The Center for Disease Control wants to revamp their web pages about Down syndrome. They are working with Lisa over at Genetically Enhanced. She has shared this chance to give feedback and make suggestions with all of us. Wow, what an opportunity to help get accurate and encouraging information out there!
Go on over and find out how to get involved. The CDC requires feedback by Nov. 25th, so hurry up :-)
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Stage One Oral Toolkit
In a way, speech therapy begins naturally for all babies on day one with eating, crying, yawning, rooting, burping... As those instinctual actions occur, a baby’s brain receives information and mouth muscle coordination beings. A baby’s brain also receives information about its mouth through stimulation, texture, and pressure (as well as taste... but stage one babies are usually getting only one yummy taste via bottle or breast.) Our babies need a little bit more information and more practice as the mouth masters its jobs.
Enter the oral toolkit, a treasure chest of goodies you can use to orally stimulate and train your baby. Most items can be purchased in a department store or baby store, some must be ordered online, and for those on a tight budget... your fingers are free :-)
The Nuk Brush
The Nuk brush is great for oral stimulation inside and outside of a baby’s mouth. On the outside, you can roll it down from just under your baby’s nose to her upper lip. You can do this same movement all the way around her mouth, rolling toward the mouth with each stroke. This stimulates lip closure. Used inside the mouth, the textures expose your baby to new sensations. Later on it can be used to introduce trace amounts of food to a beginning eater. $3.70
Red Cross Infant Oral Care Kit
This kit has a couple very useful tools in it. The finger infant toothbrush is used for gum tracing exercises and applying pressure to the lower jaw to encourage and strengthen the bite reflex. The gum stimulator is perfect for tongue walking and for gently pressing the center of the tongue to encourage your baby to make the bowl shape with her tongue. You can use the infant toothbrush on occasion in place of the Nuk to expose your baby to different textures. $7.99
The First Years Massaging Action Teether
The First Year's "Star" teether has different textures on each star tip. When baby puts pressure on a tip, the teether vibrates and wakes up the mouth muscles. This is also a great tool for demonstrating cause and effect. Though it is slightly big for a newborn, it can be used by a parent in small doses to stimulate the baby’s lips and cheeks. This teether is easier to trigger than other brands. 7.99
The Grabber
Easy to hold, your baby will love to mouth and bite on the Grabber teether thereby strengthening jaw muscles and control. It is a smooth teether and great for babies with who are showing signs of texture aversion. $6.50
Soothie Pacifier
A pacifier is good for letting your baby practice sucking and keeping his tongue down. I had some unused orthodontically correct pacifiers (my boys wouldn’t take them) and I tried to use them but was quickly corrected by our speech therapist who said the shape is not good for babies with Ds. Who knew? The hospital style Soothie is a good paci to use and luckily most hospitals will give you a handful on your way out the door but if not, you can get them online. Two for $4.79.
Your Finger
Nice clean fingers can be used to tongue tap, press the jaws to stimulate the bite reflex, rub the gums, gently pinch-pull the lips and cheeks, and trace lines on baby’s cheek skin. Your speech therapist, or a lactation consultant who has experience with children who have Ds, can show you many exercises you can use. You can also find detailed oral stimulation techniques in the books, Early Communication Skills for Children with Down Syndrome and The Down Syndrome Nutrition Handbook: A Guide to Promoting Healthy Lifestyles.
Z-Vibe
The Z-Vibe is a great tool for babies who have moved on to stage two but it is too powerful for newborns. I will do a post on this tool in the future.
Your Turn
Do you have a tip or trick you used for your baby's oral aerobics? Do you love/hate any of the tools in the toolkit? Share your thoughts with us.
Enter the oral toolkit, a treasure chest of goodies you can use to orally stimulate and train your baby. Most items can be purchased in a department store or baby store, some must be ordered online, and for those on a tight budget... your fingers are free :-)
The Nuk Brush
The Nuk brush is great for oral stimulation inside and outside of a baby’s mouth. On the outside, you can roll it down from just under your baby’s nose to her upper lip. You can do this same movement all the way around her mouth, rolling toward the mouth with each stroke. This stimulates lip closure. Used inside the mouth, the textures expose your baby to new sensations. Later on it can be used to introduce trace amounts of food to a beginning eater. $3.70
Red Cross Infant Oral Care Kit
This kit has a couple very useful tools in it. The finger infant toothbrush is used for gum tracing exercises and applying pressure to the lower jaw to encourage and strengthen the bite reflex. The gum stimulator is perfect for tongue walking and for gently pressing the center of the tongue to encourage your baby to make the bowl shape with her tongue. You can use the infant toothbrush on occasion in place of the Nuk to expose your baby to different textures. $7.99
The First Years Massaging Action Teether
The First Year's "Star" teether has different textures on each star tip. When baby puts pressure on a tip, the teether vibrates and wakes up the mouth muscles. This is also a great tool for demonstrating cause and effect. Though it is slightly big for a newborn, it can be used by a parent in small doses to stimulate the baby’s lips and cheeks. This teether is easier to trigger than other brands. 7.99
The Grabber
Easy to hold, your baby will love to mouth and bite on the Grabber teether thereby strengthening jaw muscles and control. It is a smooth teether and great for babies with who are showing signs of texture aversion. $6.50
Soothie Pacifier
A pacifier is good for letting your baby practice sucking and keeping his tongue down. I had some unused orthodontically correct pacifiers (my boys wouldn’t take them) and I tried to use them but was quickly corrected by our speech therapist who said the shape is not good for babies with Ds. Who knew? The hospital style Soothie is a good paci to use and luckily most hospitals will give you a handful on your way out the door but if not, you can get them online. Two for $4.79.
