Most children with idiopathic low muscle tone will naturally improve over time, without any long-term impact on their physical strength and abilities.
Causes of hypotonia include: Brain damage or problems with how your baby's brain formed during fetal development. Conditions that affect how nerves communicate with muscles. Conditions that affect muscles.
Low muscle tone CANNOT be changed. But your child's muscle strength, motor control and physical endurance CAN be changed.
Babies with low tone may need help using the muscle strength and control they have. They often prefer to be fed in a way that requires the least effort, rather than using their muscle control. To help encourage muscle strength, you need to “wake them up” or alert them before and during each feeding.
Infants with hypotonia have a floppy quality or “rag doll” appearance because their arms and legs hang by their sides and they have little or no head control. Other symptoms of hypotonia include problems with mobility and posture, breathing and speech difficulties, ligament and joint laxity, and poor reflexes.
Hypotonia, or low muscle tone, is common in autistic children. Some studies have shown that over 50% of children with ASD experienced hypotonia. Because of its prevalence among autistic children, hypotonia often serves as an early indicator that your child may fall on the autism spectrum.
Walking is often delayed
Hypermobile and low tone infants tend to walk a few months later than usual, sometimes as late as 18-20 months. However, unless the infant has another disorder as well, hypermobile babies eventually walk independently.
The assessment of tone can be made both from observing the posture, activity of the infant when undisturbed, and by handling the baby. Infants with normal tone will not feel "floppy" when held by the examiner.
Hypotonia means decreased muscle tone. Hypotonia is often a sign of abnormality in the case of a newborn or older infant, and may suggest the presence of central nervous system dysfunction, genetic disorders, or muscle disorders.
Neonatal hypotonia is a common event in neonatal period. A majority of diagnosis is obtained by history and physical examination. Neuroimaging, genetic and metabolic tests were also important in diagnosis. Genetic, syndromic–nonsyndromic, and metabolic disorders were the most causes of neonatal hypotonia.
Will my child ever walk? Although some severe cases of hypotonia confine people to wheelchairs for their entire life, the majority of kids learn to walk. It will simply be on their own schedule. It's difficult to watch younger kids pass milestones your child hasn't conquered.
The problem with low tone kids is that their core muscles don't support them well. This can cause problems with sitting still and focusing at school, coordination problems with sports, and more.
Hypotonia doesn't affect intelligence. But it may delay development of large-muscle movement and coordination (gross motor skills). In benign congenital hypotonia, results of tests on the child's muscles and brain are normal.
This finding corresponds to the well-known high prevalence of a typical but non-optimal neurological condition. Eight percent of infants show atypical muscle tone in 3–4 body parts. This clinically relevant pattern is associated with perinatal risk and less favourable neurodevelopmental status.
Depending on the intensity and the consistency of your workout, it will take 4 to 8 weeks for your muscles to get toned.
What is hypotonia? Hypotonia means decreased muscle tone. It can be a condition on its own, called benign congenital hypotonia, or it can be indicative of another problem where there is progressive loss of muscle tone, such as muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy. It is usually detected during infancy.
Kids With Hypotonia Will Outgrow It
Muscles can get stronger or weaker, but the tone doesn't really change. Kids with hypotonia become adults with hypotonia. Along the way, they've simply learned how to compensate for their limitations.
If you suspect that your baby or toddler has a motor skills delay, here are some signs to watch out for: Does not reach for, grasp, or hold objects by 3 or 4 months old. Does not roll over in either direction by 5 months. Cannot sit up without help by 6 months.