Week 4: Entry 1

Yesterday I hope the distressing experience of taking a 10mth baby for a physio treatment session who just didn't want to be there. From the minute he left his mums arms he was crying and complaining even though I know that it wasn't hurting him. At first I gave him a bit of a break after one exercise to improve 4 point kneeling as he was screaming even more but my supervisor said to keep pushing him. I was doing the exercises correctly but I found it difficult at time to get the best handling of the baby to facilitate or restrict his movements. I am however feeling more confident about where my hands need to be for things such as practicing sit to 4 pt kneel and sit-4 pt kneel-2pt-1/2 kneel-pull to stand, it's now just a matter of practice for me to get them in the right position at the right time.

Another aspect of this treatment I found difficult was continuing to do activities as he complained more and more, screaming and at times resisting my movements. Although I have observed many sessions were babies are crying and very unhappy, I underestimated the difficulty of not giving in to the childs complaints. By the end of the session I found I was more able to block out the wild cries and just focus on my own handling to facilitate optimal movement patterns. Building up my own resilience to unhappy children is an important aspect to master to provide the best treatment and make the most of your time with the child.

I was able to reflect on the session further as I wrote up the ongoing notes for the child in SOAPIER format. I found this very helpful to think through exactly what the activities were for and what other areas may need to be addressed next time. However, I do need to try and improve on the amount of time I take to write out the ongoing and be confident in my notes. Both of these I know will just take some more practice.