Small Steps, Big Leaps LLC

Small Steps, Big Leaps LLC Occupational Therapist + Certified Lactation Counselor specializing in infant and toddler development, feeding, head shape, torticollis, and more.
(5)

Happy Father’s Day from Small Steps, Big Leaps💙This one’s for the dads who are real life superheroes.The dads who come h...
06/21/2026

Happy Father’s Day from Small Steps, Big Leaps💙

This one’s for the dads who are real life superheroes.

The dads who come home after a long day of work and immediately jump into dad mode.

The ones who carry sleepy toddlers to bed, push monster trucks on the floor, allow their work to be slowed down so little hands can help, give the biggest pushes on swings, and have the best shoulders to sit on.

The dads who show up to therapy sessions, ask questions, practice strategies at home, and celebrate every little victory.

The dads who are greeted with little footsteps running when they walk through the door.

Your presence matters more than you know.

Thank you for the comfort, confidence, laughter, strength, and love you bring to your children every single day.

Today we celebrate the dads, stepdads, grandfathers, foster fathers, father figures, and all the men who show up with their whole hearts.

Happy Father’s Day to the heroes behind so many small steps and big leaps. 💙👣

06/19/2026

Do you know where your tongue should be resting at?

When we aren’t talking, eating, or drinking, our tongue should naturally rest suctioned to the roof of our mouth. Your sweet babe is no different!

Your baby’s tongue that rests up on the roof of their mouth helps support:

✨ Healthy oral and facial development
✨ Proper jaw growth
✨ Development of a wide palate (roof of the mouth)
✨ Efficient swallowing patterns
✨ Feeding development foundations
✨ Stability of head, neck, and body positioning

When the tongue rests low in the mouth, babies are more likely to develop an open-mouth posture, which can contribute to increased mouth breathing.

🌀Why is nasal breathing so important?

Our noses are designed for breathing! Nasal breathing:
💨 Acts as a filter
🦠 Helps trap germs, allergens, and particles
😴 Supports better sleep quality
🧠 Promotes optimal oxygen and carbon dioxide balance in the body
💪 Supports proper tongue posture and oral muscle development

If you frequently notice your baby resting with their mouth open, snoring, struggling with feeding, has milk tongue, or having difficulty maintaining the tongue-up posture, reach out so we can work together to optimize your baby’s airway.

At Small Steps, Big Leaps, we look beyond milestones and consider how foundational skills—like breathing, tongue posture, and feeding—can impact a child’s development from the very beginning.

06/12/2026

As pediatric OTs, we get to play for a living—and there’s so much more to it than meets the eye!

What looks like an obstacle course, a game, or a fun challenge is actually a carefully crafted opportunity to build skills. We take engaging, motivating activities and adapt them to target each child’s unique therapy goals—helping a child gain skill and confidence along the way.

The best part? Kids are having so much fun they often don’t realize how hard they’re working.

Play is a child’s most natural way of learning. Through play, children practice new skills, overcome challenges, build confidence, and experience success in a meaningful way. That’s why so many children love coming to therapy—they get to do what they do best while gaining the tools they need to thrive in everyday life.

At Small Steps, Big Leaps, we believe the most powerful learning happens when children are engaged, empowered, and having fun. 🤎✨

06/08/2026

✨We all know the “newborn scrunch” is adorable… but “unscrunching” on the floor is where real development happens ✨

Newborns naturally start out curled up in flexion—their little “scrunched” position is expected and so cute. But as babies grow, one of the most important things we can offer them is time to stretch out and move freely on a firm, flat surface like the floor.

Why? Because floor time is where the magic of movement really begins.

When babies are able to fully extend, reach, kick, and rotate their necks and bodies, they’re getting powerful sensory input that helps them understand where their body is in space (proprioception). That feedback from muscles and joints supports body awareness, coordination, and smoother, more intentional movement as early developmental milestones begin.

Unscrunching on the floor also:
🌱 Helps decrease unnecessary tension in the body
💪 Builds strength through the neck, shoulders, core, and hips
🙆‍♀️ Optimize symmetry throughout the body
🧠 Supports sensory processing

While swaddled “scrunch time” has its place, babies need plenty of open space to expand, explore, and strengthen in order to build the foundations for future milestones.

So yes—the scrunch is cute… but the stretch is essential.

At Small Steps Big Leaps, we’re all about giving babies the space to move big, learn big, and grow strong from the very beginning 💚

Check out our June events! Both Tummy Time Tribe and Milk & Moments are free to attend! 📍28 Baltimore st. Unit 6 (upstai...
06/04/2026

Check out our June events! Both Tummy Time Tribe and Milk & Moments are free to attend!

