Babies with Down's syndrome are like any newborn babies. They'll be eating, sleeping, crying, and needing love and cuddles just like all babies. Some babies with Down's syndrome might need extra help. This could be with things like feeding. There's support available for whatever you or your baby needs.
Scientists have known for years that neurological disorders cause babies to cry differently. One set of sounds is indicative of “Cri du chat” (cry of the cat), a condition similar to Down's syndrome, for example.
Children and adults with Down syndrome experience all the same emotions everyone experiences, both good and bad. They also experience mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and others.
In addition to sleep issues, Down Syndrome babies may also experience issues with feeding, hearing or vision, and other impairments. All of these challenges can certainly result in a fussier baby, especially when they are tired.
They often have mild to moderate intellectual disability and may have specific challenges with attention span, verbal memory, and expressive communication. Behavioral problems such as stubbornness, impulsivity, and temper tantrums may be more common in children with Down syndrome.
Those with Down syndrome nearly always have physical and intellectual disabilities. As adults, their mental abilities are typically similar to those of an 8- or 9-year-old.
For example, children with Down syndrome show higher rates (than typically developing children) of attention problems, social withdrawal, noncompliance, and compulsions (such as arranging objects and repeating certain actions) [2, 3] , as well as high rates of self-talk .
Behavior Changes in Childhood and Adolescence
The behavioral challenges seen in children with Down syndrome are usually not particularly different from those seen in typically developing children. However, they may occur at a later age and last longer.
Children with Down syndrome have a specific impairment in short-term memory for verbal information (i.e. the phonological loop) and this will make processing verbal information and, therefore, learning from listening, especially difficult for them.
The following suggestions are based upon the input of many parents of children with Down syndrome. THINGS NOT TO SAY – These are the things that parents have said really upset or angered them: “I'm sorry” or any form of pity. Pity is not what new parents want or need.
4,5 A Finnish study showed that, of a population of 129, only 9% had shown severe irritability, disturbing behaviour and physically attacked others, and 4% had been difficult to manage or even dangerous to others. 3 These aggressive behaviours were statisti- cally significant amongst male patients rather than females.
Also, many children with Down syndrome love music. Singing and dancing are excellent ways to work on language, social interaction and motor skills! While picking out toys for any child, it is important to keep a few things in mind to ensure suitability for the child's development and growth.
Topic Overview. Children with Down syndrome usually have delayed speech and language development. Typically, these children have a much harder time learning to talk (expressive language) than with understanding what they hear (receptive language).
Babies with Down syndrome may find it harder to develop sleep patterns, get to sleep and stay asleep because their physical features (narrow upper airways, larger tongues and low muscle tone) can make them wake more frequently and make deeper sleep harder to come by.
The average age for 1st period in girls with Down's syndrome is 12 years 6 months (in the general population it is approx 13 years). Periods often begin 2 years after the start of breast development. Periods do not usually start before age 9 years and most girls will have started their periods by 15 years.
Attention problems
If your child has Down Syndrome, he/she may have a short attention span. Their behavior can often be impulsive. In this case, their behavior is similar to children with anxiety disorders, language processing problems, and hearing loss.
Most of the time, it's at a moderate level. If you have a baby with Down syndrome, you'll need to care for, talk to, play with, and love them like any other infant. It's important to have high expectations for your baby with Down syndrome.
Unfortunately many people associate Down syndrome with someone who is stubborn. The reality is that while your special needs student may be stubborn, it is not necessarily a symptom of Down syndrome. In truth, there are many people who are stubborn who have no handicap at all!
Common behavior problems such as aggression, tantrums and "noncompliance" are not part of DS-ASD.
Self-talking, or talking to yourself, is very common in children and adults with Down syndrome. This behavior often makes families worried. Try not to worry! Self-talking is normal and also serves a very useful purpose.
Almost one-half of babies with Down syndrome have congenital heart disease (CHD), the most common type of birth defect. CHD can lead to high blood pressure in the lungs, an inability of the heart to effectively and efficiently pump blood, and cyanosis (blue-tinted skin caused by reduced oxygen in the blood).
People with Down syndrome can feel angry, sad, embarrassed or excited. In fact, rather than always being happy, people with Down syndrome are at higher risk of mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive behaviour than the general population.
Potentially serious complications — The most serious complications of Down syndrome include heart defects, blood disorders that can include leukemia (cancer of the blood), and immune system problems. Heart defects — Approximately half of all babies with Down syndrome are born with (often repairable) heart defects.