CHILD GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Child growth and developmental milestones are behaviours or physical skills seen in infants and children as they grow and develop in each month of their life. 

There is a normal range in which a child will reach each milestone.

NORMAL MILESTONE

Infant — birth to 1 year

• Ready to sit alone, without help
• Babbles
• Gets first tooth
• Says mama and dada, utilizing terms fittingly
• Sees “NO” and will stop action .

Toddler – 1 to 3 years

• Ready to run, turn, and walk in reverse
• Ready to say first and last name
• Ready to walk slowly over the steps

Pre-schooler – -3 to 6 years

• Balances better, may start to ride a bike
• Starts to perceive composed words
• Appreciates rhymes and word play
• Comprehends size ideas
• Comprehends time ideas

POOR GROWTH AND DEVELOPEMENTAL DELAY

Poor growth and developmental delay refers to a child who has not gained the proper developmental skills expected of him or her, compared to others of the same age. 

Delays occur in the areas of motor function, speech and language, social skills.

CAUSES

• Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs)
•  Muscle dysfunction
• Genetic disorders, like Down syndrome 

Fine and gross motor skill delay

• Loose trunk and limbs
• Limited movement of arms and legs
• Cannot sit without support by 9 months old
• Dominance of involuntary reflexes over voluntary movements
• Cannot able to bear weight on legs and stand up by about 1 year old

Speech and language delay

A language delay occurs when they have difficulty understanding what other people are saying or can’t express their own thoughts. It includes speaking, signing, and writing.

Effects of poor nutrition on children’s development

Nutrition plays a major role in enhancing the child growth and development. Poor nutrition is one of the major health issues in India were many children are not getting a proper nutrition in their daily life. Poor nutrition leads to,

1. Impaired growth

2. Dental caries

 3. Muscle cramps

4. Poor memory and poor skills

5. Learning disabilities 

DIAGNOSIS AND INVESTIGATION

1. Developmental Assessment – your doctor may ask full history of your child from birth. 
2. Clinical Assessment– done by few clinical tests such as hearing and vision assessments, growth parameters including measurements of  head circumference, IQ tests, etc.

GENERAL MANAGEMENT

Gross Motor Skills

• Place infants on their abdomen while they are awake to develop neck and back muscles
• Put babies on the floor to explore.
• Give children time to play outside where they can run and jump.

Fine Motor Skills

• Provide them toys that can encourage babies to explore with their fingers and feel different texture.
• Provide puzzles, blocks, paper, and crayons according to their age.
• Encourage older babies to feed themselves

Language Skills

• Play  music  for  new born to  stimulate hearing

Social Interaction

• Laugh and smile with baby
• Limit television and play with child

PREVENTION 

Doctors suggest the parents to help their children to grow and to avoid the developmental delay.

• Be aware of age appropriate milestones
• Exposure to the different environment
• Avoid baby from electronic  devices or gadgets
• Parenting with purpose

HOMOEOPATHIC MANAGEMENT

Our system of medicine is highly safe and effective in treating children. These medicines don’t cause any side effect. Both mental and physical symptoms can be  treated with homoeopathy.

Medicines are selected upon the constitutional symptoms that help overcome the developmental delay to a large extent and to aid normal development of the children.

Along with Homeopathic treatment other therapies can help in behavioural changes and improving skills.

Many medicines has showed a marked effect in improving the children with the developmental delay. Medicines like Calcarea Carb, Calcarea Phos, Baryta Carb, Tuberculinum, Carcinosin, Aethusa and Silicea are very effective. Potency and repetition of medicines depends upon your child’s symptoms and severity.

Research work on developmental delay: 

  “Retrospective Study of Effectiveness of Homoeopathic Constitutional Remedies in Treating Children with Delayed Speech”  conducted in  Sarada Krishna Homoeopathic Medical College, Kulasekharam, Kanniyakumari District, Tamilnadu, India. 

In this research 30 children were treated  with Homeopathic medicines.  Out of 30 cases, 17 cases showed good improvement,  9 cases with moderate improvement and 4 cases does not have any improvement.

Conclusion of research work:  Homoeopathic remedies are very effective in treating these cases by individualising the person and by prescribing constitutional remedies.

Consult Our Homeopathic Doctor, if you suspect your child having a delay in their milestone, especially in the following situations:

Delayed walking

Delayed talking 

Delayed learning

For further information and appointments kindly write to

contact@beingwellhomoeopathy.com

REFERENCE

1. https://jmedpharm.com/index.php/home/article/view/103/118
2. https://scholar.google.co.in/scholar?q=preventing+developmental+delays&hl=en&as_sdt=0&as_vis=1&oi=scholar
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5. https://www.icddelhi.org/developmental_delayed_milestone.html
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7. https://www.ssmhealth.com/cardinal-glennon/developmental-pediatrics/developmental-delay
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9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7510874/
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12. https://www.webmd.com/parenting/baby/recognizing-developmental-delays-birth-age-2
13. https://drnalinagarwal.com/treatments/delayed-milestone/
14. https://www.mottchildren.org/posts/your-child/developmental-milestones
15. https://www.physio.co.uk/what-we-treat/paediatric/problems/neurological-problems/delayed-milestones.php#:~:text=There%20can%20be%20many%20different,there%20is%20no%20identifiable%20cause.
16. https://nyulangone.org/conditions/developmental-delays-in-children/types
17. https://www.understood.org/articles/en/what-you-need-to-know-about-developmental-delays
18. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562231/
19. https://www.yalemedicine.org/conditions/developmental-delay
20. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/14814-developmental-delay-in-children