Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy can be used for training motor skills and sensory integration. The Sensory Integration(SI) function is of great meaning for the child’s consciousness, perception and sensory motor development.  Sensory-integration training is motor-skill and sensory training that aims at improving the brains processing and organising of sensory impressions.  Work is focused mainly on the senses of touch, balance and muscle and joint sense .  Some general exercises that are great for stimulation of the senses and to help improve motor skills as well as points on how to avoid over stimulation are given as follows:

While your baby is still in the Neonatal Unit

Always use calm movements

Hold your hand gently over the baby as this helps the baby feel embraced and secure rather than stroking movements or massage as these can overstimulate a premature baby but are excellent once they are older.

Preventing the frog position – knees bent and apart and feet turned out- when placing the child on its back by supporting arms and legs in slightly bent position

Placing the baby on its side, changing between right and left sides, preferably with a rolled  up cloth nappy between the legs as this can prevent bodily asymmetry.  It is also beneficial to place the baby in the foetal position as often as possible as this will improve the childs ability to bend its body later on.

Rolling the baby when it has to be turned from back to front and back again, in order to strengthen symmetry.

Bathing the baby with a cloth nappy wrapped around the body in order to give it a feeling of being safe and encompassed, in a narrow bath so that the baby can feel its boundaries or so the feet can feel the edge of the bath.

Placing the baby on your stomach, skin to skin, to train it to lift its head and to give it bodily contact

Rocking the baby gently both while embracing it and when it is lying in a hammock or cradle as this will stimulate the sense of balance and help with brain development.  If the baby is embraced, for example, in a carry sling, its breathing and heart rhythm will be stimulated and anti-stress hormones will be released in the baby’s body

Letting the baby lie in a sack chair or on a beanbag cushion gives the feeling of being embraced and for stimulation of the sense of touch.

Cross training by gently moving right arm and left leg towards each other and then the other two limbs, this is repeated until the child indicates that it has had enough.  Cross training assists coordination between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, a function that the child will need when it learns to crawl and later develop other motor skills

Once you are home with your baby

Letting your baby play with and in water stimulates several senses in particular the sense of touch

Giving your child the chance to swing, crawl, hop, run and play on the floor, particularly in bare feet help to develop the balance and gross-motor skills

Letting the child lie on its front over a swiss ball and rolling the ball while holding onto the child’s feet help to stimulate sense of balance

Playing in the countryside where the child can move to its own rhythm has a positive and calming influence on the mind and the chance to move at its own pace is important for the rhythm and harmony of the child’s body

Letting older children stand on one leg, play hopscotch, climb up, hop down, balance along a wide line or a thick rope and catching a big ball with both hands develop the gross motor skills, the coordination of the senses and balance.

Letting the older child draw and paint, play with lego, play dough, puzzles will help develop their fine motor skills.  Playing in the sandpit or letting your child play with twigs and stones and seashells are also good natural materials that give the child a good sensory experience and at the same time strengthen their fine motor skills.

Letting the child use eating utensils by itself as soon as possible

These suggestions of training and stimulation of the senses and motor skills and avoidance of over stimulation are general, there are many others.  A child with delayed motor development should have a training program tailored to its needs by a therapist.

Ref: Born Too Early by Jonna Jepsen