Some children are more sensitive than others to sensory input and do not integrate it sufficiently. This can cause poor sleep habits, feeding difficulties, a lot of fussing, and emotional irritability.

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The way the infant is nurtured, their early relationships and the relationship between their sensory processing and the environment, strongly influence the baby’s ability to self-regulate.

 

Adaptive self-regulation is the foundation of most aspects of learning and function.

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If your baby is over six months of age and displays at least two of the following traits, you may benefit from an Occupational Therapist assessment:

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Sleep disturbances

• your baby takes over 30 minutes to fall asleep, even after calming techniques and bedtime routines have been enacted

• waking more than twice in the night, which are not related to habitual night feeds

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Difficulty self-consoling​

• your baby is unable to self-console (unable to bring hands to midline and hand/ thumb/fingers to mouth to self-sooth) and once upset, requires extreme efforts to calm down

• you find yourself spending from two to four hours a day over a period of three weeks or longer, attempting to calm the infant

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Feeding difficulties

• does not have an established, regular feeding schedule

• demonstrates distress around the process of feeding, with regurgitation and spitting out of food, particularly when eating textured or lumpy foods

• eats only soft foods

• had difficulty latching on to the breast for longer than five days as a newborn

• will not tolerate the change from breast to a rubber or silicone teat

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Distress with changes in routine

• your baby fusses when the routine changes​

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Distress with routine care-giving and play experiences which offer a sensory challenge

your baby responds by crying, withdrawal with at least three of the following:

• resists cuddling, pulls away or arches

• resists being swaddled

• distressed at having face or hair washed

• hates car seat

• resists being placed in certain positions (for example, on tummy or on back)

• avoids touching certain textures or getting hands messy

• doesn’t want to wear clothing or wants to wear too many layers or very warm clothes

• fear of being swung in air or involved in boisterous play

• is startled or distressed by loud sounds (e.g. vacuum cleaner, door bell or barking dog)

 

Emotional instability

• Fussiness, irritability, negative mood state, tendency to rapidly escalate from contented mood to distress without an apparent antecedent cause

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*The work done by Meg Faure with Baby Sense coupled with  a Sensory Integration Practitioner skill-set guides the intervention used with these children.

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