4 months baby clenched fist

[Unlucky41]

Another one to reassure you here. When my daughter was 5 months she still had clenched fists and wasn't batting on the play gym etc. I remember spending half the day on Google looking for 5 month old babies to see if they had clenched fists ...and hardly any did. My daughter also was arching her back a lot so I was convinced she had cerabal palsy. I was worried sick and drove my family insane for months. She was still clenching at 7 months. Anyway, she is now 4 and half and definitely doesn't have cerabal palsy or anything else wrong for that matter. She's a healthy, busy little girl so try not to worry. Easier said than done I know x

Thanks for sharing this. Our little man has started to open his hands a bit and accidentally bat at things. Sometimes looks like he was meant too. Progress is slow though. I am talking b12 supplement as the paediatrician says deficient in b12 can cause slow development. As we didn't have the blood test we don't know. I am trying not to think about the blood test although doctor is still keen grrrr.

Next week we will have the physio session so it would be good to see what she thinks eh.

I read even though there is no brain damage that still can have cp. Is this true?

 

[_Meep_]

I think to have CP there has to be some sort of brain abnormality - whether a tiny area of damage would be visible without a full MRI of the head, I don't know. But I believe that some kids with very small areas of damage can have severe CP and some with a disastrous brain scan can have really mild CP, so there's no saying how it affects each individual.

As long as your son is starting to make progress and continues to develop, I'd try not to get too bogged down in technicalities - ridiculous coming from me, I know, as someone who feared her daughter had CP for around 2 years ...

Hang in there for that physio appointment. It will be really helpful - they will be able to assess his muscle tone and range of motion and give you a good idea if there is some sort of neurological thing going on. Hope you will update again!

 

[Unlucky41]

Baby physio came and gave us some exercises. Tummy time 10 minutes both sides 10 times. Bare foot play and get him to hold our fingers to stretched out his thumbs. Not sure how much she cost but not sure how long it will take to see improvement. Our problem also is that he cat naps so only in the mornings is he willing to do the exercises not throughout the day.

She is coming back in two weeks time but unless he does the exercises long enough doubt we see any changes eh?

He is too young to sleep train so what do I do? If he doesn't get a bit better in one week probably delay the next visit eh?

What you ladies think?

 

[adrie]

I have a mild version of CP affecting the right side. Basically, I have limited fine motor movements in my hand and foot, and they are a bit smaller than the left. My right leg is also a bit shorter. Many years ago I had an MRI and it was actually noted that half of my brain is marginally smaller as well, and that has been attributed to my CP.

Cerebral palsy is brain damage. The more severe the brain damage, the more severe the CP.

The "good" thing about it is that it does not worsen over time, and it can be very mild. Also, it's not mental ******ation. It's not necessarily a life sentence. As we are born with it, we learn to compensate. There are a lot of great strategies to work the affected hand from very young. I was in physio therapy as a young child.

 

[Unlucky41]

Adrie thanks for sharing your story. Still hoping that ds will catch up his development soon. We will see

 

[Unlucky41]

Just an update bub is using hands well and no longer in a clenched position. He is almost 6 months now and grabbing everything. If anyone ever have this problem at 4 months Try not to worry too soon!

 

[_Meep_]

Hehe, I'm so glad to hear it! Good for him.

Mine is heading for 4 months and already grabbing stuff so I am determined not to worry this time, but your story just goes to show that even when it looks really concerning it can still turn out to be absolutely nothing. Hooray!

 

[superfrizbee]

Great news!

 

[Bevziibubble]

That's great news!

 

[trevorr5523]

Goodness ... are there any other concerns about tone or is it just the fists? Does he open them ever? Are his thumbs tucked in or on the outside? Seems quite a scary response from the paed if there isn't really anything else. Saying that, it's best to be sure. I do hope he is fine.

For what it's worth, though she did bat at toys on time, reach for them, hold them etc., my first daughter had her fists mostly clenched at rest (not horrifically tight and with the thumbs on the outside) until she was about 5-6 months old, and after that, she still often fisted just the right hand (which was noticeably weaker) - she clenched it, tightly, with the thumb tucked in especially when she was doing something with the other hand (shape sorter etc.) - and when she started walking, for several months she would hold it like that while walking around. I was terrified and thought she had mild CP but she grew out of it and is totally right-handed at 3, and perfectly healthy.

