What Are Developmental Delays?
Does your child have developmental delays? Typical delays are:
- Not rolling over on time
- Not sitting up unsupported on time
- Not crawling on time
- Not walking on time
- Speech and language delays
- Skipping a phase (such as not crawling)
- Never “creeping” (cross-crawling, when a baby crawls on all fours)
- Unusual types of crawling, such as:
- “Army” crawling with the belly on the ground for most or all of the crawling phase. This is an indication of poor muscle tone and core strength.
- Dragging a leg behind when crawling
- “Butt scooting”
- Slouched posture when sitting. Babies who have not received enough neurodevelopmental movements to support proper posture, structural alignment and core strength will slouch when seated.
- “W” sitting: Sitting in the shape of a W with knees on the floor and feet behind them out to the sides. This is an indication of poor core strength.
Not every child arrives at these developmental milestones at the same time, but if your child is struggling or just not responding, what does this mean? It means that birth trauma and/or neurological toxins, especially heavy metals, may have disrupted your child’s neurological, sensory, immune and nervous systems while in development. Physically based symptoms often associated with the gastrointestinal-microbiome system, known as the gut/brain axis, are also connected to developmental delays. Seeking a multi-faceted approach, the earlier the better, may be the most effective solution.
What Your Doctor May Tell You About Developmental Delays
Developmental delays may be difficult to diagnose, especially early on. Doctors typically believe that children develop at their own pace, so what is considered normal is a wide range. Your doctor may ask you questions as well as talk and play with your child. Your doctor may also use a developmental screening process to see if your child is learning basic skills and has reached their developmental milestones in language or speech, vision, movement and motor skills, social and emotional skills, and thinking and cognitive skills.
Your doctor may tell you that there are no blood tests specific to developmental delays. However, the screening test may indicate delays, and your doctor may refer your child to a developmental pediatrician, developmental psychologist or a pediatric neurologist for a developmental evaluation. Your child’s doctor may also recommend a physical therapist, occupational therapist, audiologist or a speech and language pathologist in certain cases where needed. If the delay is in all areas of development, it is called Global Developmental Delay.
Sometimes, doctors may recommend a community early-intervention program and if delays are determined, early intervention services and/or a treatment plan may be recommended. Your doctor may tell you that your child will always be a slow learner and that their speech, coordination and behavioral problems are unlikely to change. Your doctor may suggest that your child needs to be medicated especially if there are behavioral issues at school and your child is unable to sit for an expected period.
Major Risk Factors for Developmental Delays
Developmental delays may not always occur due to genetic abnormalities; many times, birth complications and toxin exposure may cause neurological damage that can lead to developmental delays. Risk factors include:
- APGAR score less than 7 within 5 minutes of birth
- Birth trauma
- Fetal monitor used during labor
- Environmental exposures after birth such as lead, mercury, aluminum or other heavy metals, which can cause neurological damage
- Not enough “tummy time”
- Sleeping on the back instead of the tummy. Back sleeping contributes to an “upside down” neurological system as well as poor core strength.
- Not enough opportunity for gross-motor movement. This typically happens with babies who are constantly in car seats, strollers or toys that restrict their movement.
- Concussion, head injury or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Stroke
- Anesthesia
- Genetic or chromosomal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome, Fragile X Syndrome, etc.
- Tobacco, alcohol and drug use during pregnancy
- Medical history factors such as anemia, poor nutrition, infections, diabetes and hypertension
- Complications and/or interventions during labor and delivery
- Mother under the age of 18 at delivery
- Gestational age less than 37 weeks (premature birth)
- Birth weight under 5 ½ lbs.
- Multiple births: Twins, triplets, quadruplets
- Congenital abnormality
- Newborn medical condition such as infections
- Lack of care
- Severe poverty
- Failure to thrive
CDC Developmental Milestone Charts
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has developed charts that show which developmental milestones a child should be achieving by certain ages:
- By the end of 2 months
- By the end of 4 months
- By the end of 6 months
- By the end of 9 months
- By the end of 1 year
- By the end of 18 months
- By the end of 2 years
- By the end of 3 years
- By the end of 4 years
- By the end of 5 years
If your child isn’t progressing normally or shows regression in developmental milestones, it is critical that you seek early intervention as soon as possible. Most states have early-intervention programs (Birth to Three, Zero to Three, etc.) that can test your child in more detail than your child’s pediatrician typically would. Even if your pediatrician doesn’t suspect a delay, you know your child best; ask, repeatedly if necessary, your pediatrician for a referral for your child to have an early-intervention program evaluation. If your child qualifies for early intervention, these state-funded programs will provide services to your child at no cost to you.
