Are baby carriers suitable for Down's Syndrome babies?

[nattyb100]

I've just had a gorgeous little baby boy who was born with DS (we didn't know he had Down's until he was born as we chose not to have the test done when I was pregnant). We haven't been given any indication at all of how mild/severe his Down's is.

Someone has bought me a Baby Bjorn carrier and I wondered if anyone knows whether this would be ok to use with my little boy - I know Down's babies can be floppier and not as strong as non Down's babies so not sure if a baby carrier is suitable for him?

Thank you

No idea on your question sorry, but congratulations :o

Not sure what type of carrier you've got exactly, but we used both a 'front' baby carrier and then a 'back pack' type carrier with DD when she was little. SHe was probably in the front carrier until she was 1 as she was tiny!
DD doesn't have Downs but does have a rare chromosone disorder which means she has very poor muscle tone even now. I'm pretty sure that my BIL & SIL used a baby carrier for DN who does have Downs when he was little too.

Would it be recommended by a physio ?...... possibly not!! But I doubt that occasional use of even the backpack type will do any damage, as long as you pad it out where necessary so that your LO is comfortable. You will find that sometimes you have to ignore minor professional advice in order to preserve your sanity and get out and enjoy life with your baby

Congratulations on the arrival of your litle boy. Enjoy him and don't forget to log in here for lots of advice from those who have trodden the path before!!!

I have adopted 3 with DS. The younger 2 we were lucky to have when very small and I used a sling for both I needed to bond with them and they seemed to like being close. Congratulations and enjoy

Congratulation on your yummy squishy newborn!

Baby bjorn really aren't the best for newborns of any kind, sorry. They suspend the baby by the groin and hold the spine wrong. It's better and more supportive to use a wrap sling this is an easy compromise if you find wraps daunting at first or mei tei like this. In these slings the baby keeps his froglegs (I.e feet together, knees apart) in the early weaks.

Stop talking about little frog legs. Broody woman here. Though you could argue I maybe shouldn't click on threads about newborns.

Hello and congratulations!

My daughter has Down's too (diagnosed at birth too), and the physio we saw when she was tiny told us not to use a carrier such as the baby bjorn as it pushes the legs and hips outwards and we should go for something that kept the legs together. We were also told not to carry her straddled either when she was a bit bigger, for the same reasons. Our children can have loose joints and encouraging the legs outwards can lead to problems later on with walking (as I understand it!).

Have you seen a physio yet? Babies with Down's are floppier than typical babies and take longer to hold their head up etc. We were told to give our daughter lots of tummy time to help.

If you have any questions please ask! Our daugher is 4 now and a little treasure

Hi Nattyb100 and welcome to you. Another one here with a daughter who was diagnosed at birth with DS. There is a divergence of opinion on the different slings to use and I'm not equipped to discuss - but as we didn't know about htis and had bought a Baby Bjorn in advance for our daughter, I wrote to them and asked about suitability for a baby with DS. As they are a Swedish company I thought they would take any such question seriously enough to satisfy us. They took their time to reply as they consulted their own paediatrician (and lawyer no doubt!) and came back with a lovely response explaining that they believed there should be no problem. We used it for our girl until she was 12 months and too heavy to carry; no problems with her hips and she walked early, so hopefully our good experience is one you can add to the decision making process. p.s. she is now 20 months and today is my due date for her sibling to arrive, so we're about to start all over again.

I can't imagine a full-grown baby with uncomplicated downs would be more fragile or floppy than the teeny-weeny premature babies. They do a lot of sling stuff ie kangaroo care in SCBU. It helps their development in lots of ways. The local unit uses close wrap-carriers like star's link.

dd2 has cp and so lots of issues with muscle tone. we used a babybjorn with her, and then a back carrier (had them both from previous pg).

we were a little wary at first, just from a neck strength/ head support pov, but it was fine.

congratulations!

My 8 year old has Downs too and I used a Wilkinet carrier a bit when he was a baby, although the physio raised her eyebrows about it.

I 'wear' my now 14 month old DD (without Downs) in a carrier a lot and have done from birth and I know now that Baby Bjorns aren't great for any baby as they dangle the baby from the crotch instead of carrying them in a more seated position. Any carrier that allows the baby to face outwards isn't generally thought to be great tbh.

I would suggest looking at a carrier such as a Moby Wrap that allows a more natural position for the baby and are suitable for newborns, then when he is bigger something like an Ergo or Mei Tai. There are a few Facebook groups for baby wearers and a few forums if you look about and you'll be able to get more info there, or there is a sling forum here on Mumsnet.

Congratulations on the birth of your son!

My DS has downs (hello fellow downs parents!! - nice to see you all!!). We used a baby bjorne when he was little but not for an extended period of time - 15 minutes to do the nursery run.