You’ve been told your child needs to stand to help develop the hips, but when standing, your child gets tight, crosses the legs and points the toes.
These are signs that your child doesn’t have the inner stability to be in this position and they are compensating with muscle tone. Also, your child’s structure might not be ready to stand. This is typical in children with cerebral palsy.
We like using standing positions as an opportunity to give the vertical experience, the social interaction that is possible in this position and, also as an option to invite small movements throughout the child’s body to feed the fascia.
We don’t believe having the child passively stand in a fixed frame for long periods of time is enough to help develop the pelvis and hips. You can read more about the development of the pelvis here.
We teach parents specific techniques to help develop the abdomen and pelvis and, as part of the “Ideas to Play”, we show them how to modify standing exercises and use them as an opportunity to develop weight-bearing, improve range and invite small moments on the legs, always respecting the child’s structure.
To start doing fascia therapy with your child, learn the first exercise to improve torso control here.
Would you like to receive weekly ideas and key concepts in your inbox? Subscribe to our email list here.
WeFlow´s tip for you!
If you want to practice some standing activities with your child, always support the torso, use a soft base (like memory foam) for the feet and invite small movements (like slow dancing). If your child gets tight, it is too much, give them a break.
Comments