Aimee's Babies

 

Aimee Ketchum, OTR/L, CNMI is a pediatric occupational therapist and the founder of Aimee's Babies, a child development company. Aimee is on a quest to provide parents with practical and easy to follow information and instructional tools regarding their children's development. Aimee is embarking on this journey with a series of educational DVDs and apps. 

When Aimee contacted me and asked if I'd like to check out her DVDs, I'll admit, I was a little skeptical. As a pediatric occupational therapist myself, I tend to encourage parents to throw all milestone books and charts out the window, since they seem to cause unnecessary anxiety and worry among parents of children with special needs. After watching Aimee's Babies First Year Milestones and Aimee's Babies Baby Massage DVDs, I still believe that it is important to not get too caught up in the milestone race, however these DVDs are a great resource for parents and therapists alike. Let me tell you why...

Aimee's Babies First Year Milestones

Aimee's Babies First Year Milestones contains four chapters, one on each of the following ages:

• Newborn
• Three - four months
• Six - nine months
• Twelve months

Each chapter demonstrates what typically developing babies are doing at that age, and then provides helpful tips and exercises to help babies reach important milestones. Each chapter contains the following sections:

• Reflexes
• Vision
• Hearing
• Touch
• Movement and balance
• Taste and smell

In addition, there are "Baby Boot Camp" exercises interspersed throughout the video. These are simple exercises that parents can do with their baby to promote development.

The most useful aspect of this DVD is being able to see what your baby's movement or reflexes should actually look like. I think one of the biggest downfalls milestone books and charts, is that they are just a bunch of words (and maybe some pictures), but it is hard to really understand what your child should be doing. The video clears up that confusion by showing what babies are doing.

In addition, there are several Aimee's Babies Apps (and most are free!) that complement the video. Below is a screenshot of the Aimee's Babies Newborn App.

Aimee's Babies Baby Massage DVD

I frequently used infant massage as an intervention technique when I worked in early intervention. Infant massage has many benefits including, increasing circulation, enhancing the immune system, improving sleep, relief of colic, improving digestion, and helping to develop coordination and motor skills.

This DVD begins with an overview of sensory development of babies, along with some simple exercises to promote the development of each sense. The DVD then provides some simple step by step baby massage instruction. Again, as with the milestone DVD, I think it is so much better to see baby massage in action, rather than try to read about it or look at some pictures. Aimee shows how simple it is for parents to massage their babies and to give them the best start possible!  

Who would benefit from Aimee's Babies DVDs and apps?

• New parents - The videos and apps provide simple tips and exercises for parents to easily implement. They also provide an easy to understand guide to developmental milestones.
• OT students - Being able to see typical baby development is so much better than just reading about it in a textbook.
• New OT graduates -These serve as a great guide for therapists who are out on their own for the first time.
• Early Intervention practitioners - Both the DVDs and the apps are a great resource to have on hand to share with parents. The apps would be great to pull out when explaining a reflex or exercise to a parent. It always helps to have a visual!

For more information, visit www.aimeesbabies.com. You can also follow Aimee's Babies on Facebook.
Click the image to the left to visit the iTunes app store to learn more about the Aimee's Babies apps!


 *I received complimentary copies of the DVDs mentioned in this post for my review. However, all opinions are entirely my own. This post also contains iTunes Affiliate links.