A newborn baby looks weak and defenseless. He has almost no control over the movements of his arms and legs, eyeballs. All the muscles of the crumbs are in slight tension. During the months spent in his mother's womb, the baby is used to being cramped, and therefore it is very difficult for him to adapt to the spacious new world into which he came on his birthday. Each new skill that the baby "acquires" gives him new opportunities in comprehending the world.
One of the first skills is keeping your head up. In this article, we'll talk about when toddlers start to hold their heads on their own and if parents can influence the speed of mastering this skill.
About skill and timing
The passage of the physical development of a child by nature is provided for at certain stages. No subsequent one can come before the previous one is mastered. As the congenital muscle tone decreases, the nervous system improves, the growth of muscle tissue, bones, mental development, the child has the opportunity to master a new skill.
The first skill is considered to be the ability to raise and hold the head upright. It is clear that the child will not immediately learn to keep his head straight and long, because this requires a certain preparation of the cervical muscles; but the first attempts to raise the head while lying on the tummy may well be made by the child as early as one and a half to two months. These attempts will be rather timid, parents may pay attention to the fact that the child does not hold the head for more than a few seconds, moreover, he can hold it a little crooked. As the muscles of the neck and cervical vertebrae strengthen, the lifting of the head will become more and more confident, and the holding will become longer.
Usually, by 2-3 months, children already know how to raise their head and hold it upright for up to several minutes. If the baby begins to hold his head, then he pretty quickly understands what advantages it gives him - the overview expands. To twist the head in an upright position, turning it to the right or left, babies begin a little later - closer to 3.5-4 months. Lastly, children begin to raise their head from a supine position. They will learn this only by 5 months.
You need to understand that holding the head for a baby is a daunting task. After all, the head of newborns is quite large and heavy, and the skill involves maintaining the weight of the head with the help of the vertebrae and neck muscles. Therefore, a lot of factors affect the speed of a skill's appearance. The posterior cervical muscles develop first, the lateral muscles last.
Why doesn't the child keep his head on time?
If a child is developing on schedule, parents are incredibly proud of it. But if the deadline has come, and the baby has not begun to hold his head, then mothers are usually very worried and torture themselves with guesses. In fact, the norms that parents are guided by are rather arbitrary. The baby is not at all obliged to develop as they prescribe, since he may have good reasons for the individual characteristics of physical development.
The main reason is gestational age. If the baby was born prematurely, then he needs more time to strengthen the neck muscles. It is possible that a premature baby will begin to master this skill only closer to 3 months. This is not at all a reason for excitement and worries. You just need to create optimal conditions for the child so that he can grow and develop.
The second important factor is the health of the baby. Later, children who have undergone intrauterine hypoxia, have experienced a state of acute hypoxia during difficult childbirth, mothers who have received birth injuries, have any congenital diseases, begin to hold their heads later. If a baby has colds or viral diseases in the first months of life, he will also develop somewhat more slowly than healthy and strong peers.
The ability to raise the head and hold it in an upright position is influenced by the weight of the child. If the toddler was born large and gained more than the norm during the first month, which the pediatrician will definitely inform the parents about at the first medical examination in 1 month, then the chances of earlier mastering motor skills are low. Most likely, the baby will start holding her head no earlier than 3 months. But small babies also develop with some delay - in order for their muscles to start holding the load, they first need to gain a normal body weight.
Baby temperament is an important factor in his desire to learn to keep his head upright. A lazy melancholic baby is unlikely to strive to master a new body position earlier, which cannot be said about curious and cheerful choleric and sanguine people.
The final touch - living conditions of the child. If mom is doing everything possible to strengthen his health, muscles, immunity, then there is no reason not to look up. Children, whose physical development is less emphasized, later learn their first motor skills.
Why does the child hold his head unevenly?
As already mentioned, the reason may lie with insufficient maturity of the neck muscles. But this issue must be discussed with a pediatrician, at least because the reason may lie in the torticollis.
In this case, the child will always tilt his head in a certain direction, and turning the head towards the lesion will be extremely difficult or impossible. Unnatural posture, if the child holds his head crookedly, with a bias to one side, should be a reason for consulting not only a pediatrician, but also a pediatric orthopedist.
Torticollis in infants is straightening. Parents are recommended therapeutic massage, gymnastics from the exercise therapy program. But the orthopedist and pediatrician should prescribe and show exercises and methods of medical procedures. It will be difficult for parents to take into account the degree of deviation on their own and plan the physical impact adequately.
