, healthiest lives. At Alta Pediatrics, we take an individualized approach to therapy because we understand that each child is unique with very specific needs. For this reason, no two therapeutic programs are alike. If your child needs our services, we will work closely with you to select the best therapies for them, creating a customized program specific to your child’s needs and your family’s goals. Let your child’s journey begin today by contacting us to learn more.

About Our Practice

Testimonials & Reviews

Hear why parents choose Alta Pediatrics

"The team at Alta Pediatrics are phenomenal. To say they have been life savers would not be an exaggeration. They go above and beyond to help you understand your child's needs and how to support them both in and out of the home. I recommend Alta Pediatrics without any hesitation."

JACQUE Q.

"Professional therapists with heart.
My son enjoys his sessions and the therapists always end the sessions with an update of how the session went and what was worked on."

DANA L.

"We have had an AMAZING experience at Alta. Kim and her staff are highly skilled and passionate about their work and we have seen immediate improvements in our child. Not to mention, he absolutely loves going! We are so grateful that we have found Alta Rehab and highly recommend it to anyone in need of OT services."

LIZ L.

Developing skills. Enriching Abilities

Here's how we create real and lasting change

1 EVALUATE

Our team of therapists conduct a thorough evaluation of your baby to determine areas of strengths, areas of difficulty, and the root causes of these difficulties to focus therapy sessions accordingly and improve development of skills.

2 APPLY

Activities are created to engage the baby, address areas of difficulty, and practice new skills. Parents and caregivers are provided with strategies to work with their baby at home and school to ensure carryover of skills for quicker learning and development of these skills.

3 PROGRESS

We work together with parents to set realistic, measurable goals to address areas of difficulty and ensure progress. We use engaging and motivating toys, games, and play to create a positive environment for your baby, improve their confidence, learn new skills, and reach their goals.