United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

We try to let have our daughter the "hands up" position (I mean with her forearms next to her head).

This not something that was recommended to us. I think this is a good position because her arm is besides her body very often during daytime. So I figured it will contribute to her ROM to have sleep in another position. Again, this is a personal opinion.

yeah i agree with john rafter this is what i mean to let the sleep time different from the day time becasue he is all the day put his hand beside him
sometimes i put his hand at sleeping in some ROM positions ?what do u think??

Noha,

I think if your child will actually sleep in one of the ROM/stretch positions, that is fantastic and definitely do it! I truly think that anything to keep the shoulder loose is more important than "supporting" it in sleep. Dislocation in these kids is not the same as dislocation in a stroke patient (for example) where the weight of the arm drags it out of socket (except in extremely severe injuries). Rather, the uneven tightness in the muscles over months and years disturbs the development of the joint. Anything you can do to keep the joint from tightening up is worth it.

Kate

Well I guess to me the supporting it while sleeping (having it near the side) was different than during the day to me b/c during awake hours she was never like that. At night while sleeping was mostly the only time when I kept her arm down by her side. So it was much different than during the day.
I always was doing ROM and I mean always. Too overboard to be honest with you. I would lay her arm in different positions in her bassinette. I would check on her often. I think I was more comfortable doing it during the day b/c at night I couldnt check her as much. I was always home with her so it was easy for me to do.
Just wanted to say that if you lay the baby's arm by his/her side all day then no, don't do it at night as well if you don't have to.~Krista~
~Krista~

This may sound like a stupid question...but why does the arm need to be supported? Will they hurt the arm if it isn't? What's the reason to do this? I was never given any instruction on putting his arm into a different position when he was younger... Now he does whatever he wants with it, but he has a very mild injury. Does the severity of the injury play a role in how they should be positioned during sleep? Just curious b/c I've never heard of this. Thanks!

"supporting" the arm is actually the wrong word choice for me. I guess I wrote that as a responce to Kate's post since she called it "supporting" the arm. We DID NOT support the arm in anyway. We simply "put" the arm by her side when she was going to sleep for the night. I am talking about newborn times. As she got older and gained some movement there was nothing we could do about it so the arm went whatever way she got it, which was not many positions b/c she had limited movement. So no, you don't have to "support" the arm before sleep. At least that is my opinion. I just felt more comfortable placing her arm by her side. That is my feeling. As you can see, others do differently. There is no rule on this unless your specialist may talk to you about it and give you some ideas. Simply put the child to sleep in the position you think is safe for them. If you go by that, you can't go wrong.
~Krista~

As I started the "support the arm" issue, i will clarify. Juliana has a severe injury. At the time of primary surgery (4 1/2 months) she had NO function at all. Her shoulder was like that of a stroke patient and it was uncomfortable for her to lie on her back as her arm "dropped" to the mattress. She was much more comfortable during the day when I had her in a bouncy-type seat that was tighter on her body and kept her, shall i say, together more. That is why we had her sleep at night in it. And why we supported her arm. Once she gained some function we stopped.

No one told us how to position her-it was all about comfort. (We did move her about the crib as she had torticollis and we wanted her to look around more.)

Don't fret over this, they start to move themselves around their cribs so quickly that this becomes moot.

good luck,
claudia

in my baby case he has a drop wrist and a adducted shoulder plus prononation(sp?) so my PT recommended any different position when sleeping just to make balance so she suggested a supination or abducted shoulder while sleeping and I use a pillow for fixing the arm to those positions?!!

guest is me i forgot to login!

Hello Omar's Mom,
Maybe I've forgotten, but would you please share more about Omar and yourself. How old is Omar now, and where do you live? I'm glad you have a PT. How are the other Medical services for Omar where you live?

Please continue to share with us about Omar's progress with his injuries.We all are Family in this UBPN network and care about you both..keep in touch.
Hugs to you both,
Carolyn J
Adult LOBPI