First Step Therapy Services

First Step Therapy Services FSTS • Where your child feels at home! ✨
Physiotherapy Services for Children
📍 Clayton & Heidelberg
📩 DM us or call for inquiries 0451-091-261 | 0468-102-269
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01/09/2026

✈️ Heading away with a little one? Tummy time can come with you. 👶

You don't need fancy equipment — just two rolled-up towels for support. 💙 Set it up on a picnic rug, hotel bed, or even at the beach.

Tummy time helps build strength through the neck, shoulders and trunk while giving bub a new view of the world!

Keep it short, playful and always supervised while bub is awake.

📌 Save this for your next trip and send it to a parent who's packing right now!

Questions about your little one's movement? Book a chat with our team — Heidelberg & Clayton South. Link in bio.

Meet Dhanu 💛One of the lovely physios on our team, Dhanu is all about early intervention, developmental delays, cerebral...
28/08/2026

Meet Dhanu 💛

One of the lovely physios on our team, Dhanu is all about early intervention, developmental delays, cerebral palsy and gross motor skills — with sessions that feel more like play than hard work!

She works closely with families, schools and the wider team, so the progress keeps going between visits.

Away from the clinic? You'll find her painting, building LEGO and miniatures, cooking or off exploring somewhere new.

Come say hi! 👋

“My leg hurts” at bedtime 😓 — again. Is it growing pains, or something to get checked? Growing pains are real and very c...
26/08/2026

“My leg hurts” at bedtime 😓 — again. Is it growing pains, or something to get checked?

Growing pains are real and very common. They usually turn up in both legs, in the muscles rather than the joints, in the late afternoon or overnight, and they are gone by morning. A rub, a warm pack and a cuddle usually do the trick. 💙

🔎 What makes us want a closer look: pain in one spot or one leg only, pain in a joint, a limp, swelling or heat, pain that wakes them and hangs around in the morning, or a child who seems generally unwell. Any of those, and it is worth getting seen.

🤝 Where we fit: if a ni**le keeps coming back or stops your child doing what they love, a paediatric physio can assess it and help you work out the next step — including sending you on to a GP or paediatrician when that is the right call.

📖 Full guide, including the what-to-watch-for checklist, is on the blog — link in bio.

📍 Heidelberg & Clayton South, VIC.

“My child still isn’t walking — should I be worried?” 👣 If your little one is taking longer to find their feet, you are ...
21/08/2026

“My child still isn’t walking — should I be worried?” 👣

If your little one is taking longer to find their feet, you are definitely not alone. Every child develops at their own pace, but there are some simple ways to support the strength, balance and confidence they need for those first steps. 🌱

From encouraging early movement skills to creating more opportunities for standing, cruising and exploring, small things at home can make a difference.

💙 Where we fit: if this is a question that's been on your mind, a paediatric physio can take a proper look and put your mind at ease — or get in early if something does need support.

📖 Full blog is on our website — link in bio.

📍 Heidelberg & Clayton South, VIC.

🔬 It is National Science Week, so here is some science you can actually use: teenagers grow in bursts, and their bodies ...
19/08/2026

🔬 It is National Science Week, so here is some science you can actually use: teenagers grow in bursts, and their bodies spend a while catching up. 🌱

During a growth spurt, the long bones can lengthen faster than the muscles and tendons around them, which is why a normally coordinated kid can suddenly feel tight, clumsy or sore. It is also why a lot of teen sport ni**les show up — front-of-knee pain, heel pain, achy shins. 🦵

Most of it is load-related and settles with the right adjustments, not with stopping sport altogether. 🏃‍♀️

💡 Where we fit: a physio can help work out whether a ni**le is 'growing, keep an eye on it' or 'let's look at this properly', and can guide training load, strength and recovery so your teen keeps playing.

📖 More on this in next Wednesday's blog — growing pains versus injury, and how to tell the difference.

📍 Heidelberg & Clayton South, VIC.

🔬 National Science Week starts tomorrow, so here is a bit of movement science you can hold in your hand. 🦶An AFO — an an...
14/08/2026

🔬 National Science Week starts tomorrow, so here is a bit of movement science you can hold in your hand. 🦶

An AFO — an ankle-foot orthosis — is a lightweight support, usually moulded plastic, worn on the lower leg and foot, often under a shoe. Its job is to hold the ankle and foot in a helpful position so that standing, balancing and walking take less effort. 👣

Who might wear one? Children whose muscles work a little differently — for example with cerebral palsy, low muscle tone, foot drop or persistent toe walking — where the ankle needs a steady base to do its thing.

