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Christina72684 10:46 AM 05-15-2014
We will be getting a child with Downs Syndrome for 2 days a week this summer and full time when school starts. She is 11 months old and from a center that is closing. Luckily we are getting the teacher from her room so she knows the family real well and knows how to take care of her.

I just wondered if anyone had any experience taking care of kids with Down Syndrome and any tips. TIA!
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KidGrind 10:52 AM 05-15-2014
I don’t have any tips unfortunately for you. Each child with Down Syndrome is different just like your average kid.

For her specific situation I had the same expectations I did of all the children in my care. When we were doing physical activities she was a bit slower than the others her age & faster then those half her age.
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SignMeUp 11:26 AM 05-15-2014
I agree that Down Syndrome kids are individual, just like typical kids.
One broad generalization is that they sometimes need you to show them the "next step" for a lot of things, when typical kids might be more inclined to figure it out without you.
So, for example, for learning to walk, you might help them cruise their crib a couple of times before getting up from nap. I try to just build the little extra steps into my day like that, so that it always gets covered.
If the child has low muscle tone, you might sometimes support their elbow while he or she does fine motor activities, so that they don't need to do the large muscle and fine motor together, if that makes sense.
The child's teacher may be your best resource. My Down Syndrome children had Special Ed teachers come to their house once a week until 3 years old.
So the parents and I split that time, every other week I had the Special Ed teacher, and I learned tons of little tips from them that were specific to that child's current development.
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Unregistered 01:11 PM 05-15-2014
I'm trying to figure out a way to not sound snippy, sincerely don't mean to, but you I really hated seeing "Down Syndrome Baby." She's a baby who happens to have Down's Syndrome.
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Play Care 06:21 PM 05-15-2014
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I'm trying to figure out a way to not sound snippy, sincerely don't mean to, but you I really hated seeing "Down Syndrome Baby." She's a baby who happens to have Down's Syndrome.
You can educate without being snippy or rude.

A simple "hey, just so you don't slip in front of parents, it's polite to say a child with __________, rather than a downs baby or an autistic kid, etc."
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SignMeUp 08:37 PM 05-15-2014
Originally Posted by Unregistered:
I'm trying to figure out a way to not sound snippy, sincerely don't mean to, but you I really hated seeing "Down Syndrome Baby." She's a baby who happens to have Down's Syndrome.
I will take the hit for that one too My dcfs phrased it properly at first, but after a while, it seemed less important than providing care and managing daily life. And most often we referred to him as Joe, and her as Mimi, just like anyone else
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TwinKristi 10:06 PM 05-15-2014
I will admit that the idea of having a baby with DS used to scare me until I cared for one. She was an amazingly beautiful angel who I just adored. She was just like any other baby, but had low muscle tone so she wasn't sitting up or mobile as early as other babies her age. But unless there are other medical issues (heart, oxygen, dietary, etc) than I would view it like caring for any other baby. I avoided reading the post until now due to the title phrasing, it is a little unprofessional.
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NoMoreJuice! 05:40 AM 05-16-2014
Just thought I'd share! Makes me smile!
Attached: chromosome.jpg (16.5 KB) 
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Christina72684 06:57 AM 05-16-2014
We were told ahead of time to never label her "down syndrome baby" especially in front of her mom. And I never would. But I didn't know how to word it to get people to respond without making a super long title like "A child that has Downs Syndrome" which sounds weird when not saying that in a full sentence. And I know every kid is different no matter what their abilities are. I just don't know anything about DS so I don't know what to expect. I was hoping to get more views than just her current teacher who has also never known someone with DS until this child. So she only knows what an infant with DS is like, not a toddler or older child. I really hope I didn't offend anyone. I only asked the question to help better prepare myself so I can be a good provider to this child and her family.
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SignMeUp 07:13 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by Christina72684:
I was hoping to get more views than just her current teacher who has also never known someone with DS until this child. So she only knows what an infant with DS is like, not a toddler or older child. I really hope I didn't offend anyone. I only asked the question to help better prepare myself so I can be a good provider to this child and her family.
Since it sounds like her current teacher doesn't have the knowledge you need, is there something available through your school system or your state?
Where I live, Special Education services are mandated by the state, through the school system from birth. The teachers for birth to three years come to the home or child care.
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mom2many 08:26 AM 05-16-2014
OP- I have never had any experience with an infant with DS, but for the last 8 months, I have been caring for a high functioning 4 yo with DS two days a week.

He's an absolute sweetheart! I was nervous at first, because he was high energy & very inquisitive! It was similar to watching a 1 yo, but he was much taller & could reach things & open doors that a 1 yo couldn't. I had to watch him every second to make sure he wasn't getting into something!

