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Sorry mama he’ll get better! It def is slow and can be frustrating. We’ve had our lo in speech since 30 months and she’s now 5. We did a lot of fighting with doctors about ear tubes, speech, etc etc because many were dismissive. It has been slow but we are seeing really progress. Someone told me it can take a year with a therapist to start seeing a difference. So just advocate for your self and your lo and be patient and don’t compare yourself to others. We also supplement her school speech with private and go 4 days per week and that consistency has helped. But just as a comparison for you my nephew is 12mo, literally just started crawling, doesn’t pull to stand and isn’t a great eater. There’s a wide range of normal but extra help especially if there are other circumstances can’t hurt!

@Ms. RV: my son has a very different story but early intervention and subsequent preschool special education has been an amazing journey for our family. I think in the moment and day by day it is hard to see the progress. But when I look back to when we started a year and a half ago he has come so far. I honesty feel overwhelmed with gratitude for all the therapists who have worked with him.

We also supplemented EI with OT and speech via our insurance.

It took me a longggggg time to accept that he was not going to meet milestones at the “normal” pace like other children (especially hard when we are with friends and family with kids the same age). He makes his own progress on his own timeline.

The OT should definitely help with feeding. I wonder if a speech evaluation would be appropriate soon since they can also address oral motor?

Sending you love , it sounds like you are doing an amazing job o

@Ms. RV: My son has been in EI for about 6 months. In addition to EI from the school district he also does private ST and OT once a week. He has developmental delays (we suspect on the autism spectrum with sensory issues). Right now he is doing really well, and he wouldn’t be where he is without all of the EI therapy he has had. His OT appt is his favorite part of the week, if he could go every day he would (he is sensory seeking). It took about 4/5 months to see any progress, and then overnight things just started clicking for him. Good luck to you! Raising a kid with different abilities is hard, I used to feel alone but am building my community and talking with family/friends which has made everything easier for me. I’ve also been reading a ton of books, recommend borrowing them from the library before buying, and that has helped tremendously too.

D (now 5yo) graduated from PT after 1yo and out of EI right before he turned 3. He was there for limb weakness (due to hospital stays) so severe he was initially diagnosed with CP and for feeding issues (he still has a g tube but hopefully it will come out in June). Happy to chat with you in more detail whenever you'd like, hang in there mama

@Ms. RV: my oldest started therapy for eating in February. We have seen so much progress! He has been doing 1 hour sessions once a week with lots and lots of sensory play in addition to snack time where they have had him practice eating new foods. I’m seriously amazed at the progress.

And both of my boys have been/are in EI and so was my brother who was a preemie. It has been a positive experience for everyone.

I know it’s so hard not to compare. There’s a little boy in DS2’s music class with the same bday. I know better, but I still get sad when I hear him talking or see him reaching milestones first. But I have to remind myself that my guy has had a lot of challenges this first year and he will catch up.

You’re doing an awesome job, mama.

Following... my son just turned 11 months and has been in private PT since 6 months for a gross motor delay due to hypotonia (presumed idiopathic). He was born at term and doesn't seem to have other delays (so far) so we are kind of scratching our heads. He goes twice a week. Our PT says he does not qualify for EI in our state because he needs to be 50% delayed - i.e. at 11 months, functioning at a 5.5 month old level. He is probably at a 7-8 month old level, maybe.

He has made GREAT progress in PT, but is remaining on his own "curve" if that makes sense - he is progressing but not any closer to catching up. Still 3-4 months delayed. He is very floppy and wobbly due to low muscle tone. I worry, a lot.

He has recently started semi-army crawling (pulling himself around by his arms when he's on his belly) and just last week got into a sitting position by himself - both huge for him.

I worry because I feel like he's still so young that we don't really know what's going on or if there are also any other underlying issues (cognitive, developmental, etc).

Are any of your EI/PT babies in daycare? He is in daycare 3-4 days per week (I work part time now). It's a great university lab school, but we're starting to run into issues because he's supposed to move to the toddler room at 12 months. Obviously he can't due to his delay. They want to accommodate him and help him but I am a little worried how that's going to go or if they may tell us at some point we have to find another place. We are meeting with the infant toddler teachers, the director, and a pediatric nurse practitioner who also works at the school in 2 weeks.

My son is now 5 1/2 and went through early intervention for a few different issues. He had a lot of feeding difficulties early on, and he didn't learn to chew until he was almost 2. That part was extremely stressful, and it took trying out a few different therapists until we found someone who would address his oral motor issues instead of focusing on any sensory issues and encouraging him to play with his food. He still doesn't like certain textures and has a hard time biting through things like larger carrots. But once he learned to chew and manage food in his mouth, he was a different kid. But it did take almost a year of therapy. He also has low muscle tone. This is an ongoing thing and he still goes to PT. If you met him, you'd have no idea anything was wrong unless you were looking for it and watching him keeping up with his peers. But it's not holding him back and he's doing just fine in school and with friends.

@Ms. RV: Hang in there! I know its frustrating that it's a slow progress, but he will get there in his time. It's kind of like the NICU... at one point something kind of clicks and progress in many areas happens quickly.

My son is about to age out of EI at the end of this month. He was a micro preemie and started EI when he came home from the NICU at around 4 months old. He was so so behind for a very long time. Even at his 1st birthday, he couldn't sit up on his own or chew or drink from a straw. He would gag, choke and spit out food frequently. Fast forward to now, and he's about to be 3 and he's doing pretty much everything an average 3 year old does...running, talking, feeding himself and drinking properly. He still has low muscle tone that we continue to work on, but he has come so far past what I ever could have imagined. I really think the EI services did wonders for him, so much so that even his vocabulary was larger than my older DDs (no delay issues) was at the same age.

My son is an EI success story! He started PT around 12 months old - he was only rolling and sitting at the time. He army crawled within a month of starting PT and began to make good progress. He walked at 17 months. We continued until around age 3, at which point he was “caught up” with all of the typical milestones. He is six now and plays soccer, basketball and baseball. He is still more cautious on the playground and in and out of the car than the average classmate but no one but me would really notice that. He has recently started OT due to very slight difficulty keeping up with the handwriting demands at his school (he’s about six months younger than most of the boys in his class though so I think age plays a part in this). After our wonderful PT experience we are just of the mindset that we want to give him the best support we can and he LOVES his OT. It’s like a fun after school activity for him and gets his confidence up! All of my kids have low muscle tone and I think they will always have to work a little harder on these activities of daily kid living that come easily to most .... but overall my son is happy, active, and loving school and six year old boy life!

We have friends who have done OT for food aversion (son could only tolerate purées even in preK) and had great success with that as well.

I know it’s scary and stressful when you’re going through it but I believe in the power of great therapists!

@Ms. RV: @MrsADS: It is hard to have a kiddo who looks their age but acts younger. My son didn't start walking until 19 months. And because of his feeding issues, whenever we had playdates or activities, he wouldn't eat the snacks that were handed out. Or he would be mouthing 1 goldfish cracker for 15 minutes while the other kids were on their second helping. I always felt like we stood out. But, in terms of success stories, like I mentioned above, you'd never know now that he had any issues when he was younger.

@ms. Rv hypotonia isn't on the list of conditions in Florida that get you in to EI, unfortunately. Depending on his progress in the next couple months, I may have him evaluated anyway, but we're lucky to have excellent insurance coverage for PT, so we go twice a week

@pinkelephant hmm that's interesting! I am ok with our current situation - our pediatric PT is fantastic and has like 20 years of experience. My only interest in EI would be if we could receive additional services like in home or something, but what we have now is not bad.

@Ms. RV: woohoo! that's so great!