Developmental Disorders Related to Developmental Delays
If your child has a developmental delay, there’s a good chance that he or she may develop a neurodevelopmental disorder such as:
- Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD)
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Learning disabilities
- Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
Parents of children with these conditions almost universally report that their child was developmentally delayed. In addition, if your child has any of the following disorders, there’s a good chance that he or she may have experienced developmental delays.
- Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD/ADHD)
- Angelman Syndrome
- Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Bipolar disorder
- Central Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD)
- Cerebral Palsy (CP)
- Down Syndrome
- Expressive Language Disorder
- Fragile X Syndrome
- IsoDicentric 15
- Landau-Kleffner Syndrome
- Learning disabilities
- Mentally challenged
- Neural-tube defects
- Prader-Willi Syndrome
- Phenylketonuria (PKU)
- Seizure disorders
- Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
- Tourette’s Syndrome
- Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
- Williams Syndrome
Regression of Milestones
Research has shown that 88% of children with autism regressed into autism, meaning they weren’t born with it. Anecdotally, we know of many children who also regressed into ADD/ADHD and Sensory Processing Disorder, as well as of those who suddenly developed seizures, lost muscle tone, developed failure to thrive when they were progressing normally or whose head-circumference percentiles suddenly grew.
Regression sometimes occurs within a few days of trauma or toxin exposure, but in many cases, it is spread out over a period of time. If your child has slowed down developmentally, such as now only speaking a few words when they had been speaking more words or has a loss of language or loss of gross motor skills, stop and think. If you’re a busy caregiver, you may not immediately notice regression until you go back and think about it, comparing your child to old photos, milestone charts and doctor’s reports.
One of the best indicators of neurological damage is to look at your child’s eyes, which is what a doctor or neurologist will do if they suspect neurological injury. Are your child’s teaming (both looking in the same direction) or is one eye now slightly turned in a different direction than the other (strabismus)? Has your child’s smile suddenly become crooked, with one side up and the other down?
If you answered yes to either of these two questions, your child may have experienced neurological injury, which a neurologist or chiropractic neurologist could help you confirm. If regression has occurred, think about what happened in the time period preceding the regression: Was there a head injury, toxin exposure, infection, surgery or medical intervention, even a routine one, that occurred? It may take you days, weeks, months or even years for you to pinpoint the likely cause or causes of your child’s regression.
Understanding the root causes can help your practitioners know what to do to help your child achieve optimal health and regain lost language and motor skills. Typically, there is no one single cause that causes regression; instead, regression usually occurs after a “perfect storm” of events in which the total load of stressors has built up to the point that one last stressor is the “straw that breaks the camel’s back”.
Another Way to Think About Developmental Delays
Children with developmental delays almost always have retained primitive reflexes. These reflexes are inhibited during normal infant development, but in developmentally delayed children, they are retained. This is an indication and a giant red flag that your child’s brain and central nervous systems are not developing properly, usually due to birth trauma and/or toxins, usually heavy metals, that cause neurological damage. These children will often have:
- Speech delays
- Motor disorders
- Cognitive issues
Children with developmental delays typically may also have issues such as:
- Decreased need for sleep
- Fatigue
- Hyperactivity
- Rapid heart rate
- Heat intolerance
- Frequent infections
- Colic
- Cradle cap
- Delays in potty training
- Acid reflux
- Projectile vomiting
- Tongue tie
Early intervention is your child’s best ally: the earlier the better, and the greater the chances are of improved outcomes or even recovery.
Nutritional Deficiencies
Children with developmental delays often have specific deficiencies and imbalances that require an individualized therapeutic and nutritional protocol. Medication is only a band-aid that masks symptoms. Don’t let your school or healthcare practitioner bully you into giving your child medication. There are better, safer ways to address symptoms. If you are thinking of medicating your child, STOP… think again. Your child may have underlying issues that can be discovered and addressed.
When these root issues, such as nutritional deficiencies, are addressed, your child’s symptoms may reverse. In addition, medications often exacerbate nutritional deficiencies.
