Does this sound like hypermobility?

[SE13Mummy]

DD2 is one tomorrow... she's a happy baby with lots of teeth, sleeps well, eats well, claps, waves, has a good pincer grip, babbles, says Dada (but not Mama) but she doesn't move.

She sat supported at 7ish months but not securely until 9 or 10 months which didn't worry us as her big sister didn't sit securely until 8 months (then crawled at 11 months and took her first steps at 12 months). DD2 has twisty wrists and pointy-in ankles (much like me and DD1), when reaching for something will have one leg out straight and fold herself completely in half.... then get stuck. She doesn't do weight-bearing, doesn't pull herself up to sit from lying nor make any attempt to pull herself up to stand.

Until this week I wasn't concerned mainly because DD1 was slow to get going on the physical side of things too but DD1 was pulling herself up long before she was a year old, put food into her mouth at 6 months (DD2 has only just cottoned on to this in spite of being an avid food consumer) and both were long, heavy babies.

Now that DD2 is trying to reach things and ends up with her top half flat on the floor with legs splayed/squidged I am concerned that she's displaying the flexibility of some of the acrobats in Cirque du Soliel i.e. scarily bendy. I have made a GP appointment for Saturday but wondered about your thoughts and if you have any top tips for improving the situation/helping to strengthen muscle in the meantime.

If I don't reply I'm not being rude... once we've packed we're heading for the M25 and the North so could be some time.

Thank you!

My dd is 7 now, she has extreme joint hypermobility as part of a genetic condition. As a baby, even her chest used to clunk when we picked her up.

There are some things that can help if it turns out that your dd has hypermobility, but I would wait to get specialist advice before trying any strengthening exercises etc. as if done wrong, they can damage loose joints further.

Practical tips? Make sure that people don't swing your dd around aeroplane style, as something might dislocate.
Lace up leather ankle boots are more supportive to loose ankles than shoes are when your dd starts walking. Your dd may turn into a mini Houdini too. My dd could wriggle out of any safety harness in seconds!

Could also possibly be hypermobility combined with low muscle tone if she's not pulling up to stand, sitting herself up etc. My DD has both - struggled with sitting until well over a year, crawled at 15 months, walked at 20 months. She has low tone in her trunk muscles and pelvic area and hypermobility in most joints.

Sounds like your DD doing well with the fine motor skills which is good!

Thanks for replying. I wasn't planning to start exercises per se but wondered if I should make more of an effort to take her swimming etc. She doesn't wear shoes as it seems silly when she doesn't move but DD1 has always been in Kickers because their weight helps her keep her toes from pointing in.
I'm encouraged that your DCs did move eventually though...perhaps now is the time to stop hanging around with the nymph-like babies of some of my friends.

#Hi My GS is hypermobile due to a genetic condition and wasnt predicted to walk untill 5 if we were lucky, I have taken him swimming every week sometimes 2/3 times a week and he was walking at 24 months. I swear by swimming (I am also a swimming teacher) as the best physio going, they are working harder than on land because they are working against the resistance of the water but it is easier for them as they are not weight bearing. dont worry about exercises just play and lots of kicking, if the water is shallow enough you could also practise standing and walking with some support(ie, you)

Thanks for the replies, thought I'd update you now that she's been seen by the GP.

GP was helpful and sensible, checked hips etc. and said she believes DD2 does have hypermobility in her legs/ankles so has referred her to the Kaleidoscope Centre where she'll be seen by a paediatrician. She did say that she wasn't overly concerned by the degree of hypermobility and thinks DD2 will probably need physio but nothing more in terms of interventions. Advice was to give her lots of opportunities to try and weight-bear e.g. put her in an activity station that will support her but let her use her feet to push etc. Handily we brought one of those back from the North with us as the friends we were staying with finished with theirs ages ago. She said swimming would be good exercise in terms of something that wouldn't do any harm so I guess we'll do that whilst we await the appointment (which may take 4 months).

My DD has hypermobility syndrome and low muscle tone. I cant remember when she first sat up, but she didn't crawl until she was 13 months old, and she didn't pull herself up on the furniture until she was 17 months old, and she first walked at 18 months old. My DS1 was fine (in fact running around at 7 months old ), but my DS2 was even more severely affected by the Hypermobility syndrome and low muscle tone than my DD.

He didn't support his HEAD until he was 9 months old (!) (At which point I was told he'd never walk...), he didn't crawl until he was 2.5yo, he took his first steps at 3.1yo, and stopped using his Mac major for all but the longest day trips when he was 4.9yo. He is now 6.6yo, and runs around (too much! ) and has just learnt to hop on his left leg. We are working on him learning to hop on his right leg, because then he will be able to learn to pedal a bike.

It sounds like both your DD's could do with Piedro boots to help the 'turn in', you can get them on the NHS from the orthotist, and your younger DD would probably benefit from seeing an occupational therapist. Just wanted to let you know, that even with an extreme case of hypermobility syndrome like my sons, who can even now dislocate his shoulders just by spinning under you arm when you're holding his hand(!) with good OT excercises, they will get there in the end. Even if it is a few months (or years) late!

Thank you for the reassurance Loudlass.

Went in to DD2 this morning and she was sitting up in her cot looking VERY pleased with herself Not sure how she did it as her usual attempts involve waggling her legs somewhere up round her ears. Was good to see though.