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Child Item

Down syndrome in infant?

KittyeeTrix

Hi,
My sister has a 9 month old baby boy who seems otherwise healthy.
She asked me the other day if I noticed anything unusual about his eyes and I said I had.
I asked her first to tell me what type of child she thought he had facial features similar to and she answered "Down syndrome"
Only then did I tell her that I had often thought the same but had not mentioned it for three reasons
1. I'm sure it would have been picked up at the hospital
2. He has no other symptoms,i.e feeding problems or heart problems etc
3. I didn't want to worry her or suggest there was something with the child
He is exhibiting epicanthal folds of the eyes which is common in children with Down syndrome.

I am just wondering if anyone else has heard or knows anything relating to late diagnosis of Down syndrome in infants.
She is going to take him to the doctor this week and voice her concerns. Hopefully it will be nothing but either way it will be good not to be worrying.
Let me know if ye have any ideas!!
Thanks

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Toots

My younger sister has Down Syndrome, and it was picked up at the hospital when she was born. My mum knew straight away as soon as she saw her little eyes, but there were blood tests etc done to confirm it. I just checked with my mum there and she said that it is tested for at birth. Did the baby have a blood test when he was born?

lalalulu

My sister had a baby girl four weeks ago. She didn't know while pregnant that her daughter had down's but said as soon as she was handed to her she knew. My sister was told there are two types of down's and so not every child who has it would have the same "symptoms" for want of a better word. I would think that there would be other signs of down's with your sister's child other than just the folds of skin on the eyes but to put her mind at rest a visit to the gp can't do any harm.
My niece is a great little baby she has problem's feeding and has slept through the night for day one which means she hasn't put on much weight. There is plenty of help for the children and parent's with down syndrome ireland.

easyeason3

I'm sure the hospital would have checked for all that once the baby was born because it's standard procedure. But if your sister has that playing on her mind then you should suggest she brings the baby into her GP for a check up just to put her mind at rest & if she does decide to go in, if you can go with her for moral support I'm sure she would appreciate it.
Also the baby would have had a few check ups with the doctor & public health nurse so they surely would have spotted something if it was downs syndrome.
For her peace of mind though it would be €50 well spent.

KittyeeTrix

Hi guys,
She is going to take him this week to the doctor.
I was looking it all up on the internet and I am sure it is just that his eyes are just that way.
He has nothing else going on with him so I am sure it will all be fine, and anyway like one of ye posted, there is loads of support
out there if it is Downs.
Thanks lads:)

KittyeeTrix

Toots85 wrote: »

My younger sister has Down Syndrome, and it was picked up at the hospital when she was born. My mum knew straight away as soon as she saw her little eyes, but there were blood tests etc done to confirm it. I just checked with my mum there and she said that it is tested for at birth. Did the baby have a blood test when he was born?

He was born in a hospital and not a home birth. He would have had all the routine tests. Is downs tested routinely at birth or is it tested only if downs is suspected?

Redpunto

Physical signs would prompt further testing, that being blood test to check the chromosomes. Downs wouldnt be routinely checked in the hospital unless other signs were there. I would seriously think the hospital would have picked it up.

Toots

fluffyorganic1 wrote: »

He was born in a hospital and not a home birth. He would have had all the routine tests. Is downs tested routinely at birth or is it tested only if downs is suspected?

I checked with my Mum and she said it is a routine test at birth, so should be picked up when the child is born. I've heard of people being told their child has Downs when they're a few weeks old, but never 9 months. Either way, she's better off getting it checked out, even if it's just for her own peace of mind.

KittyeeTrix

Redpunto wrote: »

Physical signs would prompt further testing, that being blood test to check the chromosomes. Downs wouldnt be routinely checked in the hospital unless other signs were there. I would seriously think the hospital would have picked it up.

I'm thinking the same thing too but at the same time as a mum she can't help but worry all the same!

deisemum

For peace of mind it's better to get it checked out.

Some babies who don't have Downs may have a fold of skin in by the bridge of their nose and they may appear to have a squint but as the child grows this disappears and is nothing to worry about. I've seen it myself and the parents have been worried but once they got it checked out they were reassured.

Shelli

Was she given her discharge papers from the hospital when she was leaving? I know mine listed all the test that were done on me and baby.

She can call the hospital and ask for her/baby's medical records, they have to be available to her by law. Easy to see if baby has been tested and the results then.