Many of the clinical features of Down syndrome present challenges to caregivers. Based on these features, what intervention should be included in the child's care?

Question

a. Delay feeding solid foods until the tongue thrust has stopped.
b. Modify the diet as necessary to minimize the diarrhea that often occurs.
c. Provide calories appropriate to the child's mental age.
d. Use a cool-mist vaporizer to keep the mucous membranes moist and secretions liquefied.

Answer 1

ANS: D
The constant stuffy nose forces the child to breathe by mouth, drying the mucous membranes and increasing the susceptibility to upper respiratory tract infections. A cool-mist vaporizer will keep the mucous membranes moist and liquefy secretions. Respiratory tract infections combined with cardiac anomalies are the primary cause of death in the first years. The child has a protruding tongue, which makes feeding difficult. The parents must persist with feeding while the child continues the physiologic response of the tongue thrust. The child is predisposed to constipation. Calories should be appropriate to the child's weight and growth needs, not mental age.