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Physiotherapy Blog
Babies on the Move - Enroll NOW for the Spring session!
BABIES ON THE MOVE: Babies on the Move Spring schedule is NOW ready. Sign up NOW so you don't miss out! This Spring we're running the group for only 6 weeks for infants from 6 months to 18 months. The session starts from May 12 to June 16th, 2026. The classes are run like a playgroup where you will socialize with other parents or caregivers and also learn about typical motor development, alignment, how to help your infant with motor movements. In this group we talk about lear
Dr. Janet Hale
Mar 142 min read
Stair Climbing in Toddlers
As a physiotherapist, parents ask me what is expected of toddlers on the stairs. Once the toddlers have started crawling and usually walking (but not always) they like to start climbing up on furniture and on the stairs. It's important when they're crawling up the stairs, that they can use either leg to push up on. Sometimes an infant with residual issues from torticollis, will only use one leg. Its easier to go up the stairs than go down the stairs - it is scary for toddlers
Dr. Janet Hale
Mar 43 min read
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Babies on the Move - Enroll NOW for the Spring session!
BABIES ON THE MOVE: Babies on the Move Spring schedule is NOW ready. Sign up NOW so you don't miss out! This Spring we're running the group for only 6 weeks for infants from 6 months to 18 months. The session starts from May 12 to June 16th, 2026. The classes are run like a playgroup where you will socialize with other parents or caregivers and also learn about typical motor development, alignment, how to help your infant with motor movements. In this group we talk about lear
Dr. Janet Hale
Mar 142 min read
Stair Climbing in Toddlers
As a physiotherapist, parents ask me what is expected of toddlers on the stairs. Once the toddlers have started crawling and usually walking (but not always) they like to start climbing up on furniture and on the stairs. It's important when they're crawling up the stairs, that they can use either leg to push up on. Sometimes an infant with residual issues from torticollis, will only use one leg. Its easier to go up the stairs than go down the stairs - it is scary for toddlers
Dr. Janet Hale
Mar 43 min read
Earlier Diagnosis of Cerebral Palsy
Neonatal Followup clinics are getting better and better at diagnosing cerebral palsy earlier in an infant's life. “Cerebral palsy is a group of disorders affecting the development of movement and posture". A recent study by Maitre et al, 2020 found they were able to decrease the age of diagnosis from 19.5 months to 9.5 months by adding additional testing when the infant was 3-4 month of age. As infant's brains are very adaptable and plastic within the first 2 years of life,
Dr. Janet Hale
Mar 43 min read
Children with cerebral palsy - motor training for success
As a pediatric physiotherapist, I was just reading an article about how much motor training is needed for children with cerebral palsy - to make a difference in motor outcomes by Haddon et al, 2026 in Pediatric Physical therapy. First of all physiotherapy needs to be fun, playful and motivating for the child. Children with cerebral palsy tend to have stiffness in their muscles which creates challenges with postural and motor control. Some children with cerebral palsy learn to
Dr. Janet Hale
Feb 112 min read
Early Intervention - Why is it Important?
The brains of infants and children from birth to three year of age are changing the most in their entire lifetime in the zero to three time period. In the first 2 years of life, babies form 1 million new synaptic connections . . . not per hour . . . not per minute . . . but per second . ( Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University ) That's incredible! That means we have the best chance of enhancing all aspects of development in the early years. Every new activi
Dr. Janet Hale
Feb 24 min read
Classes for Infants with Torticollis
Do you have an infant recently diagnosed with torticollis, who has a tendency to turn to one side and or a flatness at the back of their head? You might be interested in Classes for Infants with Torticollis that I'm starting with PACE Physio held at my home office - in Westmount. We'll start with 2 infants at a time in the class. In the Classes for Infants with Torticollis - we will practice how to actively get your infant to turn to the opposite side, teach you how to stretc
Dr. Janet Hale
Feb 23 min read
How are Canada's children doing? UNICEF report card
You might be interested in how Canada's children are doing with respect to the rest of the world. According to the UNICEP report card , published in 2025, we're doing relatively well in skills development like math and reading and placed 6th overall (out of 42 countries) - 67% or 7/10 children of the children are doing well but 3/10 children are having difficulties - an area we can still work on improving. We're also doing relatively well in mental well being and rank 13th ov
Dr. Janet Hale
Jan 193 min read
What is Hypotonia? How can Pediatric Physiotherapy Help?