Hi there, our 4.5 mo old is doing this and my wife and I are in the throes of despair. Everything we see on the internet says a clenched fist and hand preference is an early indicator of CP. He is otherwise very happy and healthy — no issues with the birth / pregnancy and the milestones are being hit on time (although he’s only rolled over once and won’t use his left arm to help him when he’s doing it.). The internet is a scary place and we’re not seeing many instances where someone thought their child had CP because of a clenched fists / only using one arm for the most part and then later discovered it wasn’t CP at all. Is that you? Did you have the same concern? He can grab my finger with the left and the hand opens often it’s just balled up most of the time. My wife and I have gone down this CP rabbit hole and it’s taken a lot out of us. Any thoughts would be immensely appreciated. Thank you.

 

[_Meep_]

Hi trevor,

I'm so sorry you're worrying about this, especially at Christmas.

I'm not sure whether you meant to quote my response rather than the original poster's but I will try to answer your questions anyway.

First of all, I know how horrible it is thinking something is 'wrong' with your baby. My daughter had a huge hand preference and a noticeably weaker right hand (the one she tended to clench). Her right arm also didn't straighten as much as the left as she got older - i.e. if you got her to reach her arms over her head, etc. She rolled, but mostly to the left. She'd only roll right if you physically blocked her so she COULDN'T roll left.

4.5 months isn't really a concerning age to not be consistently rolling yet, but I understand how shitty it is having to wait for these milestones to be met.

The fact he can open his hand sounds promising to me, but I'm not an expert. My daughter was always able to open her hand and use it to grab stuff but she was so much better with the left and didn't seem capable of picking up larger objects like balls, smooth drinks bottles, etc. with her right, whereas she could with the left.

What I did was wait until I couldn't stand the worry any more, then - when she was around 12-13 months and walking (with her right fist clenched) I finally snapped and called a paediatric physiotherapist to come and assess her tone, movements and general physical ability.

I was then assured that she definitely didn't have CP. I still worried about it after that, but much less, until she finally evened out and it all just went away. We still don't know why she did it, but she's now a 4.5 year old little girl, writing her name and drawing etc. - all with her right hand.

Don't wait and suffer like I did. Get a physio out to come and see you - I don't know where you live, but here in the UK if you go private, you can be seen straight away. It's quite expensive here for an assessment but chances are that will be all you need. If then your baby needs further help, you can be referred via the NHS. If not, all good. If you live in another country, obviously there will be some other process, but whatever the case, I think that's the best thing you can do now to either ease your mind or get treatment started early if needs be.

I do hope you will report back to us and that you managed to have a nice Christmas.

 

[_Meep_]

I'd also like to ask whether you have had your baby seen by a cranial osteopath or similar? For I suspect my daughter's tightness may have originated in her neck - not sure, but it's possible. She had a lot of feeding problems to start with and when we saw a cranial osteopath, they found her neck was very sore on one side and it meant she spent a lot of time looking to her left because it hurt to turn her head the other way. This could be one reason her right side was ignored and ended up falling behind somewhat to start with.

If this was the case, it took a long while to catch up - but it DID catch up.

Stuff like this CAN cause a hand preference so it's worth checking out.

 

[Haystead86]

I second Meep's questions. That really does affect how I would interpret what might be happening.

I don't have much advice I'm afraid. Permanently clenched fists at 4 months and not batting at toys doesn't sound typical but I don't know of what other scenarios might cause it, other than brain injury (I'm not saying there aren't other things that would cause it, just that I'm not sure what they would be).

What I will say is that my son had a stroke at 7 weeks old and has a brain injury resulting in left hemiplegia (cp). He is 2.5 now and a cheeky, charming little boy who has spent the best part of the last week tearing with glee around the new forest on holiday. If they should give you bad news at the ct scan I'm here to talk if you need to. We've been down the ct/mri route and been down to the depths of despair and back up the other side.

 

[Haystead86]

I second Meep's questions. That really does affect how I would interpret what might be happening.

I don't have much advice I'm afraid. Permanently clenched fists at 4 months and not batting at toys doesn't sound typical but I don't know of what other scenarios might cause it, other than brain injury (I'm not saying there aren't other things that would cause it, just that I'm not sure what they would be).

What I will say is that my son had a stroke at 7 weeks old and has a brain injury resulting in left hemiplegia (cp). He is 2.5 now and a cheeky, charming little boy who has spent the best part of the last week tearing with glee around the new forest on holiday. If they should give you bad news at the ct scan I'm here to talk if you need to. We've been down the ct/mri route and been down to the depths of despair and back up the other side.

Hi I’m new to this sorry I posted the face, I didn’t mean to how is your son now. To cut a long story short my daughter has a cyst on her brain as a result from a bleed when I was pregnant and I have been told there is a possibility she could have CP. when did you start to notice any signs? X