Aquatic Therapy Can Help with Feeding Issues

Generally when there are feeding issues, they are either the result of structural issues, sensory issues or a combination of both. Aquatic therapy is beneficial to helping with these issues for the following reasons:

Structural Issues
The mechanics of muscle coordination needed for sucking or chewing/breathing/swallowing are quite complex and involve many phases of movement and functioning. When immersed in water, the body naturally elongates the neck for increased ability to breath. This elongation for holding the head above water is strengthening the same muscles needed for swallowing. There is also increased pressure against the chest from the water, which increases endurance for breathing. With the use of balance boards and positioning, core strengthening is also occurring in the water, which can aid with increased ability and comfort for the digestive process.

Chewing/Sucking Muscles
Strengthening and gaining coordination in the water is viewed as play, and is therefore fun. Here are some of the techniques utilized for different muscles:

Orbicularis Oris (lips)...strengthen through bubble blowing and making puffer fish faces.
Buccinator (cheeks)...smiley faces, kissy faces, puffer fish faces.
Genioglossis (muscle from chin to tongue)...sticking out tongue, pretending to be frogs on a lily pad.
Styloglossis (enables cupping of the tongue)...tongue exercises, pretending to be frogs.
Palatopharyngeus (soft palate)...naturally strengthens by positioning in water to elevate head above the water.
Temporalis (elevates and retracts the jaw)...alligator and hippo play, pretending to chomp.

Sensory Issues
Often tactile defensiveness contributes to difficulty with eating. If the body does not feel good and is not interpreting stimuli in a positive manner, then the defenses go up and the child is no longer interested in feeding in regards to touch, smell, or taste.

By being immersed in warm, pleasant water with comforting and supportive positioning by your therapist, the tactile senses are able to have positive comforting input. The body can begin to desensitize over time, allowing for more positive input. This is teaching the brain that it can relax.

Once this positive, calm state has been reached, it is the ideal time to focus on feeding as the brain and body are in a low alert state and more accepting of new stimuli. Providing a feeding session following an aquatic session is the ideal time to maintain positive exploration.

Increased body comfort can also contribute to increased weight gain.

For more information regarding these, and other services, provided by Lullaby Waters, call (208) 985-5265 or visit LullabyWaters.com.

Aquatic Therapy for Children with Down Syndrome

As with any diagnosis, there can be many variations of down syndrome traits. Some common traits that can be focused on and improved through aquatic therapy include the following:

Low Muscle Tone - Water offers increased awareness of the body. The water encompasses the body and adds resistance. This gives the brain more information than it typically receives when moving on land. Providing the brain with this information can increase neuromuscular coordination, and the resistance of water can improve strength, therefore increasing muscle tone and improving movements.

Short Attention Span - A child's brain is continually focusing on a multitude of things, including body awareness and cognitive processing. As we master tasks it takes less effort for the brain to complete them and they become repetitive, allowing us to focus on new things for a longer duration.
When immersed in the pool the aquatic environment provides increased input which improves body awareness. This takes away one of the pieces that the brain is trying to focus on, and the child can then focus on cognitive tasks.

Impulsive Behavior - Water is calming. Therapies will focus on achieving and maintaining the "just right" state of calm and awareness. Once achieved, focus can be turned toward increasing awareness and problem-solving skills

Oral Motor Control - The body's natural response to being in the water is to increase posture for better breathing ability and movement. These natural tendencies will increase strength to the neck and oral motor muscles. The therapist can then facilitate desired motions of oral structures for increased coordination and function.

Cardiovascular Difficulties - By being immersed in water up to the chest, the body is building endurance for cardiovascular processes. This is a gentle way to increase strength for the heart and lungs.

Aquatic Therapy for Children with Sensory Processing Difficulties

Aquatic therapy can be the ideal therapy for your little one with sensory processing difficulties, including diagnoses of autism, attention deficit, sensory processing, behavior difficulties and more.

Why is it ideal? 

We are providing a soothing environment with sensory deprivation (we are taking away noxious stimuli - unwanted touch, sound, light, etc.), and providing a constant warm fluid around the body that is pleasant, calming and supportive. 

For children with a high alert system, we are calming them with this constant sensation wrapping around them, diminishing their tactile defensiveness. 

For children with low awareness (low registration) - the water surrounding their bodies acts as input for increased awareness, making them more aware of their movements and where their body is in space. This is something that they are often struggling to find, and it may be manifesting as behavioral problems.  

We can find your child's "optimal functioning level," whether it be alerting or inhibiting - so that they can better think and function. Once we obtain this feeling for your child in therapy sessions, we work toward carrying it over into everyday life and circumstances - supporting you and your child in all you find meaningful! 

