Occupational Therapy for Premature Infants

There are many therapies, such as Occupational Therapy, that premature infants can take to be just as healthy as a full term baby. Occupational therapy can be very helpful to premature infants, the best time to introduce occupational therapy to a premature infants is when he or she is around thirty-two weeks gestation. Premature infants are usually sensitive to light, sounds, and touch. Occupational therapy will help premature babies so that way they are able to handle the different textures and are able to be around the different noises and lights (Buckmiller, 2007). Infant occupational therapy is usually prescribed to babies that have some sort of physical disability or a baby who is not developing like they should. Included in occupational therapy is sensory stimulation for the infants, through tactile, auditory, visual, and rocking sensations. This type of therapy would usually be prescribed for babies who have had brain injury, but premature infants definitely fall into that category. The baby needs as much therapy as he or she can get to catch up developmentally to full term babies. Occupational therapy is used to exercise an infant's fine motor skills (Parenting Made Easy, 2009). Premature infants are susceptible to having developmental delays, and occupational therapy would be most beneficial for the premature babies in these cases.