Ignoring BP hand/arm (help!)

[Bonnie]

My daughter will be 6 months old next Thursday.

She is really ignoring her right arm (BP one). She *can* use it a bit but just doesn't bother to. I know that it doesn't cooperate with her very well so it's understandable.

Question: what have you done to combat this? I try handing things to her right hand and she can take them (with a bit of a struggle) but then just takes them from her R hand with her L one.

She is definately right-handed but is ignoring it more and more.

[KarenHillyer]

Bonnie
In my experience with my son, he was exactly the same, he too was right handed but now at 10 years he will use his left hand for almost everything, but does help to built construction sets and models with both left and right hands.
All that you can do is continue with giving her things in her right hand, always go to her right side when you are talking/playing/feeding her - it may be that until she gets some really useful function she will continue to use her left hand for most things, life would be pretty boring for her if she didn't transfer things to her left at the moment.
Just keep doing what you have done, you could also try using toys which are slightly larger than normal so that she has to take them in both hands - it might work. The truth is all you can do is keep persevering with what you have been doing - have faith in yourself, she'll get there eventually!
Good luck
Karen

[LeeAnne]

Another thing we did to help Michaela, we used to decorate her wrist splints. We used Fabric paints and Frog material and all kinds of prints and since I made her splints I covered that old biege neoprene with anything to catch her eye.She would play with her splint. If your daughter doesn't wear a splint you could just make fabric bracelets and decorate them and put on a velcro closure.There are so many kids fabrics out there now days and it really only takes a scrap. Try the new scooby doo,blues clues, teletubby and powerpuff girls fabrics or even just smileys and farm animals. At this stage you need this to develop the hand to eye coordination so that she doesn't ignore her total right side and lose some of her body boundary.Do everything you can to make her aware of her right side. Even use the socks with the foot rattles on only the right foot.

[Georgeann P]

Does she like to eat cheerios? Our therapist had an idea that we used when my son was around this age. Take elastic and thread cheerios on it and tie it to make a bracelet. Put it around her wrist and show it to her. Help her to put it to her mouth and let her chew away. Of course you have to watch her every second so she don't choke! My son is now 19 months of age. We are still battling the same problem of ignoring the right arm, he knows it is there but doesn't seem to see the need to use it since he can do everything he wants to with just one hand. He compensates too well! Another idea we still use is whip cream in his hand and on his high chair tray. It makes a mess but it is good for sensory and he likes to taste it! We have also used flour, baby powder and shaving gel/foam! (doesn't taste as good) Life gets messy around here! LOL! I think the above poster is right in that we just have to keep trying and trying.....Maybe someday.......

[Tessie258]

I agree with the bracelets and footie socks. Jingle bells sewn into the bracelets will get her attention. You have to be careful whatever you use because if the baby can chew through the fabric she could choke so of course I would use these things as therapy and carefully supervised.
Jameson is 13 and still tends to ignore his arm eventhough he does use it. It's almost like he knows it's there and he does use it but he has to make a conscious decision to use it.
Good luck,
T.

[moontje]

hi
My own experience with it: it's frustrating but it will pass. What i did is to let him know he also has a left arm (BPI one)by playing with it, caressing it, put a bracelet with rinkels (noisethings) on it, put the hand in bowls filled with beans, rice and stuff, let him play with shavingmousse on the bathroom wall, a lot of things to make him a ware that it's there. The toys with music where always on the left side. He became very clever in turning it so it will be right but he will look that way.
The main thing we did was to involve his arm with everything. because the skin did feel touching we did a lot of that. it takes time and a lot of patience.
but know he knows. we also said when he was older 2 hands!
hope you will find a way too.

monique

[Jallie]

All the advice above is great, I would like to add one more idea. At that age we would give our daughter bath's in the sink (sitting up). I would run the water over her hands. She loved the feel of it and would move her hands and fingers under the running water. We used different ways to stimulate and make her aware of her arm all day long. Our OT at that time told us "stimulate, stimulate, stimulate - too much is not too much". Just be creative and don't get fusterated and give up. It may seem like it's not working right now, but as your child gets older and starts using the BPI arm, you will see your hard earned efforts.

Julie Wolfgram