The Importance of Movement from Infant to Child – a manual approach
This workshop covers 2 teaching weekends.
You can attend both weekends, or single weekends in any order as the course material is self-contained
Weekend 1 TBC 2026
Weekend 2 TBC 2026
Venue: London School of Osteopathy,12 Grange Road, London SE1 3BE, UK
Times: 10.00-17.00 Saturday & Sunday
Cost: £300.00 per weekend
Lecturer: Miranda Clayton Registered Osteopath
There has been a radical shift in both posture and movement in babies and children over the past 35 years. An increasing evidence base indicates that these changing patterns have links to all kinds of developmental disorders such as autism, attention deficit disorders (ADD), sensory processing disorders, dyspraxia, myopia, and obesity to name just a few.
This course examines innate and early life movement including how to evaluate, treat and give parental exercises to optimise early life development and treat specific common conditions. We also show some exercises for older children who may have missed movement milestones.
This is a 2-weekend course (total 4 days). In the first weekend we are focussing on the lower body and the early movement patterns that will set an infant up for successful prone positioning and crawling. We then move on to an in depth look at evaluation and treatment of the paediatric pelvis, hip, knee, foot and ankle. In the second weekend we consider the upper body and early movement patterns which will enable rolling and sitting. We then continue a deep dive into torticollis, head turn preference, plagiocephaly, orbits and gaze, the vestibular system and the causes & treatment of spinal arching.
| Courses run again 2026 – dates to be confirmed |
The course includes lots of hands-on techniques and taping for infants, so please wear comfortable clothes and bring a yoga mat or similar, to participate in exercise sessions. If you have a doll (or a real live baby!) all would be welcome. Emphasis is on evaluation, treatment, practical management and advice rather than in depth anatomy & physiology which participants can study at their leisure. All lectures comes with full notes and copy of the visual presentation.
Weekend 1
DAY 1 SATURDAY:
How do babies start to move – introduction to posture, movement & innate movements in utero and early life. Supine versus prone positioning in an infant from a mechanical, visceral, motor and sensory perspective.
The importance and benefits of prone posture. Encouraging prone positioning – how do we get babies to be happy on their fronts?
Treatments, parental exercises, exercises for older children
How current infant postures can alter correct pelvic alignment, contributing to problems achieving, or missing, movement milestones. Examination of the infant pelvis. Techniques to activate and mobilise the pelvis and trunk in infants.
Exercises for older children to enhance pelvic movement
Understanding crawling and promoting crawling skills.
How do babies crawl, why is it so important, what can go wrong and what are the consequences of this?
Examination of the pre-crawling/crawling infant
Treatments, parental exercises and exercises for children who struggled with the quadruped position
Introduction to therapeutic taping in infants & children
The infant hip 1 – examination, common conditions, treatment, taping
DAY 2 SUNDAY:
The infant hip 2 – examination, common conditions, treatment, taping
The paediatric foot, ankle, knee and leg – evaluation & common conditions.
Treatment, taping, parental exercises
Weekend 2
DAY 1 SATURDAY
| Early movements and links to autism, SPD, ADHD, dyspraxia etc. What is the evidence? |
| The importance of eyes and gaze in movement development. Examining and treating the orbits |
| Head turn preference, torticollis, plagiocephaly – evaluation and techniques |
DAY 2 SUNDAY
| ‘Arching’ through the thorax – a non-developmental movement. Possible causes, needs for referral and treatment. |
| Development and overview of the vestibular system, balance & proprioception Vestibular exercises for infants |
| Rolling – normal and abnormal development. Treatment & parental exercises. Exercises for older children – re-learning to roll – class practical session |
| Sitting – normal & abnormal development. Discussion of infant and child seating and the ‘chair free’ environment. Treatment, taping and parental exercises. Exercises for the older child to improve sitting postures – taping techniques |
| The paediatric upper extremity – development, hand development, treatment & taping |
A 13 hour CPD certificate will be available at the end of each weekend.
We will repeat these 2 workshops in 2025
This in a Postgraduate Level workshop. To get the most out of this course you should:
Be able to undertake a full health history and physical examination of an infant/child.
Understand your legal obligations when treating paediatric patients, including cautions & contra-indications to manual treatment.
Understand the need for medical referrals where indicated.
Be clear that you are working within the guidelines of your particular professional or registering organisation
Check with us if you are unsure if this course is suitable for you: mumandbabyCPD@gmail.com
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