You've been noticing your infant or child seems floppy compared to other children. Your infant or child seems to sink into surfaces and when you lift them up, they feel like slinky. You're also noticing your infant is not progressing in their motor milestones, like the other infants or children. What is going on? Your doctor may have mentioned your child has hypotonia. In pediatric physiotherapy, we measure hypotonia in many different ways: by examining the movement available
Dr. Janet Hale
Jan 192 min read
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Motor Difficulties
Motor difficulties in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is under recognized in clinical practice. According to an article in Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology by Miller et al, 2022; intellectual deficits were present in 30-50% of children with ASD but motor issues were present in anywhere from 85 - 97% (parent reports). These motor issues for children with ASD include strength deficits, difficulties with posture, balance, motor imitation, motor p
Dr. Janet Hale
Jan 162 min read
Babies on the Move - Enroll NOW for the Winter session
BABIES ON THE MOVE: Babies on the Move Winter schedule is NOW ready. Sign up NOW so you don't miss out! The first session is 6 weeks long, for infants from Birth to 9 months, from Jan 6th - February 10, 2026. The classes are run like a playgroup where you will socialize with other parents or caregivers and also learn about typical motor development, alignment, how to help your infant with motor movements. In this first group we talk about and practice how to position your in
Dr. Janet Hale
Nov 24, 20252 min read
Standing - how to help my infant learn to stand
Learning to stand is a very BIG step for infants. It is best if they figure out themselves how to get to standing, rather than you placing them in standing. Start at very low surfaces, like couch cushions on the floor, to help them learn to get to standing by themselves. If they know how to crawl it will be a natural extension for them to start getting up to standing at the low surface, a couch cushion. We start at low surfaces, as infants can be afraid at higher surfaces. Lo
Dr. Janet Hale
Nov 18, 20253 min read
Infant Sitting Devices - Which ones do you chose?
I'm often asked the question - when can I start placing my infant in sitting and which devices are helpful? Motor development moves from head to toe and first starts with head control. Once infants have head control, usually at 4 months of age, they start working on their trunk control - both their abdominals and back muscles. In sitting, you support them where they need help, or where their back starts to curve forwards - which may mean holding them at their shoulders or fur
Dr. Janet Hale
Nov 18, 20253 min read
My child with Autism is clumsy and falling a lot: Physiotherapy can help?
If your child with a diagnosis of Autism is clumsy and falling a lot they may have difficulties with their motor control. Physiotherapy can help your child with Autism, often including working on balance, strength, sensory awareness of their bodies, coordinating their movements for play and being active in their environments. Physiotherapy will develop a program tailored to your child's needs that you can follow at home or in the park. Physiotherapy can follow you with a ser
Dr. Janet Hale
Oct 21, 20252 min read
Best Physiotherapy Training for Children with Cerebral Palsy
In physiotherapy, I train children with different special needs including cerebral palsy, developmental delays, complex medical needs, spina bifida and others. I work to make sure the child achieves their optimal level of motor performance. I was just reading an article on the best way to train motor tasks in children with cerebral palsy. Is is better to train for the tasks that the child is interested in learning, i.e. their goals, or to train different components of the tas
Dr. Janet Hale
Oct 20, 20252 min read
Is Crawling Important?
I'm asked by many parents, is crawling important for my infant? Crawling is a means by which infants can explore in their environment - they learn about their world by doing and moving around. Some infants miss this stage, as they've had difficulty with tummy time. It's important to help them learn to be comfortable with tummy time, so they will be able to push up on their hands and then use their abdominals to lift their hips up into all fours. Before crawling infants usuall
Dr. Janet Hale
Oct 13, 20252 min read
Pediatric Physiotherapists are Movement Specialists!
Pediatric Physiotherapists are trained to look at movement in infants and children. We look at key movements like rolling, moving from lying to sitting, crawling, moving from sit to standing, walking, running jumping and steps & stairs. For each movement we'll examine how the movement starts, the mid phase and ending of the movement. If your infant or child is having difficulty with a particular movement, we figure out why. Is it due to weakness, stiffness, movement coordinat
Dr. Janet Hale
Oct 8, 20252 min read
My child has just been diagnosed with Hypotonia? Physiotherapy can help!
Children are born with different levels of muscle tone. Each child is different and unique! Some children are born with higher muscle tone and others with low muscle tone. Low muscle tone or hypotonia means your child will have more movement in their joints, and it's harder for them to be strong, balance, coordinate their movements and they often have difficulties keeping up with their peers and playing in the playground. They may not want to be in activities or in gym class
Dr. Janet Hale
Oct 1, 20252 min read
My infant has torticollis? How can Pediatric physiotherapy help?
Your infant has just been diagnosed with torticollis and you're wondering what to do. Torticollis is a tendency for your infant to turn their head to one side and tilt their head to the opposite side. Sometimes they also get flattening at the back of their heads (plagiocephaly) from turning their head only to that side. Pediatric physiotherapy can help you with exercises to stretch and massage the tight side of the neck, help your infant practice turning their head to the oth
Dr. Janet Hale
Sep 30, 20252 min read
Helping your infant learn to roll
Rolling is an important motor skill for your infant to learn. They need to learn how to move from their back to their tummy and their...
Dr. Janet Hale
Sep 29, 20252 min read
Elbows UP for tummy time
Lots of infants have difficulties with tummy time as their heads are quite large compared to their bodies when they are little and learning tummy time. One of the tips that can help you is placing their elbows under or in front of their shoulders or "Elbows UP", when they are in tummy time. This helps them lift up their heads. Just try it yourself - try tummy time with your elbows in front of your shoulders versus below your shoulders - its much easier with elbows up. If they
Dr. Janet Hale
Sep 26, 20252 min read
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