Your Finger
Nice clean fingers can be used to tongue tap, press the jaws to stimulate the bite reflex, rub the gums, gently pinch-pull the lips and cheeks, and trace lines on baby’s cheek skin. Your speech therapist, or a lactation consultant who has experience with children who have Ds, can show you many exercises you can use. You can also find detailed oral stimulation techniques in the books, Early Communication Skills for Children with Down Syndrome and The Down Syndrome Nutrition Handbook: A Guide to Promoting Healthy Lifestyles.
Z-Vibe
The Z-Vibe is a great tool for babies who have moved on to stage two but it is too powerful for newborns. I will do a post on this tool in the future.
Your Turn
Do you have a tip or trick you used for your baby's oral aerobics? Do you love/hate any of the tools in the toolkit? Share your thoughts with us.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Shake Your Bootie
There’s no better way to celebrate a Buddy Walk than with a new pair of homemade sweater booties. Lianna over at My Life With Gabriel is giving away a free pair everyday this week in honor of Canadian Down syndrome awareness. All you have to do is visit her blog and leave her a comment to be entered in the daily drawing. Well, what are you waiting for... shake your bootie on over there!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
He's Got the Look
Or rather, he’s got the leggings...
Joaquin from Three’s A Charm will be sporting some pretty cool leggings in the near future... since his mom and dad were the lucky winners in our Knotty Baby Wear leggings contest.
Random.org picked the 11th entry
Congratulations to Hector and Jennifer Varanini Sanchez. Email me and I’ll hook you up with Amber.
Thanks for playing everybody, and remember the leggings super sale is on until Friday, December 18th.
Joaquin from Three’s A Charm will be sporting some pretty cool leggings in the near future... since his mom and dad were the lucky winners in our Knotty Baby Wear leggings contest.
Random.org picked the 11th entry
Congratulations to Hector and Jennifer Varanini Sanchez. Email me and I’ll hook you up with Amber.
Thanks for playing everybody, and remember the leggings super sale is on until Friday, December 18th.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Everybody Should Do It
Imagine that you are a stay-at-home parent to three children and your spouse just had open heart surgery. There’s no short-term disability, no vacation hours to use up. There will be no paychecks during your spouse’s six to eight week recovery period. What a nightmare. Aren’t you glad this isn’t happening to you?
Well, the Flege family is going through that nightmare right now and we have the opportunity to help them out. CJ over at The T21 Traveling Afghan is holding an online raffle to benefit this family. Throw a few bucks into one or more of the raffle pots for the items you’d like to win (you can do this by clicking the donate button associated with the item you want and then use PayPal to transfer the money.) The winners will be chosen randomly after the raffle ends.
Go on over there and check it out. There are some really nice items up for raffle (ahem, some of which I made by hand.) Let’s show our support and help a family in our community who needs us right now :-)
Well, the Flege family is going through that nightmare right now and we have the opportunity to help them out. CJ over at The T21 Traveling Afghan is holding an online raffle to benefit this family. Throw a few bucks into one or more of the raffle pots for the items you’d like to win (you can do this by clicking the donate button associated with the item you want and then use PayPal to transfer the money.) The winners will be chosen randomly after the raffle ends.
Go on over there and check it out. There are some really nice items up for raffle (ahem, some of which I made by hand.) Let’s show our support and help a family in our community who needs us right now :-)
Sunday, October 18, 2009
He’s Hot, He’s Cold, Hot, Cold...
Young babies often have trouble regulating their body temperatures. A baby's body surface is about three times greater than an adult's, compared to the weight of his/her body. That means babies can lose heat much faster than you or I would. It also means they can overheat quickly as well.
Since babies are so susceptible to body temperature changes depending on their environments, we have the tough job of keeping them just right. Hats, blankets, mitts, and the infant seat cover are helpful when you are transitioning your baby from one place to another such as from home to the car, to the store, to the doctor’s office, and back home again.
While those basics that go on and off, or open and close swiftly are important to have, they just don’t cover everything when it comes to babies with Down syndrome. Our little ones very often get cold legs and feet even when the room temperature is an average 70 degrees. We could bundle them up but most babies do not enjoy having their lower extremities constricted by layers of stockings, socks, and shoes. I don’t blame them... I remember the itchy claustrophobic feeling you get when you wear tight panty hose and shoes all day.
What’s the solution?