After just a few times of being here though, he became less curious of his surroundings & played with toys and the other kids great!

I still struggle with finding foods he will eat... Even those that dcm says he likes, he push away and not want. I just try to encourage him to come sit down with the others and can usually find one or two things that he will eat. I do watch him carefully, because sometimes he will try to stuff too much in at a time.

Even though he is not verbal, he can definitely let me know what he wants!

I've thoroughly enjoyed him! He loves to make the others laugh and the other kids have a lot of fun playing with him.
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akpayne 08:38 AM 05-16-2014
The fact that you needed to be told not to refer to this child as "down syndrome baby" really concerns me. I hope you will be more tactful when dealing with this child's family. I currently care for a little girl with ds who will be turning 7. She is extremely high functioning, attends school every day and is smart as a whip. However, she does have some aggression issues which I deal with inc occurrence with her parents and teachers. Every child is different and needs to be treated as such.
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Blackcat31 09:03 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by Christina72684:
We were told ahead of time to never label her "down syndrome baby" especially in front of her mom. And I never would. But I didn't know how to word it to get people to respond without making a super long title like "A child that has Downs Syndrome" which sounds weird when not saying that in a full sentence. And I know every kid is different no matter what their abilities are. I just don't know anything about DS so I don't know what to expect. I was hoping to get more views than just her current teacher who has also never known someone with DS until this child. So she only knows what an infant with DS is like, not a toddler or older child. I really hope I didn't offend anyone. I only asked the question to help better prepare myself so I can be a good provider to this child and her family.
Originally Posted by akpayne:
The fact that you needed to be told not to refer to this child as "down syndrome baby" really concerns me. I hope you will be more tactful when dealing with this child's family.
The provider already addressed the wording aspect of this situation.

She wasn't trying to be disrespectful. She is trying to educate herself about this situation....which I give her TONS OF KUDOS for since not being familiar with something is tough sometimes and if we have no prior experience, we can easily offend.

The OP was not purposely being offensive in my opinion.
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mom2many 09:13 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
The provider already addressed the wording aspect of this situation.

She wasn't trying to be disrespectful. She is trying to educate herself about this situation....which I give her TONS OF KUDOS for since not being familiar with something is tough sometimes and if we have no prior experience, we can easily offend.

The OP was not purposely being offensive in my opinion.

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Play Care 09:44 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
The provider already addressed the wording aspect of this situation.

She wasn't trying to be disrespectful. She is trying to educate herself about this situation....which I give her TONS OF KUDOS for since not being familiar with something is tough sometimes and if we have no prior experience, we can easily offend.

The OP was not purposely being offensive in my opinion.

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akpayne 10:29 AM 05-16-2014
I'm sorry I find her excuse of too long topic title a cop-out. This op has posted many times before and I worry about her competence to care for this child and deal with the parents appropriately. I don't think it hurts to re-iterate the inappriateness of what she wrote as I didn't sense she is taking this very seriously
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Blackcat31 10:58 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by akpayne:
I'm sorry I find her excuse of too long topic title a cop-out. This op has posted many times before and I worry about her competence to care for this child and deal with the parents appropriately. I don't think it hurts to re-iterate the inappriateness of what she wrote as I didn't sense she is taking this very seriously
You are most definitely entitled to your own opinion but I do think that if you were/are seriously concerned about someone, reaching out privately might be more helpful than simply admonishing them publically.

It's also hard to gauge someone's ability or inability to care for children solely based on what they post on-line.


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melilley 11:18 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
The provider already addressed the wording aspect of this situation.

She wasn't trying to be disrespectful. She is trying to educate herself about this situation....which I give her TONS OF KUDOS for since not being familiar with something is tough sometimes and if we have no prior experience, we can easily offend.

The OP was not purposely being offensive in my opinion.

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Christina72684 11:36 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by akpayne:
The fact that you needed to be told not to refer to this child as "down syndrome baby" really concerns me. I hope you will be more tactful when dealing with this child's family. I currently care for a little girl with ds who will be turning 7. She is extremely high functioning, attends school every day and is smart as a whip. However, she does have some aggression issues which I deal with inc occurrence with her parents and teachers. Every child is different and needs to be treated as such.

I was told this by the teacher in the first conversation we had about the child coming here. She said it in the first couple of sentences. It wasn't because I called her that and then was told not to.
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Christina72684 11:38 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
You are most definitely entitled to your own opinion but I do think that if you were/are seriously concerned about someone, reaching out privately might be more helpful than simply admonishing them publically.

It's also hard to gauge someone's ability or inability to care for children solely based on what they post on-line.


