Does anybody have any tips on getting an infant (14mo.) to stay in prone for a few minutes?

For getting the child to tolerate being prone, I would recommend some therapy ball exercises for her. However, does she have a history of not laying prone, or is it just that she now prefers other positions? Try putting a foam block or a roll under her chest/abdomen to bring her into a quadraped position and then position the arm in a weightbearing posture. Have her sit and lean to the side, using the affected arm for support while doing an activity with the other arm that requires crossing midline to integrate bilateral use of the UEs. Try supported standing at a low surface, having the child weight bear through the affected extremity while again doing activities that require crossing midline with the unaffected extremity.

If being prone is necessary, then try the ball like I suggested to get her to tolerate pressure on her chest and abdomen. Try having her lay prone on a wedge while doing an activity. This will decrease the effect of gravity and so she will not experience as much pressure on her ventral side. Grade the activities then in length of time and position until you get her laying prone for the desired amount of time. If she does not have a sensory aversion to being prone though and just prefers other positions, try some of them listed above. There are other ways to get weight bearing. If she is exhibiting a flexorr synergy, you may want to look into Bobath and make sure you are using a Reflex Inhibiting Pattern (RIP) for the weight bearing extremity. You can also get weight bearing through the extremity with different sleeping positions.

As far as bilateral reaching activities--Try the therapy ball in front of a low surface and have her place objects into a container that is moved back and forth to encourage crossing midline and switching the object from one hand to the other. Another activity is to have her sit and use a medium sized ball. Help her hold it between both hands and reach forward to put it into a container. Use hand over hand techniques to have her place pegs in a vertical board, which would require crossing midline in different angles that will help to integrate the two sides of the body and encourage more bilateral activities. Do shaving cream or cool whip on a table and help her to play in it using both extremities with reaching. Then have her wipe the table with a cloth placing both hands on the cloth and moving it up and down. Use these kinds of concepts to come up with other activities.

Good luck!

I would look for an Erb's Palsy support group online and I am sure they could help you out with your question and probably alot more. God Bless~

http://www.mothers35plus.co.uk/erbs.htm

http://www.ubpn.org/awareness/A2002linksupport.htm...

http://www.luhs.org/health/kbase/htm/shc2/9bpi/shc...

http://www.familyvillage.wisc.edu/lib_erbs.htm