Speech therapy can help. A baby often has swallowing and therefore feeding difficulties. She or he may regurgitate food, have bouts of colic and need food supplements. A haberman feeding teat can be helpful for some babies. Some children have a squint, and very occasionally children may have impaired vision.
Physiotherapy is important, with passive stretching to help with the foot problems.
The development of control over the bladder and bowel are sometimes delayed. Bladder control usually improves to become normal but bowel problems, especially constipation, may be persistent as the muscle of the bowel wall is weak. As you can see, youngsters with congenital myotonic dystrophy may have more trouble with other body systems than they do with their muscles. A symptom that may appear to be totally unrelated may in fact be connected. It is important that whoever treats them is aware of the wide range of associated problems.