Want to understand the special way your NICU baby communicates with you? Learn how your NICU baby's movements, facial expressions, body responses, and arousal

Read through these NICU Quotes if you are feeling stressed, anxious, or need a little hope. They'll help you get through this tough times.

If you're a new NICU nurse, here are the most common NICU terms you should know. Besides knowing what the terms mean, learn why you need to know them.

What Do You Say to a NICU Mother? Having a NICU baby is really hard. I am sharing some real things that can help others with NICU babies.

Want to understand the special way your NICU baby communicates with you? Learn how your NICU baby's movements, facial expressions, body responses, and arousal

Working with NICU babies and families entails a special, integrated approach. Read more in this post about 5 considerations every Early Intervention therapist should know when working with NICU graduates.

Having a baby in the NICU is beyond difficult. Are you a new NICU mom? Check out these 19 awesome tips that helped us cope with our NICU stay.

Having a premature baby who has to stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, or NICU, can be scary and stressful! In the United States, 1 in 10 babies is

Studying premature babies prior to their release from the NICU, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified developmental differences between those preemies and babies born at full term. Their work points to opportunities for therapeutic interventions — even in the first few weeks of life — that might improve long-term outcomes for the preemies.

A NICU personalized tip sheet, giving new NICU parents helpful hints as well as a glossary of common NICU terms to help make their stay a little easier! Written by a NICU nurse!

For premature babies, music therapy has been beneficial in helping to reduce stress and pain in the NICU. Read to learn how music helps.

Learn more about Corrected age vs Actual age in regards to reaching milestones and development.

Wondering what the NICU Levels of Care Criteria is? This post explains what kind of care each level of NICU provides and which level is best for your baby

[Source: Science Daily] A new study suggests that some very preterm babies have trouble bonding with their care-givers due to neurological impairments and not to the way their parents interact with them. University of Warwick researchers found that most very preterm and very low birthweight (VP/VLBW) infants were securely attached to their parents. But they […]

Image Credit: The NewBorn Baby.com [Source Medical News Today] Kangaroo Mother Care – a technique in which a breastfed premature infant remains in skin-to-skin contact with the parent’s chest rather than being placed in an incubator – has lasting positive impact on brain development, revealed Universite Laval researchers in the October issue of Acta Paediatrica. […]

Encephalomalacia, also known as cerebral softening, is a very serious disorder inflicting permanent tissue damage to the patient's brain. With cerebral softening, there are varied symptoms which range from mild to catastrophic.

Super Easy Sensory Play: Cornstarch and Water

On the second day of my son's life, born 11 weeks early, a woman approached me in the NICU with a guitar and other instruments. As a music therapist, she said she had scientifically proven ways of alleviating the stress that both my son and his roommates felt with the use of music and other sound-making, and that her work could potentially reduce his days in the NICU.

Babies who had "kangaroo care" were healthier 20 years later.

Over the next few days I've asked some talented guest bloggers to contribute to Life with Jack. I hope you enjoy and leave a comment letting me know what you think! Communication is an essential part of being human. It forms the connection between individuals as we share who we are with others. Many children with special needs (and many without) struggle to communicate. There are simple activities that can promote language development and facilitate growth in communication. Communication Temptations: finding ways to entice the child to use language to get what they want. Putting desired toys or snacks (or anything that motivates your child) in a clear container with a lid and then handing them to the child can encourage them to ask for help to get to the item. And asking for help can take many forms – a word, a gesture, sign language, or a picture card of the item. Once the child makes an appropriate attempt, they get what they want. Putting desired items out of reach on a shelf is another good idea. Anything that gets the child asking for what they want will begin to teach them the power of communication. Upping the Ante: asking the child to move up to the next level in his/her communication. As a parent, you usually know what your child wants so it’s easy to simply get it for them. But sometimes, children benefit from being pushed a little. If the child usually shrieks to get what they want, see if they can use even a simple sound like “ba” instead. If they typically grab items, hold it just out of reach and see if they will look at you and say a word or sound. If they use one word, see if they can use two. Picture Books and Cards: Make a simple book using scrapbook supplies, a flip photo album from the dollar store or a deluxe online photo book…it doesn’t matter. What does matter is to choose photos of things that intrigue and delight your child – favorite toys, snacks, family members and pets. Make the pictures large and if your child is a chewer, make the book durable. Flip through it daily, talking about the pictures, modeling (saying out loud) the single words for the pictures, asking questions. It’s a great language building activity that nearly every child enjoys. You can also make simple cards by pasting photos to index cards and laminating. The Pause: We often ask questions and then answer them ourselves without waiting to see what the child might say. Or we point out something interesting and go on and on. When a child doesn’t talk a lot, it can be even easier to try to fill the silence. But a pause can do wonders. When you ask a question, count to five before you say anything else. When you see something interesting in a book, point to it and draw their attention by saying something simple like “Look at that” and then wait to see if they have a comment. It may take longer than you think – be patient! Join In: Follow your child’s lead. This can be so hard. But if your child is interested in banging that pot for the umpteenth time, try banging along with him instead of trying to interest him in a different toy. You just might be able to engage him in a simple turn-taking game and turn-taking is one of the basics of learning how to communicate. What seems like a simple activity to you may be a fascinating learning endeavor for your child. Try to see it through their eyes. Most of all, have fun! Communication is hard work and children who struggle with it are carrying a heavy load (and so are their parents!). But it is also one of the richest, most rewarding things in the world to spend time doing. It is worth it. Julie Swanson is a Speech Language Pathologist who lives with her husband and two adorable children in Montana. Besides being Jessi's good friend, she is also Jack's amazing speech therapist who works tirelessly to help our little guy communicate.

PDA(Patent ductus arteriosus) is a common and clinically important condition which is presented with a number of hemodynamic and respiratory problems such as intraventricular hemorrhage, pulmonary hemorrhage and necrotizing enterocolitis due to increased ...

We’ve been on a bit of a fine motor and grasp roll around here! The last couple of days, you might have seen tips and ideas to work on precision in grasp and types of fine motor grasps. Today, I’ve got a fun activity for you that really works on fine motor skills. And the ... Read more

Periventricular Leukomalacia Attorneys Serving All 50 States. Our award-winning attorneys focus solely on birth injury cases.

What does physical development from 3-6 months look like? Find out what motor milestones to expect and simple ways to encourage development through play.

Respiratory syncytial virus infection is common among babies and causes symptoms similar to a cold. Most of the time, it goes away within 1 to 2 weeks, but the virus can also cause severe problems with breathing in some cases. Learn more about the symptoms and treatment options for caregivers here.

While most children live for the holiday season, it can be an extremely stressful time of year for children with autism and other forms of learning disability. The disruption to...

Abstract. Objective This review summarizes the literature to date concerning age adjustment in developmental assessment and illustrates relevant issues for clin

Keep your baby safe and well-fed with these 6 finger foods for older infants and toddlers.

​Certain diet textures are often prescribed to help infants and children with special needs eat more safely and easily. Children with dysphagia or gastroesophageal reflux, for example, may need their food to be thicker in order to swallow safely or reduce reflux.

Bilateral coordination toys help kids develop bilateral integration and coordinated motor skills for functional tasks that require motor planning.