Sensory Processing	Behavioral Characteristics	Aquatic Intervention Approach	Desired Outcome in daily life
Sensation Avoider	Seeks less, retreats, avoids, resists change, likes consistency, and  rituals	Honor their need to limit sensory input, help them to broaden range. Gradually increase stim within gentle aquatic environment	Increase sense of safety, adaptability, flexibility
Sensation Sensitivity	Notices more, distractible, hyperactive, irritable	Water provide sensory input to help support them in a calming manner. It helps to diminish excess stimuli, so that we can gradually bring in input.	Sense of relaxation and going with the flow, focused on tasks.
Sensory Seeker	Seeks opportunities for sensation, active, fidgety, excitable	The water provides continuous input and opportunities for sensory input, and will meet needs.	Sense of calm and fulfillment
Sensory Under responsive	Notices less, flat affect, sedentary, self-absorbed	The water will encompass and support which will lead to increasing awareness.	Noticing their environment, becoming more aware of their world

For these and other therapies please call: (208) 949-3481

Women's Health

Women are amazing in every stage of life. This week is Women's Health Week, a time in which we can reflect on our self care. When starting Lullaby Waters, I knew that I wanted to focus on women's health in several stages that are not yet truly supported.

Here are some ways we can help:

Pregnancy - During pregnancy there are a million books on how to eat healthy and exercise, but let's face it, so often women do not feel up to these tasks. Some days it is enough to just get through the day. Lullaby Waters changes this in a calming and peaceful environment. Rather than being just another task, it is viewed and treated as a respite. It can make a woman feel good, without any negative effects such as soreness, fatigue or risks. Being in water can lower blood pressure and decrease pain which women are often feeling. When a woman is pregnant, her joints are looser due to hormonal changes, in conjunction with widening hips and a changing center of balance.We focus on realigning, strengthening and improving balance. Studies have shown that sleep is improved as well as mood.

Post Pregnancy - Going through labor can change a woman's body in many ways. It can be traumatic and exhausting. Often women have no time to focus on themselves post-delivery, and are thrust into a new world with this wonderful addition that takes all of her attention. Aquatic therapy can help with alignment, pelvic floor strengthening, energy and mood elevation.

Mother-Baby Sessions - Lullaby Waters focuses on the bond between mother and baby, allowing for a peaceful atmosphere and using calming techniques to effect the relationship by positively strengthening the bond. We will gently guide and support appropriate holds so that you can facilitate movements that can help your baby further develop. You can also take many of these techniques to apply at home in your daily life for continued bonding and strengthening of your relationship.

Mother's of Children with Disabilities - As moms we are constantly focused on and worried about our children. Stress can manifest in our bodies physically, causing any number of negative effects. We are constantly providing supports for our children with disabilities, though so often we are not looking to regenerate ourselves so that we can better support them mentally and emotionally. We offer support to moms of children with disabilities at Lullaby Waters. We would like to help relieve stress through our gentle aquatic techniques, so that you can regenerate and better support your family.

Dreams Becoming a Reality

Lullaby Waters is scheduled to open in a few weeks, and I couldn't be more excited! The Treasure Valley community has never seen anything like this, and I feel that it will help so many people in a number of different ways.

I am an occupational therapist. I started this journey a long time ago, though my ultimate dream and goal was to get to this point -  opening Lullaby Waters, an aquatic therapy clinic focused on women and children.

I completed my undergraduate degree in children's studies and my master's degree in occupational therapy. I knew I wanted to work with children, but in what capacity I was unsure. I have had so many great therapists as mentors and friends along the way. My greatest mentor was Dayna Kathleen Willbanks, therapist and owner of Elements of Wellness, an aquatic integration clinic in Moscow, Idaho. I was fortunate enough to work along side her and learn from her in my internship many years ago.

Since that point I have focused all of my continuing education in the area of aquatics, though it has been difficult to put these techniques into practice without the desired facility here in Boise.
I have contracted with the infant toddler program for the past four years, and worked in the field of pediatrics for the last five.

There has not been a single child that I have worked with that would not benefit from aquatic therapy. I feel that this is truly the most beneficial form of therapy, and that families will see such great differences in their children or themselves.

The other focus of Lullaby Waters is for mothers. I feel more needs to be done in support of moms - physically, mentally, and emotionally. The aquatic environment can offer that, which is part of what Lullaby Waters, named for the peaceful and pleasant nature of the therapy, was designed for.

I couldn't have gotten to this exciting point without the love and support of family, and I am so grateful. Renovation photos are coming soon! We have a small space, but it will be full of love!