When to See a Paediatric Physiotherapist: A Parent’s Guide to Kids Physio
When we think of physiotherapy, we often picture adults recovering from injuries or surgery. But did you know that physiotherapy also plays a vital role in helping babies, children, and teenagers reach their full potential too?
Welcome to the world of Paediatric Physiotherapy. Enter and you will find a space where movement is guided with purpose, play supports development, and every small step leads to meaningful progress in a child’s growth and independence.
What Is Paediatric Physiotherapy?
Paediatric physiotherapy is a branch of physiotherapy focused on the unique needs of children as they grow and develop. Whether it’s helping a baby with delayed milestones, supporting a child with a neurological condition, or guiding a teenager through recovery from sports injuries; paediatric physiotherapists work to improve movement, strength, coordination, and overall physical function in a child’s formative years.
In this blog post, we’ll explore what paediatric physiotherapy at NeuroCentric involves, the types of conditions we can help with, and how we support children and families in everyday life.
Whether you're a parent, caregiver, or simply curious, this guide will give you a clearer understanding of how physiotherapy helps children thrive.
Paediatric Physiotherapy 101
Paediatric physiotherapy is an area of physiotherapy that focuses on assessing and treating gross motor developmental delays, musculoskeletal injuries and movement disorders that affect babies, infants, children and adolescents. At NeuroCentric we provide services tailored towards:
Baby movement and development. Early intervention in the first year of life is key to helping babies that present with difficulty with movement, and can be critical in diagnosing and beginning treatment for lifelong conditions. Our kids physiotherapists are adept at completing assessment to aid in early diagnosis and treatment of common movement related disorders, and to help progress your baby towards their gross motor milestones. In this age group we see many babies with head shape concerns or head turning preferences, developmental and play skill delay, altered movement patterns such as poor head and trunk control, bottom shuffling and toe walking. We also see many premature, high-risk and low birth weight babies, and those with neurological or genetic diagnoses’ impacting on developmental skills.
Gross motor development. Our kids physiotherapists often work with children who have difficulty keeping up with their peers and reaching their motor milestones. We use standardised assessments to assess and measure progress towards age-related motor milestones and provide tailored therapy to improve motor performance towards each child’s goals. Some key conditions we treat in this space include Global Developmental Delay, Developmental Coordination Disorder, and other genetic, movement or neurological conditions that impact a child’s attainment of gross motor skills.
Addressing movement patterns and balance. At NeuroCentric we assess and treat babies, children and adolescents who present with difficulty with movement patterns, posture and balance. Our kids physiotherapists can provide therapy programs and prescribe equipment to aid improvement in posture, balance and strength tailored to individual goals. This can include improving seated posture and tolerance at school to aid in improved attention and academic performance, improving balance and strength to help reduce frequency of trips and falls during play, or helping to improve endurance to participate in a full length sporting match with friends. We assess and treat a range of conditions including toe walking, scoliosis, contractures and impacts of altered muscle tone. We are also equipped to provide casting and bracing for these conditions.
Neuro-rehabilitation. Paediatric physiotherapy is vital in assessment, monitoring and intervention for babies, children and adolescents living with a movement, genetic or neurological diagnosis. The principles of neuro-rehabilitation are fundamental in the treatment of this population group. Some conditions that we treat include Cerebral Palsy, stroke, traumatic or acquired brain injuries, Spina Bifida, spinal cord injuries, muscle dystrophies, and genetic conditions like Prader Willi Syndrome, CHARGE syndrome and Rett syndrome.
Recovery from injury or surgery. At NeuroCentric we see many kids who need help recovering from common injuries seen in childhood. We can help with diagnosis and treatment of many paediatric conditions including growing pains , Sever’s disease, Osgood Schlatter’s disease, hip dysplasia, talopes of the feet, torticollis at the neck, and many more. For children preparing or recovering from surgery we can support return to activities.
Assessment for pain, fatigue or discomfort. At NeuroCentric we assess, monitor and treat children with complaints of pain, fatigue or discomfort with daily activities, sports and play. We monitor children with conditions such as Juvenile arthritis, hypermobility, and movement disorders that impact body positioning and muscular strength and endurance which can lead to increased discomfort completing everyday tasks and activities.
What does a paediatric physiotherapy session involve?
Paediatric physiotherapy involves individualised assessment, intervention and treatment strategies to help your baby, toddler, child or adolescent achieve their goals.
Or sessions at NeuroCentric are designed to be engaging and fun for children. Initially time is spent getting to know your child to make sure they feel safe and comfortable. This maximises participation and enjoyment during sessions, and improves overall effectiveness of accessing paediatric physiotherapy treatment.
A general paediatric physiotherapy initial assessment will include the following:
Discussion: we spend time asking questions to understand your child’s development, medical and birth history.
Assessment: we observe how your child moves around. We assess their joint movement, muscle strength, posture, walking pattern, coordination, and balance. We may complete standardised assessments to work out how they are tracking for their age in terms of gross motor development
Goal Setting: we work with you to identify the goals you have for your child
Physiotherapy program: we develop a program of activities and exercises that address your child’s specific needs and help them work towards their goals, build their skills or support their recovery. Physiotherapy sessions look different for every child.
Book in to see a paediatric physiotherapist if your child:
Is not achieving gross motor milestones at expected ages
Is unable to keep up with their peers, for example when they are unable to keep up with their peers in a running race or when using playground equipment
Has trouble with their balance, coordination, or muscle strength
Has frequent falls or trips
Has been diagnosed with a condition that affects their movement or breathing such as cerebral palsy, genetic conditions, neurological conditions, and musculoskeletal disorders.
Has injured themselves, or if they have had a surgery that requires rehabilitation to restore their movement and function
If you have any other concerns about your child’s movement
What we offer at NeuroCentric:
At NeuroCentric we offer clinic-based rehabilitation services from our fully equipped Helensburgh and Dapto clinics. Our spaces are designed to be safe, engaging and supportive, with access to latest evidence-based therapy tools and equipment including Lite-Gait Body Weight Support System, Treadmill-based gait training, Hypervibe therapy, MotoMed motor-assisted movement, and a wide range of standardised paediatric assessments.
Aquatic physiotherapy, home and school based visits are also available on a case by case basis where they will directly help progression towards individual goals.
Telehealth appointments are also available for those where travelling to the clinic is not possible.
If you’d like to learn more about our services and conditions we treat at NeuroCentric please keep an eye out for future posts.
Every child is unique and this blog is designed to give you a general understanding of the role of paediatric physiotherapy in supporting children to move, grow and play. Please make sure you check in with your local GP or kids physiotherapist if you have any concerns about your child’s movement, even if those concerns are not detailed in this article.