Help is on the way!

Too often as parents we assume that we should be able to handle all things parenting. We have a baby who cries a lot and go to our friends/family, google, books and maybe even the pediatrician to gain a little bit of our sanity back. We have a toddler who “flips their lid” over what seems to be little things (or maybe nothing)! So we do a search on Pinterest, ask our friends, and find all the books on tantrums (because that must be what it is, right?). We have a preschooler who has tummy aches often and is beyond a picky eater. So we go Instagram to find ideas to combat pick eating, ask our extended family for advice, get cookbooks geared towards picky eaters, and make a mental note to ask the pediatrician the next time we are in about the tummy aches.

What if instead of trying to solve these struggles on our own, we asked for help from those who have the education and experience to help! AND sometimes our pediatrician may need us to simply ask for a referral so keep that in mind as well. It never hurts to have your child assessed by a specialist! Here are some specialists and reasons (in my opinion) you might want to consider asking for a referral.

Occupational Therapist - sensory needs, impulse control, difficulty with social situations

Physical Therapist - your child is not meeting physical developmental milestones (crawling, walking, jumping, skipping, writing, etc.)

Speech Therapist - your child is slow to start talking or has limited vocabulary, the pediatrician notes that they might have a speech delay, your child has speech impediment that they don’t seem to be growing out of

Lactation Consultant - the breast feeding struggle is REAL!

Feeding Therapist - your child is struggling with weight gain, they are resistant to new textures, they seem to choke a lot with eating, they get “glossy eyes” while eating

Dietician - your child is struggling with weight gain or overeating (shoveling too much food in or not knowing when they are full)

Therapy (there are a variety of options for this so feel free to reach out to me, or ask a trusted professional, for advice on what is the best fit for you/your child/your family) - big emotions, history of trauma, current trauma, big life changes, miscommunication, triggers that are unpredictable, struggles with attachment

We were never meant to parent alone. We were never meant to parent from a place of stress. We were never meant to parent from a place of constant uncertainty. But we often times do. So take this as permission to ask for help. Permission to say “I' can’t do this alone any longer”. Permission to say “I have no clue!” You can do it! :)