Hypotonia is poor muscle tone. People diagnosed with hypotonia don’t show resistance when joints in their body move. Another term for hypotonia is “floppy infant syndrome.”
Muscle tone is the amount of resistance (tension) to the movement your muscles have at rest. If you relax your left arm and use your right arm to pinch your bicep, the resistance you feel is your muscle tone. For people diagnosed with hypotonia, pinching their bicep would feel soft, without any resistance.
Muscle tone is your body’s response to force and allows you to maintain your posture to sit and use your reflexes, like moving your arms and legs, and helps regulate the function of organs in your body.
If you have poor muscle tone, your arms and legs appear droopy, similar to a rag doll.
Your baby might have trouble sitting upright, keeping their head up and bending their elbows and knees.
Muscle weakness and hypotonia aren’t the same. Muscle weakness is a lack of strength in your muscles and is often a symptom associated with hypotonia.
Children with hypotonia have symptoms where their body resembles a rag doll. Healthcare providers might refer to your baby being “floppy” from their diagnosis. Symptoms of hypotonia include:
Your baby is unable to lift their head or control neck muscles.
Your baby feels limp when held.
Your baby cannot place weight on their legs.
Your baby’s arms and legs hang straight at their sides without a bend at their elbow or knee.
Your baby has difficulty swallowing or sucking.
Your baby has a weak cry.
Your baby shows muscle weakness.
Children diagnosed with hypotonia may have delayed developmental milestones that affect their motor skills, including:
Sitting upright.
Crawling.
Walking.
Saying their first words.
Feeding themselves on their own.
After a hypotonia diagnosis, your healthcare provider will test for the underlying condition that caused hypotonia as a symptom. Your healthcare provider will begin treating the underlying condition, followed by symptomatic treatment to address symptoms, including:
Physical and occupational therapy to improve motor skills.
Speech-language therapy to address difficulties in speaking, swallowing and breathing.
Sensory stimulation therapy to improve sensory function.
As babies diagnosed with hypotonia might have trouble eating and swallowing due to their weakened muscle tone, your healthcare provider might place a tube in your child’s nose or directly into their stomach to provide nutrients to your baby.
How soon after treatment will my baby feel better?
Hypotonia is a lifelong condition, but muscle tone can improve over time with successful treatment for the underlying condition that caused your baby’s symptoms.
Diagnosis of hypotonia occurs early after your child is born or before they turn six months old. Your healthcare provider will examine your baby for physical symptoms of the condition in your child’s muscles by observing their:
Balance and coordination.
Motor skills (grasping, rolling over, sitting up).
Reflexes.
Sensory skills (vision, hearing, touch).
Your healthcare provider will also examine your family’s medical and genetic history and identify if the condition was the result of any complications that occurred before your baby was born or during delivery.
What tests diagnose hypotonia?
If your healthcare provider suspects hypotonia, they’ll take steps to diagnose the underlying condition that caused hypotonia as a symptom. Tests could include:
Imaging tests to observe the brain like an MRI or CT scan.
Genetic test to identify any genetic abnormalities responsible for symptoms.
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