The opinion of Dr. Komarovsky
The ability to keep the head is an important diagnostic sign, which is why the pediatrician at the reception must specify whether the baby is holding the head. The well-known pediatrician Yevgeny Komarovsky advises not to panic if the little one is somewhat delayed in physical development, but also not to overlook possible pathologies. If after 3 months the child does not even try to raise his head while lying on his stomach, Evgeny Komarovsky advises to consult a doctor.
According to the doctor, problems with holding the head usually occur much less than problems with other, more complex motor skills, such as sitting, turning over, crawling, standing, and walking. Parents should not try to hold the baby's head with their own hands while trying to help him.
Babies do not tolerate such shameless treatment with their own heads, they immediately begin to desperately resist. This is well known to all mothers who, at the dawn of breastfeeding, tried to direct the baby's head to the breast with their hand. The reaction will be reversed. In addition, inept forceful actions of adults can harm the child, injure him.
Komarovsky considers natural development to be the most optimal, when the baby begins to raise and hold his head himself, without coercion, even if with some delay. When his muscles and vertebrae are ready, the baby will definitely begin to hold his head, and he will do this confidently enough. If parents want to help the baby, Komarovsky recommends paying special attention to gymnastics, massage and bathing, walking in the fresh air.
Too much delayed skill will interfere with the study of other movements, without the ability to hold the head, the child cannot learn to turn over on one side, cannot sit down. Therefore, it is important to respond in a timely manner.
Gymnastics and massage
Charging and general strengthening massage will not require any special efforts. To strengthen the muscles of the neck, you will need simple actions that your mother already does every day. The most effective exercise is lying on the stomach. Such a pose for a baby is very useful for a number of reasons: intestinal gas quickly go away, infant colic is relieved, the anterior abdominal wall and back are strengthened. Holding the head becomes a completely natural continuation of being in this position, because after a month the child begins to be interested in the surrounding sounds, he will try to turn his head. From a prone position, this can be done only by raising your head.
When spreading the toddler on her stomach, the mother should take into account its weight, the degree of prematurity, if the baby was born earlier than the deadline set by the obstetricians, its temperament and mood. If the baby is unwell or is just in a bad mood, it is unlikely that gymnastics and massage will benefit him. You can spread it on the baby's tummy after the umbilical wound has healed, that is, from about 2.5 - 3 weeks of life.
In order for the baby to quickly learn to hold the head, the mother needs to be able to draw his attention to herself. Therefore, it is important to communicate with the child while he is lying on his tummy, sing something, tell rhymes, use musical toys or toys that make any sounds (squeaks, rattles).
Pull-ups on the arms will be useful, which mom can include in the list of exercises for morning exercises. The adult gives the baby a grip on his fingers and begins to gradually raise the baby above the surface of the massage table. But - for a short distance, without verticalizing! In this position, the muscles of the back of the neck are perfectly trained, which will help, in the end, master a new skill.
You can also train your neck muscles in an upright position on your mother's arms. In this case, the mother should support the child with one hand under the buttocks, with the other in the neck and head. It is necessary to carry the child correctly so as not to damage the fragile vertebrae.
Any techniques of general classical massage in combination with such positions have a beneficial effect on strengthening the neck muscles. It is also useful to swim in a special orthopedic circle, which is worn around the neck and fastened. A baby can swim in such a circle from 1 month, if a neurologist gives permission for this.
About "early" children
An inferiority complex in a new mother may well cause reviews from other mothers who are very proud of the early development of their children. If a woman claims that her child at one month began to confidently hold his head, then there is no reason not to believe. But also a reason for joy - alas! - also. Most often, the early establishment of the skill indicates the presence of hypertonicity of the neck muscles, and may also indicate increased intracranial pressure. Raising the head early is also a reason for consulting a doctor, and not at all a sign of a child's “genius”. A healthy baby at 1 month should not hold his head on his own.
The first attempts of the baby to raise the head, however, can occur in a month. But in this matter, it is very important how long the baby can hold its head. A healthy baby acquires a skill gradually, improves every day, copes better and better. If the baby abruptly and suddenly began to hold his head, this is an alarming sign of a violation of the muscle tone.
In the next video, Dr. Komarovsky will consider two main questions that concern most parents: whether their child meets the norms and whether he meets the prescribed developmental timeframe.