Laboratory Testing
While lab tests cannot identify developmental delays, they can pinpoint potential root causes of your child’s delays. Laboratory testing may include blood, urine, stool or saliva with the intent on:
- Correcting underlying deficiencies and dysfunctions
- Restoring body and brain functioning
- Improving problematic behavioral or developmental symptoms
Underlying Considerations
Important testing of various contributing factors include:
- Heavy-metal testing
- Mitochondrial dysfunction
- Food sensitivities and intolerances
- Environmental allergies and excessive histamine
- Poor digestion and processing of foods, especially carbohydrates
- Leaky gut and malabsorption
- Intestinal dysbiosis, including SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth), yeast overgrowth and bacterial imbalances
- Abnormal intestinal flora
- Impaired ability to detoxify
- Oxidative stress
- Toxic overload from heavy metal toxicity, pesticides, chemical preservatives, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) and other environmental pollutants
- Immune dysregulation
- Inflammation
- Low muscle tone
- Nutrient and mineral deficiencies
- Persistent pathogens – virus, bacterial, fungal, parasitic
- Neurotransmitter imbalances
- MTHFR genetic mutation and poor methylation process
- Automatic dysregulation – sympathetic overdrive “fight or flight”
- Insufficient fats in the brain
- Biochemical stress
- Developmental vision problems
- Auditory and language processing difficulties
- Speech delays and speech deficits
- Abnormal gait
- Low cholesterol
- Imbalances in the right and left hemisphere of the brain
Developmental Delays Healing Checklist
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Sources & References
Adams, L.J., et al. Infant feeding method and special educational need in 191,745 Scottish schoolchildren: A national, population cohort study. PLoS Med. 2023 Apr 6;20(4):e1004191.
Aguilera, M., et al. Antibiotic-induced dysbiosis alters host-bacterial interactions and leads to colonic sensory and motor changes in mice. Gut Microbes. 2015;6(1):10-23.
Darling, A.L., et al. Association between maternal vitamin D status in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental outcomes in childhood: results from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Br J Nutr. 2017 Jun;117(12):1682-1692.
Egset, K., et al. Magno App: Exploring Visual Processing in Adults with High and Low Reading Competence. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research. 07 Jan 2020.
Elliott, C., et al. Early Moves: A protocol for a population-based prospective cohort study to establish General Movements as an early biomarker of cognitive impairment in infants. BMJ Open. 2021 Apr 9;11(4):e041695.
Malin, A.J., et al. Maternal Urinary Fluoride and Child Neurobehavior at Age 36 Months. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 May 1;7(5):e2411987.
Mercer, J.S., et al. The Effects of Delayed Cord Clamping on 12-Month Brain Myelin Content and Neurodevelopment: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Am J Perinatol. 2022 Jan;39(1):37-44.
Morris, C.R., et al. Syndrome of allergy, apraxia, and malabsorption: characterization of a neurodevelopmental phenotype that responds to omega 3 and vitamin E supplementation. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. Jul-Aug 2009;15(4):34-43.
Ozonoff, S., et al. Onset patterns in autism: Variation across informants, methods, and timing. Autism Res. 2018 Mar 10.
Warner, B.B. The contribution of the gut microbiome to neurodevelopment and neuropsychiatric disorders. Pediatr Res. 2019 Jan;85(2):216-224.
Zablotsky, B., et al. Prevalence and Trends of Developmental Disabilities among Children in the United States: 2009-2017. Pediatrics. 2019 Oct;144(4):e20190811.
Zaigham, M., et al. Prelabour caesarean section and neurodevelopmental outcome at 4 and 12 months of age: an observational study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth. 2020 (20)564.
Resources
Books
Brandes, Bonnie. “The Symphony of Reflexes: Interventions for Human Development, Autism, ADHD, CP, and Other Neurological Disorders“. 2016
Goddard, Sally. “Reflexes, Learning And Behavior: A Window into the Child’s Mind : A Non-Invasive Approach to Solving Learning & Behavior Problems“. 2005
Hong, Maria Rickert. “Almost Autism: Recovering Children from Sensory Processing Disorder, A Reference for Parents and Practitioners.” 2014.
Websites
Julie Matthews Bioindividual Nutrition recipes
My Child Will Thrive: Primitive Reflexes Cheat Sheet
Nancy Tarlow DC: Unraveling Neurodevelopmental and Behavior Disorder with Dr. Steve Tullus