Thank you Blackcat!
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Christina72684 11:46 AM 05-16-2014
I don't see why it's a big deal what I titled the thread on here. There are many different thread titles and I would never judge someone based on what they called one, considering there needs to be a title or people won't read the thread. (Not sure if that made sense but I know what I was trying to say)


As far as being able to take care of someone that has the Down's Syndrome condition (not sure how I need to word that without offending anyone), no one knows if they can until they do! I'm sure her parents were worried about raising her once they found out she had it. But I'm also pretty sure that they did what I'm doing: researched it. But you can only get so much info from books and research. I wanted to get personal opinions from daycare providers that have taken care of kids that weren't their own that had DS.

Sorry again if I used the wrong terms, words, phrases, etc. And as far as my other posts and threads, they have nothing to do with this. My 2 daycares have been going through a lot of changes over the past couple of months and will continue to go through more than next two months (more than daycares do normally). We will have been open 3 years in June (the 2nd daycare has been open only a year and a half). We went from just me and my mom to us and 3 workers. We went from 5 kids to a total of 24. We have grown so fast over such a short period of time which is why I reach out to this forum hoping to learn from experienced providers and not be judged for my ignorance.
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melilley 11:52 AM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by Christina72684:
I don't see why it's a big deal what I titled the thread on here. There are many different thread titles and I would never judge someone based on what they called one, considering there needs to be a title or people won't read the thread. (Not sure if that made sense but I know what I was trying to say)


As far as being able to take care of someone that has the Down's Syndrome condition (not sure how I need to word that without offending anyone), no one knows if they can until they do! I'm sure her parents were worried about raising her once they found out she had it. But I'm also pretty sure that they did what I'm doing: researched it. But you can only get so much info from books and research. I wanted to get personal opinions from daycare providers that have taken care of kids that weren't their own that had DS.

Sorry again if I used the wrong terms, words, phrases, etc. And as far as my other posts and threads, they have nothing to do with this. My 2 daycares have been going through a lot of changes over the past couple of months and will continue to go through more than next two months (more than daycares do normally). We will have been open 3 years in June (the 2nd daycare has been open only a year and a half). We went from just me and my mom to us and 3 workers. We went from 5 kids to a total of 24. We have grown so fast over such a short period of time which is why I reach out to this forum hoping to learn from experienced providers and not be judged for my ignorance.


Don't let one person get you down. You were asking for opinions so that you can provide the best care possible. If there's harm in that then I don't know what to say. There will always be one person who doesn't like how you word something and will take offense. I don't think you meant anything by it!
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mom2many 12:11 PM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by melilley:


Don't let one person get you down. You were asking for opinions so that you can provide the best care possible. If there's harm in that then I don't know what to say. There will always be one person who doesn't like how you word something and will take offense. I don't think you meant anything by it!
Absolutely! I know I had no experience before I began caring for the little guy I have & it's only through knowledge that you gain insight and can become more intuned to the special needs of a child.
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Blackcat31 12:23 PM 05-16-2014
Originally Posted by melilley:


Don't let one person get you down. You were asking for opinions so that you can provide the best care possible. If there's harm in that then I don't know what to say. There will always be one person who doesn't like how you word something and will take offense. I don't think you meant anything by it!
Originally Posted by mom2many:
Absolutely! I know I had no experience before I began caring for the little guy I have & it's only through knowledge that you gain insight and can become more intuned to the special needs of a child.
GREAT POINTS!!
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dalman 12:58 PM 05-16-2014
In my foster care experience dealing with children and adults with DS, one of the primary issues I have seen is overeating. It wasn't until my anatomy and physiology class in nursing that I learned why this is a common issue with DS. To sum it up quickly, in DS a part of the brain that controls appetite suppression, the satiation center, is missing. They do not get the signal that they are full, ever. To help persons with DS control their weight, we are required to fix their plate with a "normal" helping of everything. If allowed to manage their diet, our experience has been that they would eat until they get sick. Literally. It's really hard with a child because who wants to hear a child say that they are still hungry and tell them that they are done until snack time, or whenever. But we were told by the doctor that to continue to allow them to overeat is abuse.

On a positive note, we have found that children and adults with DS are some of the most loving, accepting individuals around. I applaud you for trying to find out everything you can before embarking on this wonderful journey.
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Kelly 07:01 PM 05-16-2014
As a mom of 2 sons with DS I would say that they were pretty much like any other babies. They each have their own unique personalities and while they may reach milestones at a slower pace they basically do the same things all babies do.

I never had a problem with them overeating as mentioned in a previous post, especially as babies. If anything at that age it was more trouble getting them to eat as it sometimes takes them longer to get used to textures. One of my sons is overweight but this is mainly due to health issues. My other son is actually thin (he still wears boys' clothing at age 24.)
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