Therapist Survey l

Objective: The goal of this study was to identify child development trends observed by pediatric physical therapists.

Methods: The Web-based survey was conducted in 2008 by Pathways Awareness. The survey was taken by a total of 409 therapists who belong to the Neuro-Developmental Treatment Association (NDTA) or the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and who work regularly with children. These therapists average more than 20 years of experience.

Results: Two-thirds of the therapists reported that, in the past several years, they had observed an increase in early motor delays in babies under six months of age. Of these therapists, more than eight in ten named lack of Tummy Time while awake as the number-one reason for the increase. Three-fourths had observed early motor delay cases that could be associated with babies spending too much time on their backs while they were awake (in car seats, bouncers, etc.). Seventy percent of the therapists observed that most parents have little or no understanding of Tummy Time.

Conclusions: New parents are concerned with the basics: sleeping, eating, changing and nurturing. However, a few simple steps—even just holding and soothing the baby in a different position—can help infants get used to Tummy Time. Pathways recommends starting Tummy Time with just a few minutes. By three months of age, babies should be getting an hour of Tummy Time per day. This does not need to be all at once, but in several shorter intervals throughout the day,

Contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for a full research report.

This research was conducted by the Chicago-based marketing consulting firm, Hyde Park Group, on behalf of Pathways Awareness.