Home › Forums › Special Topics › Sandifer's Syndrome › Posturing/Sandifer's in Toddlers
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June 16, 2008 at 3:28 pm #52663AnonymousInactive
I recently attended a lecture by a wonderful ped GI in which he described posturing / sandifer’s type symptoms in toddlers and children suffering with GI pain. Often toddlers and young children still aren’t able to verbalize their pain, so it’s good to know what are some signs in young or non-verbal children. I was also shocked to find out that my 18 month old daughter Paige was doing MANY of the things he described! Since then, I’ve taken a few photos of Paige posturing to share with her ped GI, and I thought it could help some others if I shared them here too.
A common type of posturing is pressing the belly against furniture, even to the point of taking the feet of the ground with the entire body weight pressing on the belly. Here’s a photo of Paige doing this:
Another one is leaning the upper body (shoulders, neck, head) backwards over furniture. Another photo:One thing that Paige seems to do a lot, but wasn’t mentioned in the lecture (I’m going to ask our ped GI about it) is a kind-of headstand posturing. I really think it is related to her pain too.Headbanging is also common in children with severe GI pain. During bad periods, Paige will do this a little bit. Most commonly if she is tired or upset.Hope this is helpful to someone. And my BEST advice, if your child does this don’t brush it off. Take pictures and tell your doctor. I kept thinking Paige was just being goofy, because she isn’t crying when she does these things. It was heartbreaking to realize this was due to pain.June 16, 2008 at 8:33 pm #52678AnonymousInactiveGreat info Sheri. The only one of those that Cooper does is the headstand, but that is usually when I ask him if he wants to do a summersalt so hence he would need to be on his head. Paige is such a cute little girl.
June 17, 2008 at 8:12 am #52683AnonymousInactiveSheri, My 16 month old does the upside down pose too. I just read in one of my toddler books that this is one of the new and fascinating things that 18 month olds do. It would be interesting to know though if this is also GI related. Sheri, good luck with your travels. I wish you the best and keep you and your tots in my thoughts!
June 17, 2008 at 9:32 am #52689AnonymousInactiveThanks for the info, Sheri. That’s so sad. I hope that Paige can get some relief. We’ve noticed that Hailey pulls her hair when she’s having GI pain. I feel so bad for them.
June 17, 2008 at 10:11 am #52694AnonymousInactiveThanks for posting this, Sheri!
Landen does all 3 of those. I’ll definitely be bringing this up to someone.Kaden was a headbanger between 15-24 months. I thought he was just having tantrums, but I suppose he could have been in pain.I wish you all the best with getting to the bottom of Paige’s problems. I am learning so much from you.June 17, 2008 at 10:27 am #52696AnonymousInactiveBy chance does Paige crawl around pushing her forehead on the ground? My previous refluxer did this, and now my current refluxer does too…none of the other kids did so I’m wondering if it’s one of their coping mechanisms for the pain?
June 17, 2008 at 11:51 am #52699AnonymousInactiveWow! Ben does the headstand stuff all the time. I thought it was just a developmental thing, but now I’m wondering…
Claire actually does the lean over pose with her stomach against stuff all the time.. I’m wondering if it’s related to her constipation issues.June 17, 2008 at 12:23 pm #52700AnonymousInactiveLori – Paige sometimes pulls her hair pretty hard too. There have been times when she makes a fist and hits her head once or twice, but that’s only been a couple times during really bad spells.
Jill – Sorry to hear Landen is doing this too! Like I mentioned, I’m not sure about the headstands, but Dr. Krigsman said the frontwards and backwards leaning over furniture was almost always related to GI pain. Does he sleep in any particular position that you’re aware of? Dr. K also said that kids with GI pain often sleep in a “muslim prayer” type position, on their stomach with their knees pulled up under themselves, bum in the air. Paige does this 90% of the time too.Mel – Paige doesn’t do the forehead thing, but Ben did this a lot before we discovered his food intolerances/allergies. Once we removed gluten and casein, he stopped. You’re right – this is often a pain relief mechanism as well. On another message board I visit frequently, many other parents notice this too as a being related to pain (often headaches due to food intolerances/allergies but could be from other types of pain, I imagine).Naomi – I’m not 100% sure about the headstand position, but Paige just seems to do it SO much, and not just in play. We were walking through the mall once, and she stopped to do this. Really made me wonder. As for the leaning over things or pressing the belly against things, I really do think this is related to GI discomfort or pain. Is Claire constipated regularly? Does anything seem to help?June 17, 2008 at 1:07 pm #52701AnonymousInactivestrollerfreak wrote: By chance does Paige crawl around pushing her forehead on the ground? My previous refluxer did this, and now my current refluxer does too…none of the other kids did so I’m wondering if it’s one of their coping mechanisms for the pain?
Kaden does this!! DH and I have looked at each other like WTH???? However, we are almost 99% sure that he has intolerances or allergies we are unaware of and he is supposed to have an endoscopy to rule out reflux and other GI issues soon. Waiting on the hospital to call.June 17, 2008 at 9:53 pm #52726AnonymousInactivei cant open the links?
June 17, 2008 at 10:12 pm #52730AnonymousInactiveSheri,
I just posted at comment under your other post about Paige’s update. Taylor does all of the posturing and also does the head stand thing, she has been known to stop out of the blue and do it as well. We thought it was more due to Sensory overload and sensory interagration issues. I’ll stop my babbling since I’ll end up repeating my other post. I haven’t known any other child that does what Taylor does can you tell me more on what seems to trigger Paige’s posturing? Just PM. I’m just curious for comparision. ThanksJune 17, 2008 at 10:54 pm #52733AnonymousInactiveWow, very interesting! Sarah does all three of those but I thought we had outgrown her reflux??????? YIKES! What does this mean I wonder????
July 4, 2008 at 12:34 am #53389AnonymousInactiveOMG Kayleigh still does this occasionally! She is 4 1/2 years now and will tell me when she hurts, but now I wonder if she is in major pain when she tells me and minor when she takes care of it her own ways? I often find her rocking on her tummy over the seat of a chair. She will also press her chin against things very hard which her OT says is due to sensory issues but I think I will ask her Dr if it may be throat pain instead. Great post thanks for the info.
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