Leggings. Soft knit leggings that slip on and off easily and can cover the legs as well as the entire foot or only part, leaving those prehensile toes free to play.
Not only are leggings the ideal solution for hanging around the house, but they are a godsend for babies who are doing time in the hospital or have other reasons why pants are uncomfortable.
I think leggings are so useful and snazzy that I got together with Amber from Knotty Baby Wear (who happens to think babies with Ds are awesome) to come up with a Leggings giveaway. That’s right... Amber is going to give one of you three pairs of her gorgeous leggings just because she thinks our kids rock!
How to Enter
To enter to win the leggings giveaway, visit Knotty Baby Wear and choose the three pairs of leggings you would like to win. Plan on spending some time over there because she has pages of fantastic selections to choose from. Amber's leggings fit children up to age ten, so those of you with "big babies" can enter as well! Come back here and post your choices in a comment. Ten days from today, on October 28, a random winner will be chosen. The winner will receive his or her selections compliments of Amber.
Christmas Sale
And if you’re not the winner, never fear, Amber is offering us the best sale she has ever had on her site. From now until Friday December 18th, order three pairs of leggings (regular price $8 each) for only $18 with free shipping. When you order your selections, put the sale code DS.MAMA in the comment box and Amber will adjust the pricing on her end. (Etsy doesn’t allow for discounts, so Amber has to do it this way.) So go on over and buy your favorite baby some stylin’ leggings for Christmas.
Picture Credit: That handsome boy is Jax from Jaxson's Fight.
Since babies are so susceptible to body temperature changes depending on their environments, we have the tough job of keeping them just right. Hats, blankets, mitts, and the infant seat cover are helpful when you are transitioning your baby from one place to another such as from home to the car, to the store, to the doctor’s office, and back home again.
While those basics that go on and off, or open and close swiftly are important to have, they just don’t cover everything when it comes to babies with Down syndrome. Our little ones very often get cold legs and feet even when the room temperature is an average 70 degrees. We could bundle them up but most babies do not enjoy having their lower extremities constricted by layers of stockings, socks, and shoes. I don’t blame them... I remember the itchy claustrophobic feeling you get when you wear tight panty hose and shoes all day.
What’s the solution?
Leggings. Soft knit leggings that slip on and off easily and can cover the legs as well as the entire foot or only part, leaving those prehensile toes free to play.
Not only are leggings the ideal solution for hanging around the house, but they are a godsend for babies who are doing time in the hospital or have other reasons why pants are uncomfortable.
I think leggings are so useful and snazzy that I got together with Amber from Knotty Baby Wear (who happens to think babies with Ds are awesome) to come up with a Leggings giveaway. That’s right... Amber is going to give one of you three pairs of her gorgeous leggings just because she thinks our kids rock!
How to Enter
To enter to win the leggings giveaway, visit Knotty Baby Wear and choose the three pairs of leggings you would like to win. Plan on spending some time over there because she has pages of fantastic selections to choose from. Amber's leggings fit children up to age ten, so those of you with "big babies" can enter as well! Come back here and post your choices in a comment. Ten days from today, on October 28, a random winner will be chosen. The winner will receive his or her selections compliments of Amber.
Christmas Sale
And if you’re not the winner, never fear, Amber is offering us the best sale she has ever had on her site. From now until Friday December 18th, order three pairs of leggings (regular price $8 each) for only $18 with free shipping. When you order your selections, put the sale code DS.MAMA in the comment box and Amber will adjust the pricing on her end. (Etsy doesn’t allow for discounts, so Amber has to do it this way.) So go on over and buy your favorite baby some stylin’ leggings for Christmas.Picture Credit: That handsome boy is Jax from Jaxson's Fight.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Surprise
A while back I did a poll about when you found out your baby had Down syndrome. The results (way, way down the left column) indicated that around 60% of babies that come with extras come as an after delivery surprise.
There are lots of reasons for this. Maybe you didn’t care about prenatal testing... que sera sera... or maybe you did but something got missed. Doesn’t matter now. You have a wonderful new (or not so new :-) person in your life.
What does matter is that there are a lot of misconceptions about people with Ds and their parents. For one, there are some pregnancy/birth statistics that are skewed (and posted all over the internet). You who were delivered surprises can help to straighten that out (even if you didn't vote in my poll).
Please read the Oz Squad blog post, “What’s In a Number” and then, if you qualify, take the prenatal testing poll. Your participation is greatly appreciated.
There are lots of reasons for this. Maybe you didn’t care about prenatal testing... que sera sera... or maybe you did but something got missed. Doesn’t matter now. You have a wonderful new (or not so new :-) person in your life.
What does matter is that there are a lot of misconceptions about people with Ds and their parents. For one, there are some pregnancy/birth statistics that are skewed (and posted all over the internet). You who were delivered surprises can help to straighten that out (even if you didn't vote in my poll).
Please read the Oz Squad blog post, “What’s In a Number” and then, if you qualify, take the prenatal testing poll. Your participation is greatly appreciated.
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