Baby Treadmill

Huh? What is that? Well, I'll tell you. We now have a baby treadmill in our house (for the next 6 weeks) because Caden is participating in a physical therapy research study. The researcher is a physical therapist and a professor at University of the Pacific. As with any study, there are certain requirements that have to be met and Caden meets those. The treadmill is designed to see if they can help children with neuromotor delays (such as CP) learn how to walk.

Lately Caden has been getting much stronger and has been pulling up on everything. Not just in his crib anymore. He pulls up on the couch, chairs, refrigerator and sliding glass doors. He is also doing some cruising as well but is not proficient at it yet. His regular PT says he is probably getting close to walking which is amazing. It's been a long journey with his gross motor skills. But the fact that he is crawling more and more is very good. Honestly, having him crawl for a long time is very good for him developmentally as it helps the brain coordinate both sides of the body and helps the limbs learn to move independently. But it seems like he is really interested in walking now so we are doing everything we can to get him ready for that.

With the treadmill study, we have to put him on it for between 5-20 minutes twice/day, six days/week for six weeks. It is supposed to help him learn to walk automatically without really thinking about what he is doing. This first week we had it, we were just getting him used to it and used to the routine. We were not tracking him yet. But we had to get him familiar with it so when we did start he was ready to go. Last Saturday in his first practice session he seemed interested and excited about it so I was glad about that.

I started slow and just put him on the treadmill a little at a time. The first day, he only lasted about 30 seconds on it before he fatigued. The next day he did three or four minutes. Then he started consistently doing between five and 10 minutes each session. It was truly amazing to see how much progress he was making before we even started the study. His stamina has improved so much in such a short time.

The researcher came this morning to get us officially started. We now log each session with the numbers on the “counter” on the treadmill. This tracks the time it is running. I was so excited to start the study and I told the researcher how much Caden loved the treadmill. He really does! He is so proud of himself and he just keeps taking steps. I have to say, I think it is probably one of the cutest things I have ever seen in my life!

Keep in mind that before using the treadmill, Caden did not walk at all. He never even considered it. In his session this morning, he walked for almost 20 minutes! Pretty unbelievable considering that less than a week ago, he couldn't even last for 30 seconds. I am so excited to see how this helps him progress over the next six weeks. I'll keep you all posted and will post more pictures and video later. In the meantime, enjoy this little video I put together from the other night before the study actually started. :)