💡 What it can do: an AFO can support a more stable stance, may make walking less tiring, and can help a child take part in more of the moving, playing and keeping-up that matters to them.

🤝 Where we fit: a physio assesses whether an AFO might help, works with an orthotist on the right type and fit, checks how your child moves in it, and builds the strength around it. An AFO is one part of a plan, never a fix on its own.

Questions about your child's walking or an AFO? Message us.

📍 Heidelberg & Clayton South, VIC.

👶 Nobody warns you that your baby might treat tummy time like a personal insult. 😅Here is the reframe that helps: tummy ...
12/08/2026

👶 Nobody warns you that your baby might treat tummy time like a personal insult. 😅

Here is the reframe that helps: tummy time is not a task to get through, it is just awake time on the tummy while you are watching, building the neck and shoulder strength that rolling and crawling need. 💪

Little and often is the whole game — a minute here, a minute there, a few times a day. ⏱️

Three ways to make it easier:

→ 🧻 A rolled towel under the chest so they can look around
→ 🤱 Lying them across your lap
→ 💙 Tummy-to-tummy on your chest on the hard days

All of it counts. 🌱

Where we fit: if your baby always turns their head the same way, strongly prefers one side, or genuinely cannot tolerate their tummy at all, a paediatric physio can check neck movement and positioning early. Torticollis and flat spots are common and very workable when picked up young. 👀

📖 Full guide is on the blog — link in bio.

📍 Heidelberg & Clayton South, VIC.

10/08/2026

The winter holidays were a busy one around here! ❄️

Our Ready Set PLAY!, Game On! and Smash It! groups ran over the break, and they were every bit as good as we hoped. 💙

🎯 Ready Set PLAY! is all about the building blocks — jumping, balancing, climbing and moving with a bit more confidence each session, wrapped up in games so it never feels like work.

⚽ Game On! turned up the ball skills — kicking, throwing, catching and a healthy dose of teamwork.

🏸 And Smash It! brought a racquet into the mix — holiday badminton with the team at Smash Badminton Academy, all footwork, timing and a fair bit of laughing between points. 😄

The best part is always the stuff you can't put on a timetable: kids waiting for their turn, cheering a mate on, and walking out a little taller than they walked in 🌱

A big thank you to every family who came along — we loved having your kids with us. 🫶

Keen for the next round? 💬 Message us and we'll let you know when our next holiday programs open.

📍 Clayton South & Heidelberg, VIC.

MelbourneKids

👖 Jeans on today? So are we. 💙Jeans for Genes Day raises money for the Children's Medical Research Institute and the sea...
06/08/2026

👖 Jeans on today? So are we. 💙

Jeans for Genes Day raises money for the Children's Medical Research Institute and the search for answers on genetic conditions — the kind that affect around 1 in 20 Australian children. 🧬

Some of the children we work with live with genetic and neurological conditions, and we see every day how much steady support matters to a family. 🤝

Physio does not change a diagnosis. What it can do is support movement, comfort and strength, and help a child take part in the things they and their family care about — getting to the floor to play, keeping up at the park, being in the mix at school. 🧸🏃‍♀️🏫

To every family navigating a genetic condition: we see how hard you work, and we are in your corner. 💙

🔗 If you would like to donate or read more, head to jeansforgenes.org.au.

📍 Heidelberg & Clayton South, VIC.

05/08/2026

🏸 A racquet, a shuttle, and a room full of kids who have no idea they are doing physio. 😄

Our badminton group looks like a game, because it is one. Underneath, it is quietly working on the things we care about most — the quick footwork that builds agility and balance, the timing and hand-eye coordination of meeting a shuttle, the reaching and posture of a big overhead swing, and all the turn-taking, waiting and cheering that comes with playing alongside other kids. 💙

That last part matters more than people expect. A child who is having fun and feeling part of something keeps showing up, and steady practice is where the progress sits. 🌱

🤝 Where we fit: a physio is there throughout, keeping it safe and pitching each activity to the child in front of them, so every kid can take part at their own level.

A big thank you to Smash Badminton Academy
for helping us bring this program to life! 🏸👏

Keen to hear more about the badminton group? Message us!

📍Heidelberg & Clayton South, VIC.

Address

Clayton South, VIC

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm
Saturday 8am - 3pm
Sunday 8am - 2pm

Telephone

+61420980160

Website

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