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Tips to help your infant or toddler with neuro-differences

Difficulty Feeding

  1. Try to make eating a positive experience.
  2. If bottle feeding switch sides while holding infant to encourage infant to use both sides of eyes to focus on caregiver while sucking.
  3. Do not bottle prop. Every child needs time for relationship building.

Calming Ideas

If the child overreacts when faced with certain lights, sounds, noise, people, things, smells, loud toys, touch, movements, activities or colors, try:

  1. Help child calm – swaddle, rock, quiet music, warm bath.
  2. Avoid rough play, tickling or bouncing child if it upsets child.
  3. Keep lights low. Darken room when child is sleeping.
  4. Limit visitors or new people in home.
  5. Keep noise to a minimum. Child may like white noise or gentle music. Sharp sounds such as dog barking or a cup breaking may startle a child.
  6. Find a quiet place to be away from the busy activity.
    • Leave early and arrive late.
    • To help a child calm toward bedtime, gradually modify the environment around him. Dim or turn off lights, turn off electronics and radios to help the child settle into going to bed.

Difficulty in Learning

  1. Speak slowly. Smile. Touch kindly.
  2. Be gentle, respectful and patient.
  3. Provide place to play and explore safely with least restrictions.
    • Encourage baby to try new things.
    • Study developmental steps and help baby achieve them. You may have to teach everything.
  4. Show your child you like them. Hold them often.
  5. Consistent routines and people. Be rigid about mealtimes and bedtimes.
  6. Clearly define your child’s space.
    • Less is better. Many child experts suggest having toys in labeled bins or boxes that can be pulled out one at a time for a child. It reduces choice and overstimulation and may help in the cleanup process (the box has to be put back in order before another is taken out).
    • Avoid clutter – mobiles may be too much for child to handle.
      • Soothing colors.
      • Also, create smaller spaces for a small child—use a screen to reduce the size of a large bedroom and cut out visual clutter in a room.
  7. Slowly introduce new things. Find out what textures, sights, sounds, smells, touches comfort or irritate the child. Make the introduction of a new item an object of exploration and wonder. Life is a big science experiment!