Ace the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Exam 2026 – Leap into a Bright Caregiving Future!

Prader-Willi syndrome often presents in the newborn with marked hypotonia and weak suck, making feeding difficult. This combination leads to poor latch, lethargy, and slow weight gain—features that are classic in the neonatal period. The underlying issue is dysfunction in hypothalamic pathways that later drive hyperphagia and obesity, but those later behavioral and metabolic signs don’t appear at birth. So the neonatal picture of low muscle tone with feeding problems is the most telling early clue.

The other described scenarios don’t fit the newborn presentation. Obesity, daytime hyperactivity, and increased libido suggest later developmental stages rather than the initial neonatal signs. Large hands/feet with thin saliva, or a pattern of failure to thrive with hyperphagia and clitoromegaly, do not align with the typical early signs of Prader-Willi.