Physical Therapist Sydney Blankenship, PT, DPT of Ladder Health shares her perspective on the importance of caregiver-mediated intervention—an approach that blends clinical guidance with everyday family interactions to support meaningful, lasting progress. Navigating pediatric therapy can be overwhelming for families, but when caregivers are active participants, the impact on a child’s development can be profound. When families are engaged, therapy becomes a natural part of daily life. Providers who collaborate with caregivers to create personalized, realistic goals help build caregiver confidence and strengthen their ability to support their child. Open communication, consistent participation, and integrating therapy into daily routines all lead to more effective outcomes and deeper connections. Empowering families to see their critical role in therapy not only benefits the child but also strengthens the family unit as a whole.

There are a variety of areas of speech and language development that are needed for children to communicate successfully. Two important areas that are often confused are receptive and expressive language. 

The first year of eating solid foods is an exciting time full of new textures, tastes, smells, and quite a lot of mess. Children rapidly gain new skills as they transition from soft, pureed food to finger foods to more complex textures. What begins as one small meal a day will quickly become three full meals (plus snacks!). Here are 10 tips to keep the adventure of eating safe, enjoyable, and successful:

Ready to progress your baby from liquids (formula or breast milk) to more solid foods? Are they ready? How do I know? What do I make for their first meal? Feeding is an area fraught with many questions, and can be a stress point for families. In this post, we’ll break down some of these questions to help you prepare for the feeding journey with confidence. 

Once a child learns to sit, the next milestone that many caregivers eagerly await is crawling. However, there is a big difference between sitting and zooming around the room on hands and knees. It is common for caregivers to wonder how this transition occurs and if they need to do anything special to make it happen. Thankfully, there are many mini-milestones between sitting and crawling that parents can encourage and celebrate. 

Finding a high chair can be overwhelming- there are models in every size, configuration, and price that you can imagine. When your baby is ready to start solid foods, understand that there is no such thing as a perfect high chair. Use this guide to help find a chair that will work for your family’s needs. 

In early infancy, sleep is one of the most coveted activities for a baby. Caregivers work tirelessly to protect those few, precious hours of shut-eye in between frequent feedings. Sleep is safeguarded during infancy because a baby’s brain makes exponential strides in its maturation during this time. As a child grows, their sleep habits change in accordance to what their body and mind needs.

Navigating the world of childhood development can be confusing and overwhelming for caregivers, and temper tantrums are no exception! These intense emotional outbursts are challenging to handle and can leave you wondering what is considered normal and when to seek help.

Feeding, most simplistically, is getting nourishment through a food source. Children with feeding difficulties are likely to refuse food and tantrum at meals, creating a stressful eating environment for everyone in the family. These are the children who will benefit from feeding therapy.

The best shoes for your infant or toddler are no shoes at all. Going barefoot allows for optimal foot development in the early years by providing a rich sensory experience and unrestricted motion. Nevertheless, there are sidewalks to stroll, snowflakes to crunch, and puddles to splash, and so shoes must be purchased. 

While independent reading does not emerge until the ages of 6 to 7, focusing on early literacy skills can prepare children for this important milestone. Early literacy skills are the foundational skills that children need in order to have proficiency in reading and writing later in development. It is important to promote an interest in literacy from a young age. There are many activities that children can engage in everyday that will help develop these skills, and thus help promote success in school and beyond. 

Parents and caregivers are often told to “Just wait and see!” when it comes to gross motor concerns regarding their child. Another common expression is, “I was told they will grow out of it!” While some children may outgrow their developmental delays without intervention, many children require physical therapy to help improve their gross motor skills to age level. Seeking care as early as possible gives children the best chance to succeed and reach their maximum potential.

Can my child benefit from Ladder Health virtual services, if they’re already receiving school-based therapy? The short answer is yes! For your preschool to school age child (3-6), home and school are considered natural environments as they tend to spend most of their time between the two places.Therapists often address similar developmental domains including fine motor, gross motor, speech and language, and more. However, the approach, goals, and delivery of services are different.

Container Baby Syndrome is a term used to describe the negative side effects of too much time spent in restrictive devices or “baby containers”. These devices might include: rockers, swings, car seats, strollers, nursing pillows, floor seats, high chairs, jumpers or activity centers. When an infant is placed in these devices, they assume unnatural positions and are unable to move freely to explore their environment. 

From the moment you bring your sweet newborn home, to the time your adventurous toddler begins exploring their environment, a safe and engaging play space is a key addition to your home. The following tips will guide you in designing a functional and inviting play space that grows with your little one.

‍Speech Therapy is much more than it may sound like! Licensed speech-language pathologists (SLP) provide evaluation and intervention for people of all ages - across the lifespan in many different educational and medical settings. Pediatric SLPs specialize in working with children who may have a variety of communication challenges from delays in talking; mispronouncing speech sounds; putting words together; social communication or interaction with others; using communication devices; to feeding and swallowing difficulties. Experienced SLPs will assess your child in the areas of concern and identify the need for intervention.

Occupational therapy focuses on developing the skills needed for an individual to participate in daily activities or “occupations.” For children, these occupations include playing, learning, socializing, and essential self-care tasks such as eating and dressing. Occupational therapy aims to address developmental delays and challenges that impact a child’s ability to participate in these everyday tasks. During virtual therapy sessions, occupational therapists will tailor therapeutic activities to your child's specific needs and collaborate with parents on strategies to support their development.

Our service providers at Ladder Health are here to make your virtual therapy visits effective and comfortable. We understand that many families are new to virtual pediatric therapy and will guide you through the process. All visits, including the initial evaluation, are scheduled for 45 minutes and are available at a variety of different days and times. Knowing what to expect during a virtual visit can help you feel more comfortable as your family begins their therapy journey. 

Ladder Health offers pediatric physical, occupational, and speech therapy in a virtual setting that mirrors the family-focused structure of early intervention while offering wrap-around technological support. We help children birth to six years of age meet their developmental milestones and grow to their full potential. Our model combines the accessibility of a virtual platform with the effectiveness of a family-centered care model. 

At Ladder Health, we help children aged 0 to 6 maximize their potential by addressing developmental delays early and effectively. A developmental delay is the absence of a set of skills that would typically be expected within a certain age range. It is important to recognize that every child’s developmental path is unique and that our understanding of typical childhood development is informed by personal, familial, and cultural contexts. At Ladder Health, we recognize the nuance that exists when evaluating a child’s development status and seek to work collaboratively with families to examine the child’s ability within the context of their family life and community.

While our service providers cannot be in-person with your family, your child already has a highly therapeutic set of hands available at home- yours! Research has consistently shown that child development is uniquely influenced by day-to-day interactions with caregivers. Our goal is to empower your family to harness these daily routines and maximize your child’s potential. This is the process of implementing individualized intervention strategies at home. When therapeutic activities are built into existing family routines, children can build new skills every single day.