Bennett's Early Intervention Evaluation and Vitamin Therapy??

Today Bennett was evaluated for Early Intervention and yes, he automatically qualifies whether he's doing what he's supposed to or not so that's good! An occupational therapist evaluated him and said he had great leg tone and arm tone, he's tracking objects good, reflexes were good, he follows a voice and she said he's even starting to smile but he just needs a little better head control. He holds his head up fairly well when he's brought up to a sitting position but he still flops it forward some and she'd like to not see that as much.

She studied his hands and Mike mentioned to her that Bennett does not have the common Simian Crease that is often seen in individuals with Down syndrome. She was a little surprised and also said he didn't have many of the facial features that can be seen (I think it's hard to see them in newborns anyway, but whatever). She asked if we knew what type of DS he had and I told her that after the amnio we were told it was the standard Trisomy 21 so really there is no chance that it would be Mosaic, I don't think anyway. (Mosaic DS, for those of you that don't know, sometimes does not present with all the physical features of DS and some people don't even know they have it because sometimes delays are not as noticeable but all in all it's still DS).

We also discussed his feeding issues and she asked if he was spitting up and I said no and that I was surprised that he has not shown signs of reflux. She noticed him arching a lot and said he may have a little silent reflux and to keep an eye on it and suggested different positions to put him in while sleeping like sleeping on his side with a towel rolled up behind him- this position will also help with not developing a flat spot as well as less work for his heart if he's put on his right side. We would need to be watching him of course so this position is not good for night sleeping. She also showed me how to press on his chin while eating, rather than push up under it, which is what I was doing, to give him better jaw support while feeding and to help with it leaking out the sides of his mouth. Here he is sleeping peacefully on his side ( he was exhausted after she was done with him, poor little guy!)

So for now she recommended an OT to come out to work on his head control as well as his feeding issues. She felt he looked good and seemed to be doing very well for a 4 week old-not that they do much anyway but I will admit I was a bit nervous as she evaluated him, hoping he would do the things she was looking for. I can't imagine how it will be as he gets older and where he will be evaluated to see if he's meeting more difficult milestones.

She also mentioned that she has seen vitamin therapy to work wonders in the children she's worked with. I know this is a tad bit controversial- although I'm not sure why but we will at least look into it to see if it's right for us. If you have input on this, good and bad I would be interested to hear it!