I was consulted today about yet another hypertonic or "arching (as LLL calls
them)" baby. A recent side conversation I had concerning Fiona's post about
the "unsettled newborn" has caused me to ask the collective experience of
everyone as regards these babies. The BAB describes the arching baby as
hypertonic, extremely strong, extremely reactive, arches his or her body
uncontrollably, and is a baby that has varying levels of difficulty with
feeding because of this uncontrollable behavior.

Mothers of these babies usually call in frustration, because the doctor, nurse
and even lc says they have no idea about this and suggest any number of other
solutions. When I read the description to them they say it describes their
baby perfectly, and the various listed "tricks" (you know us tricky LLL types)
usually help the situation. The babies seem to outgrow this after a few
months.

I see so many of these, and I have a theory that in the worst cases mothers
simply give up right away and don't call. Some cases are not so  extreme, and
the mothers might go for weeks or even months before asking for help. A mother
recently called me about her four month old whose rate of weight gain had
plateaued. She knew there was something "different" about him, and had
repeatedly told her doctor this, but they continued to tell her there was
nothing wrong. Because she had successfully breastfed her older child (who did
not have this problem), she had managed to get him to four months.

A couple of years ago I asked various PL department persons if this was an
indicator of future problems, or an indication of neurological problems not
yet diagnosed. They said, no, these seem to be due to an immature nervous
system and it goes away. There isn't any later problem that is correlated to
this (although in LLL we don't usually have the ability to follow a baby in
the long term and see what sort of child they become).

I always ask about birth circumstances, and I would have to say without
compiling real numbers that there is no relationship to birth difficulties or
complications. The baby I was asked about today is the fourth in the family,
and one other had similar difficulties.

(There is also the certain oddness in the fact that so many of them "need" to
arch three times, in the same way my dog thinks he must circle three times
before lying down.)

I would certainly agree that this group of behaviours could result from an
"unseen" physical problem (reflux, although I think of the vomiting as an
important symptom of reflux), or that it could be a response to some sort of
feeding difficulty such as being forced to the breast, overly suctioned, etc.
But when a baby does this from birth, and you can't pinpoint any other
causative factors, is there really just an arching baby? Or is this a
simplistic approach (the BAB info, etc.) to managing something that is really
an indication of more severe problems?

Oh wise ones render forth some opinions and experience. It is a curious thing.

Carol B.