Why does the child not hold his head at 3 months and what should parents do?

The existing norms state that the baby should begin to hold the head upright by about three months, while the first attempts to raise the head while lying on its stomach should be fixed from about 2 months. There is nothing surprising in the fact that mothers and fathers, whose crumbs at 3 months do not hold their heads or do it extremely insecurely, begin to worry and worry about the health of the baby. In this material, we will consider what the reasons for lagging in physical development can be and what should be the actions of adults.

Disease or norm?

If the baby does not hold his head well at 3 months of age or does not hold it, it is not entirely correct to talk about developmental lag. Late maturation may be just an individual trait of a particular toddler. The norms were created by pediatricians based on the observation of a great many babies. Some of them began to hold their heads early, and some - late. So the same notorious "average temperature in the hospital" was obtained.

If the child cannot fully hold the head by the age of three months, it is not at all necessary that he has some pathological reasons for this. It would be a mistake to consider him inferior, lagging behind or sick. Also, mom should not be guided by reviews on the Internet, they often simply do not correspond to reality. And they certainly have nothing to do with a specific child, whose parents are alarmed by the lack of skill.

There are not so many pathologies that entail a complete inability to raise your head. In infancy, these are mainly cerebral palsy and severe injuries of the cervical spine. Parents usually already know about such pathologies, if any, by 3 months. And even not because of the child's inability to raise his head, but according to other, more obvious signs: absent facial expression, emotional vacuum, profuse neurological syndromes (paralysis, paresis).

If a neurologist and a pediatrician do not assert anything like that, they do not make a diagnosis of the corresponding in the child's card, then there is nothing to worry about. The ability to hold the head is one of the initial motor skills that a child will definitely master, but only after he has such a physical opportunity: the muscles of the neck and vertebrae will get stronger.

If these muscles are immature, then keeping the weight of your own head (and in newborns it is one of the most "weighty" parts of the body) will be very difficult.

Therefore, it is more correct to understand not for what painful reason a child at 3 months may not hold his head, but in what factors contribute to the weakness of the neck muscles of the crumbs.

Causes

There can be any number of reasons for a baby not to keep his head in the average existing time frame. Let's consider the most common ones.

Prematurity. If the baby is in a hurry to be born, then his bone and muscle tissues will get stronger later, since he needs more time to adapt to new living conditions, unlike intrauterine ones. By the age of 3 months, many premature babies are just beginning to raise their head and hold it for no more than half a minute.
Intrauterine trouble. If the mother's pregnancy was difficult (with toxicosis, preeclampsia, signs of placental insufficiency and chronic fetal hypoxia), then this will leave an imprint on the baby's health for several months. He will be somewhat weaker than his peers, and therefore such a baby can also start holding his head later.
Heavy and pathological childbirth. Even if the fetus was not adversely affected during pregnancy, difficult childbirth could provoke a state of acute hypoxia. Such births include rapid or protracted labor, long-term presence of the child without amniotic fluid, weak labor pains, premature placental abruption. The state of oxygen deprivation first of all "hits" the brain, and therefore the development of the baby may slow down somewhat.
Congenital and acquired diseases. Children with congenital ailments, as well as frequently ill children who were born healthy, spend a lot of energy on fighting diseases, and therefore their muscles are weaker, and the motivation to explore the world around is lower. Any motor skills, including keeping the head upright, are more difficult for them and take longer to master.

The weight. As already mentioned, to hold the head, the back muscles of the neck must be sufficiently developed, and for turning the head in an upright position, developed lateral cervical muscles are needed. If the child is overweight, then it will be more difficult for him, since the load will be higher. Weakness and hypotonia of the cervical muscles are also characteristic of children who were born with underweight. Before they can start lifting and holding their heads, they need to gain weight to normal age values.
Character and temperament. Everyone has their own unique character. Children are no exception. If a three-month-old child was born a lazy and inactive melancholic, then he is more happy with a hearty lunch and sound sleep, while a sanguine person is interested in everything around, he is very inquisitive and from a very early age begins to try to acquire new skills in order to get additional opportunities in the study of the surrounding space ...
Environment and living conditions. Children with whom mothers are engaged, with whom they sing, with whom they communicate, do gymnastics, temper from birth, do not postpone a walk on the street for later, usually they comprehend everything new earlier than babies with whom adults do not study or do it rarely.

The opinion of Dr. Komarovsky

Evgeny Komarovsky, a well-known pediatrician, TV presenter and author of books on children's health, recommends not to panic if the child does not hold his head well enough at 3 months. What is important, in his opinion, is not even the lack of skill, but the accompanying symptoms. If there are no complaints about anything and the head, which can hardly be raised and almost does not stand upright, is the only complaint of the parents, then most likely there is no reason to worry.

When other alarming symptoms appear (the child has a bad appetite, he often cries and screams for no reason, there were convulsions, the baby does not try to smile at his mother, does not recognize her and does not revive at her sight, does not react to affectionate treatment, to sounds), you must definitely contact a pediatrician and a neurologist.

If the baby develops like an ordinary baby and at the same time simply does not hold the head at this age, the parents can cope with the problem on their own, since they themselves created it. Massage, gymnastics, and proper childcare will come to their aid.

What to do?

To calm down, you can talk to the local pediatrician, who will confirm that the baby does not have serious illnesses, and also exclude the presence of torticollis, a pathology that interferes with keeping the head in a straight position. Then you can move on to a set of measures that will help strengthen the baby's neck muscles.

Massage. Massage the neck gently, avoiding intense rubbing in the area of the collar space. At 3 months, it is best to restrict yourself to stroking the back of the neck and the sides of its sides with an open palm.

Avoid massaging your cervical vertebrae.

Gymnastics. Include in the complex exercises that have a positive effect on the neck muscles, making them tense. This is a large complex of stretching exercises on the abdomen, rocking the child on the fitball back and forth, right and left, as well as "Airplane" - an exercise in which the baby lies with his stomach on his mother's hands, and she lifts him somewhat above the surface of the massage table. This forces the baby to bend their back, raise their head and spread their arms out to the sides to maintain balance.

Lie on your stomach more often. Laying on your stomach is not only an effective way to cope with increased gas production in the intestines, but also an excellent load for the neck muscles. The more often the baby lies on the tummy during the waking period, the better. But putting him to sleep on his stomach is not worth it: the pose is unsafe. Lay the baby to sleep on its side, but make sure that the side is opposite each time. This will be an excellent prevention of torticollis - the neck muscles will develop symmetrically.

Swimming. The baby can swim from a month. If before the age of three months he has not yet had to do this, it's time to do it. You can go to any pool or water sports palace where there are special groups for babies. And you can let the child swim in a large home bath. To do this, you will need a special inflatable circle around your neck, these are sold in any children's store or orthopedic salon. You can also hold the baby under the tummy and "roll" through the water back and forth (the "Airplane" option, but only in the water). When a child is in the water, all muscle groups are strengthened faster.