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My nephew has low muscle tone and hit most of his physical milestones late- but hit them. He started doing PT pretty young, and wore a helmet for flat head, which was possibly related to the low tone. He's 3.5 now and runs and walks seemingly normally (I'm no expert and haven't talked to my brother in depth about it).

He is currently having some issues with speech and sees a speech therapist. I think it is also related to his low muscle tone. He understands everything, just has a hard time voicing what he is thinking.

Sorry that's not more helpful. It sounds like T has fewer issues than my nephew did overall.

I could write a book on this! My 22 month old LO has hypotonia (low muscle tone). He's always been delayed on motor milestones. He sat independently at 12 months and just within the last two months started crawling and getting himself into a sitting position. He's working on cruising once we put him in that position...our best guess is that he'll walk sometime between 2 and 3. Physical therapy definitely helps! His low muscle tone seems to be all over, although his core and arms were especially weak. Hypotonia can absolutely be more localized, though.

He also has global developmental delay, and is delayed in speech, fine motor and cognitive (although fine motor and cognitive have made big strides lately). Speech, both expressive and receptive, seems to be the big sticking point these days.

Our little guy was also born blind in his right eye, so it's likely that there's some genetic component or possibly some brain issues that could be uncovered with an MRI. We haven't done an MRI or genetic testing yet, although we may opt to pursue that eventually.

I belong to a facebook group for hypotonia (Hypotonia Parents Connection, definitely recommend joining!). I've learned so much from that group. There's a huge range of severity in hypotonia, from kids who are only mildly delayed and walk and run like other kids (maybe just getting a little more tired), to those who will probably never walk. Most kids seem to be somewhere in the middle and do great with PT and OT

It's also my understanding that hypotonia on its own isn't a definitive diagnosis, but stems from something else which often goes undiagnosed (especially in the mild cases). There have been a couple threads on the facebook page where parents discuss what their LOs have been diagnosed with - lots of genetic mutations, brain malformations, some dystrophy, and a lot of us who are undiagnosed. Reading it over, that all sounds scary but for the most part, our kids are doing great! I feel very fortunate to live in the US with great access to health care and physical therapy.

Sending a hug for you since I totally understand the stress and endless comparison games. Please feel free to reach out anytime if you want to talk more!

@artsyfartsy: so, how and why did your LO go for EI at 9m?
DD2 is almost 9 months and honestly has only rolled a handful of times. She sits unassisted but sometimes I come back to the room and she is on her back. I don't know if it's lazy, tired or big sister knocked her over. Yesterday she rocked on all fours for the first time. She can't pull up to standing her. It's hard not to compare to her sister who I didn't think hit physical milestones *that* early. Most days I just think DD2 is on the slow end of physical milestones but then there are other days I get worried.

@artsyfartsy: hm. Thanks for sharing. Her 9m appt is coming up so definitely something I'm bringing up.

What are some things to look for? Sorry, I'm hijacking!

@artsyfartsy: ok, thanks! Guess what baby girl will be working on tons till her check up!

My son was diagnosed with mild low tone, and I just want to say, don't worry, it'll be ok! You might need to work a little harder to help your son hit his milestones, but he'll get there!

We were diagnosed at 4 months and started EI therapy at 6 when he would not roll over at all. Physically, he caught up completely and you'd never know he needed help. He did later have a delay talking, but I'm not sure if low tone is the only reason. My neighborhood is very multilingual, and I hear that lots of kids start talking on the late side... probably just takes them a while to sort out all the languages they hear And he might have smaller problems come up here and there down the road, like taking longer to get good at writing, but I'm on the look out for them and we'll tackle them if they happen!

From what I understand, low tone never really goes away, so you just build up stronger muscles to compensate. It might be genetic sometimes... I definitely have some signs, like really flexible joints and an inability to do pull-ups, so could be DS got it from me.

@artsyfartsy: I also meant to say my brother had some similar issues and was a really late walker, like his son, and he has run several marathons now! But he's never been terribly coordinated and has terrible handwriting, just how he is (but he is crazy smart). My mom and one sister definitely also have low muscle tone, but are fine, just a little weaker (mom was never diagnosed because that just wasn't a thing in the 50s, by my older sister is an OT and says it's definitely the case).

Wow I never could put my tongue on what LO had, but this sounds a lot like it! Baby took forever to sit unassisted and I was surprised when my pediatrician suggested PT during his 6 month check up when he wouldn't sit up. I also think it's mostly just his abdominal muscles but I get worried that his limbs are so puny. He finally sat unassisted at around 9 months but he was difficult to hold because he would just slump over. I thought it was just laziness because when he was distracted he would sit very straight. At 13.5 months he is still cruising, not walking, but he's been at this stage for a long time. I'm wondering if he'll be able to start walking soon since it seems like most babies walk around their 1st bday. Seeing everyone else's response still makes me believe that all babies start at different times, but sometimes I worry that he'll also be a little smaller or weaker as he grows up.

This is really interesting to read. It's possible this could be something I have a mild form of (loose joints, easily tired from physical activity, my parents called me "noodle baby" when I was little because I was so limp most of the time, etc). Not enough to pursue for me, but something to be aware of when LO gets here, since it might be genetic. Hopefully she gets DH's athletic abilities, not mine!