📍28 Baltimore st. Unit 6 (upstairs) Hanover, PA 17331

Metered parking available beside the building; enter through the front door by Reddings Medical or side door and follow the black sign plates on the walls labeled “Small Steps, Big Leaps”.

Elevator access available on as-needed basis. Please use the stairs, if possible

✨Hope to see you there!!✨

To the mamas doing it all — the planners, the snack makers, the appointment schedulers, the late-night comforters, the s...
05/11/2026

To the mamas doing it all — the planners, the snack makers, the appointment schedulers, the late-night comforters, the sideline cheerleaders, the tireless advocates, and the steady hands holding everything together… today is for you. 🤍

Your selfless acts rarely come with recognition, but they never go unnoticed.
The way you show up for your babies day after day — through the chaos, the busy schedules, the hard moments, and the beautiful ones — is extraordinary.

You are the heartbeat of your homes, the calm in the overwhelm, and the reason so many little ones feel safe, supported, and deeply loved.

To every kind of mom and mother figure: thank you for the endless ways you give of yourselves. The world keeps turning because of moms like you.

Happy Mother’s Day from the Small Steps, Big Leaps team 🌷

05/01/2026

Family-centered care starts at home for us 🤍

As we work on putting together our new space, I look around and realizing this is exactly what family-centered means to me — building something with the people you love right beside you.

Behind every dream at Small Steps Big Leaps are the little hands helping unpack boxes, the late nights putting furniture together, the encouragement on the hard days, and the love that keeps this vision moving forward. My family has been part of every step of this journey, and that’s truly the heart behind everything we do.

We believe the best support happens when families feel seen, included, valued, and empowered — because babies and kids thrive when they feel connected to the people who love them most.

Watching my own family help bring this dream to life makes this new chapter even more meaningful. Chasing this dream while raising a family has been beautiful and exhausting, but meaningful and worth every second.

Here’s to creating a space where children can meet their goals, families can feel supported, and big dreams can be built together — one small step at a time ✨🫶🏻

☀️ Calling all little explorers ages 2–6! 🧭🌈Join us in June for the Little Explorers Summer Program. Our days are filled...
04/27/2026

☀️ Calling all little explorers ages 2–6! 🧭🌈

Join us in June for the Little Explorers Summer Program. Our days are filled with summertime activities created by occupational therapists to boost your child’s motor skills, creativity, and sensory development through play! Each week features different, fun themes:

JUNE 9th- NATURE 🍄
JUNE 16th- UNDER THE SEA 🐠
JUNE 23rd- BUGS 🐛
JUNE 30th- OUTER SPACE 🚀

🕘 9–11 am
📍Union Park

✨ Hands-on activities
✨ Tons of summer fun!

Parent/caregiver engagement is strongly recommended, but their presence is mandatory

$35/child per week ($25 for siblings)

Register here! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfS6jm0MgQaDseHXXDNSNhOEH66bAs0SSrGSvWVCS9ACNuTGg/viewform

📲 Questions? Text/call Stephanie Utz at 717-739-9477

Feeding your baby was something that was never meant to be something you figure out alone 🤍Join us for Milk & Moments Fe...
04/22/2026

Feeding your baby was something that was never meant to be something you figure out alone 🤍

Join us for Milk & Moments Feeding Support Group — a warm, judgment-free space for moms navigating breastfeeding, bottle feeding, pumping, or combo feeding.

Led by a pediatric feeding therapist and certified lactation counselor, this group is designed to support both you and your baby through the ups, downs, questions, and little victories of feeding.

✨ Learn tips for more comfortable, effective feeding
✨ Connect with other local moms
✨ Ask questions in a supportive, no-pressure environment

🍼 Breast • Bottle • Pumping • Combo Feeding welcome

🗓 Saturday, May 9th
⏰ 9–10 AM
📍 Small Steps Big Leaps LLC | Hanover, PA

Tummy time, but better ✨Join our Tummy Time Tribe for connection, confidence, and stronger little bodies. 🍼 For; Birth–p...
04/20/2026

Tummy time, but better ✨

Join our Tummy Time Tribe for connection, confidence, and stronger little bodies.

🍼 For; Birth–precrawling babies
🤍 Free group!!
🧸 Play-based + supportive

Come join us!

Address

28 Baltimore Street , Unit 6
Hanover, PA
17331

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Small Steps, Big Leaps LLC posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Practice

Send a message to Small Steps, Big Leaps LLC:

Shortcuts

Share

Category