Do Down syndrome babies need special care?

Every baby born with Down syndrome is different. As your new baby grows, you'll need to pay special attention to his or her physical and intellectual development. Your baby also may have some health problems that require extra care. Not all babies born with Down syndrome have health problems.

How do you care for a baby with Down syndrome?

What issues do babies with Down syndrome have?

Kids with Down syndrome often have similar physical features, such as a flat facial profile, an upward slant to the eyes, small ears, and a tongue that tends to stick out. Low muscle tone (called hypotonia) is also common in kids with Down syndrome but is less obvious as they get older.

Do people with Down syndrome need care?

How will I take care of my baby with Down syndrome? Just like any other newborn, your baby will need to be fed, dressed, diapered, cuddled, held, talked to, played with and loved. However, your baby will probably have some health problems that will require some extra care.

What kind of treatments do children with Down syndrome need?

Down syndrome cannot be cured. Early treatment programs can help improve skills. They may include speech, physical, occupational, and/or educational therapy.

Raising a baby with Down Syndrome

Can babies with Down syndrome live a normal life?

Most kids with Down syndrome will live a normal life

Although they will experience learning and developmental delays — and possibly health problems — children born with Down syndrome can grow up to be independent.

What is the life expectancy of a person with Down syndrome?

Jul 21, 2021. Over 6,000 babies are born with Down syndrome in the United States each year. As recently as 1983, a person with Down syndrome lived to be only 25 years old on average. Today, the average life expectancy of a person with Down syndrome is nearly 60 years and continuing to climb.

How hard is it to raise a child with Down syndrome?

It's common for parents of babies with Down syndrome to experience shock, sadness and fear over the unknowns of raising a child who has intellectual and developmental disabilities. Serious health problems can add to the panic; about half of all children born with Down syndrome have heart defects.

Can a person with Down syndrome drive?

Many people with Down Syndrome lead independent lives, this includes being able to drive. If a person with Down syndrome can read and pass a driver's education class and pass a road test, then they can get a driver's license. Each case is independent and must be evaluated.

What are the needs of a person with Down syndrome?

need visual and auditory accommodations for classroom instruction. require physical, occupational, and speech therapies. need extra time and assistance with class work. require therapeutic staff support in the classroom.

Do Down syndrome babies cry a lot?

Children with Down syndrome are children, above all else. As babies they cry and sleep, and as they grow they walk and talk. If you're caring for a child with Down syndrome, you might face some challenges different to other parents.

Do babies with Down syndrome act differently?

' Down syndrome is also referred to as Trisomy 21. This extra copy changes how the baby's body and brain develop, which can cause both mental and physical challenges for the baby. Even though people with Down syndrome might act and look similar, each person has different abilities.

Do all Down syndrome babies have health problems?

Not all babies born with Down syndrome have health problems. Not all babies will have the same health problems. Physical health: Babies who are born with Down syndrome are more likely to have: Feeding issues.

Is Down syndrome a disability?

Down syndrome is the most common genetic cause of intellectual disability, affecting approximately 1 in every 700 children. It is named for John Langdon Down, the British physician who first recognized the traits of Down syndrome in 1866.

What are the behaviors of Down syndrome?

The most common mental health concerns include: general anxiety, repetitive and obsessive-compulsive behaviors; oppositional, impulsive, and inattentive behaviors; sleep related difficulties; depression; autism spectrum conditions; and neuropsychological problems characterized by progressive loss of cognitive skills.

Can you breastfeed a Down syndrome baby?

Breastfeeding a baby with Down syndrome is not only possible, but provides important benefits to both mother and child. 1. Human milk will boost your baby's immune system and protect against numerous auto-immune disorders such as celiac disease, asthma, and allergies.

Can a Down syndrome person have a normal child?

Many pregnancies in women with Down syndrome produce children both with normal and with trisomy 21, whereas males are infertile. However, Down syndrome males are not always infertile and this is not global. Here we reported a 36-year-old man with proved nonmosaic trisomy 21 fathered two normal boys.

What age do Down syndrome babies walk?

For example the average age for walking in typically developing children is 13 months and the range is 9-17 months, while the average age for walking in children with Down syndrome is 24 months and the range is 13-48 months.

Can people with Down syndrome live alone?

Misconception: Adults who have Down syndrome cannot live independently or get jobs. Reality: An increasing number of adults with Down syndrome in the U.S. are living independently with limited assistance from family members or the state. A small percentage are able to live entirely independently.

What are the benefits of having Down syndrome?

The researchers reason that children with Down syndrome are easier to parent than children with other types of developmental disabilities largely because of their behavioural phenotype, including an easy-going temperament, fewer problem behaviours, more compliant responses to others and more cheerful, outgoing and ...

What gender is Down syndrome most common?

Down syndrome appears to be more common among boys than girls, the study indicates. The condition is also seen more frequently in Hispanic children at birth, though the number of these children appears to level off with that of white children as they age. Black children appear less likely to have Down syndrome.

Does Down syndrome get worse with age?

Adults with Down syndrome experience “accelerated aging,” meaning they will age faster than the general population. It is expected that adults with Down syndrome will show physical, medical, and cognitive signs of aging much earlier than what is expected for their age.

Does father's age affect Down syndrome?

July 1, 2003 -- Older fathers may contribute just as much as older mothers to the dramatic increase in Down syndrome risk faced by babies born to older couples. A new study found that older fathers were responsible for up to 50% of the rise in Down syndrome risk when the mother was also over 40.

Which organ is most often affected by Down syndrome?

Down syndrome, the most common chromosome-related genetic condition in the U.S., affects development of the brain and body.

What is the most common cause of death in Down syndrome?

Heart and lung diseases are the leading causes of death for persons with Down syndrome. Pneumonia and infectious lung disease, congenital heart defect (CHD) and circulatory disease (vascular diseases not including CHD or ischaemic heart disease) account for ∼75% of all deaths in persons with Down syndrome.