Author: Varsha Biyani | August 2nd 2022
Hip Helpers – Impact of a supportive garment on gross motor skills for infants with Down syndrome
Babies with Down syndrome or developmental delays with generalised low muscle tone, often tend to not have much control over their hip muscles, so their legs spread easily causing excessive outward rotation of the legs at the hips commonly known as excessive hip abduction. This can have an impact on their motor skills such as independent side sitting, weight-bearing on their knees, crawling, and also the transitioning from sitting to crawling causing a delay in achieving independent sitting, standing, and walking.
To help prevent excessive hip abduction in babies and toddlers with low muscle tone and encourage kids to keep their legs in line with their trunk control, hip helpers or support shorts are commonly used in the therapy. They look like synthetic fibre that is the material of baby lycra and keep your little one’s legs together while rolling, crawling, or playing which further helps to develop hip control to sit and stand independently. This in turn helps to improve rotational movement and limit the ‘W’ sitting in babies who are developing their movement skills. Hip helpers are usually prescribed for children between 6 months and 3 years of age.
At Sethu, the Occupational Therapists assess kids with down syndrome and they recommend hip helpers to help the babies with low muscle tone develop their lower motor skills. We typically ask parents to use lycra shorts to customise the hip helpers for their children. With the hip helpers on, babies are then encouraged to participate in play interactions that encourage exploring the toys and their environments through reaching out, crawling, and cruising around the room.
Does your child have low tone or Down syndrome? Reach out to The People Team at +91-7720013749 or email us at [email protected] between 9 am to 5 pm on Tuesday to Saturday, to book an appointment with one of our therapists, and let’s get started!