If the baby arches its back and throws its head back, the parents cannot remain indifferent. What does this behavior of the baby say, is it dangerous and what to do, we will tell you in this material.
Physiological causes
The reasons for the strange posture, which in medicine is often called "acrobatic bridge", can be quite natural, not posing any danger to the child, not causing parental anxiety.
During pregnancy, the baby was in cramped conditions - it was not possible to turn around in the uterus, to spread the limbs, especially in the later stages. Babies simply get used to the "compact" position, and the first 2-3 months of extrauterine life adapt to new conditions in which they can spread their legs and arms as they want. From this point of view, it is quite understandable why a newborn can assume rather strange postures in a dream, including arching the back.
Increased muscle tone is also quite natural for an infant, and therefore arching the back with tilting the head can be quite natural in the first months of life, provided that nothing else happens to the baby that would cause anxiety.
Often, the back is bent by children whose parents are adherents of tight swaddling. Usually, with such postures, the baby can show that he is uncomfortable in the diaper, that his arms or legs are numb. After the toddler is released from the diaper, he can bend and stretch with pleasure.
Another fairly common reason for this behavior is the expression of feelings and emotions. An infant in his arsenal does not have many tools for expressing his feelings and desires - a cry and a pose. If crying does not cause a lightning-fast reaction from the parents, the child will definitely report a wet diaper, hunger or pain by increasing the cry with a simultaneous bending of the back and throwing the head back.
By bending the body, the baby can show that he is already ripe for a new position in space, that he is bored of lying on his back and that he is already ready for flips on his stomach. Typically, such physiological bending begins at the age of 4-5 months, if by this time the baby has not yet begun to roll over.
Sometimes the reason lies in a banal habit - if the toys are suspended above the crib not at the level of the baby's tummy, but at the level of the face, then the deflections will be quite usual - so the baby will try to visually track the movement of the toy in the mobile.
If a child is cheerful and active, if he eats well and sleeps normally, you should not invent diseases that he does not have. Occasional cases when the baby bends the back while lying on it or throws the head back in sleep or during a massage should not be a reason for panic.
However, profuse and frequent regurgitation, poor appetite, anxiety, muscle tension even in sleep, the unnatural position of the arms and legs, which are difficult to dilute into a normal position, in combination with arching the back should alert parents and force them to see a doctor.
Pathological causes
Pathological causes of the phenomenon can be different. No doctor will be able to tell you the true reason without a preliminary examination of the child, obtaining laboratory data, ultrasound data or other diagnostic methods. Let's take a look at the most common reasons why a baby arches its back and throws its head back.
Intestinal colic
Infant colic is quite common from birth to 3-4 months of age. They are associated with the establishment of bowel function, with the characteristics of infant flatulence and metabolism. Most often they appear during feeding and some time after feeding. If the child is in the arms of the mother, he pulls his legs to his stomach and cries, alternating flexions with reflections (it bends, then bends).
The pains from the fermentation of intestinal gases are quite strong, so the baby may well throw his head back, make a "bridge" in the supine position, throw the arms in different directions and at the same time start screaming. To understand that gas is to blame for everything, it is enough to apply a warm diaper, previously ironed with an iron, to the tummy, give "Simethicone" or any drug with its content, which minimizes the amount of gas in the baby's intestines. Usually it is warm and such drugs work after 15-20 minutes and the baby calms down. After waking up on an empty stomach, the toddler does not show deflections, since colic does not occur before eating.
Rhinitis, cold, viral infection
The nasal passages of newborns are narrow, and therefore even a slight rhinitis can block the child's access to free breathing. Often, babies who have a stuffy nose throw their heads back, including in a dream. Parents need to pay attention to accompanying symptoms - fever, snoring, coughing, refusal to eat.
The most pronounced will be overturning and arching at the time of feeding, since the child does not have the opportunity to breathe freely with the nose, and the mouth is busy with the breast or nipple.
Hypertonicity
Muscular hypertonicity is not considered an independent problem; it is characteristic of both completely healthy children of the first six months of life, and children with disorders of the central nervous system. It will be difficult to figure out the reasons on your own. I need the help of pediatric specialists and a neurologist.
Increased muscle tone is usually more stable, independent of feeding, sleep and other factors. In most cases, the tone with the harmonious development of the child and normal care goes away with time. Parents can help the child with relaxing massage, bathing, walks in the fresh air, daily gymnastics.
If the cause is a disease of the musculoskeletal system, spine, muscle corset, central nervous system, the doctor will prescribe appropriate treatment.
Increased intracranial pressure
Quite often, parents can hear a similar diagnosis. However, modern pediatrics are not inclined to view it as a separate disease. An increase in pressure inside the skull can be accompanied by a wide variety of diseases, including birth trauma, neurological disorders, hydrocephalus.
If a child constantly screams, sleeps little, eats poorly, spits up strongly, he is lethargic and not interested in the world around him, noticeably lags behind in development from his peers and at the same time often bends his back and throws his head back, going into a cry, it is imperative to show him to a neurologist.
Concomitant signs of many pathologies associated with disturbances in the level of pressure inside the skull are strabismus, tremor of the limbs, pupils, a tendency to seizures, and a cyanotic nasolabial triangle. From the physiological deflections described above, such symptoms differ strikingly, it is very simple to confuse them with colic or the banal curiosity of a baby who wants to roll over and cannot do it yet.
The opinion of Dr. Komarovsky
Children's doctor Yevgeny Komarovsky, well-known and respected among mothers, claims that there is no need to rush to conclusions. In most cases, a child who bends his back when you take his hands, or a toddler who bends in a supine position under certain circumstances, is quite healthy.
Cases of pathologies of the nervous and musculoskeletal systems are not so common. Much more often children bend over for no serious reason, than cause their parents a lot of mental suffering.
The doctor recommends taking a calm, observant position. Note how often arching occurs, after which they occur (after eating, massage, gymnastics, bathing). Do they disappear after meeting the requirements of the baby - fed, changed clothes, coped with colic.
Naturally, medical consultations require such deflections that occur involuntarily, for example, in a dream, if all muscle groups of the baby are very tense and the mother cannot independently return the limbs or the head of the child to a normal position due to muscle overstrain.
A toddler who bends his back while sitting or lying down, doing this several times a day, should be examined by a neurologist.
What to do?
As Komarovsky says, first of all you need to observe the child. If no other painful symptoms are found, essentially nothing is required to do. Routine care with routine bathing, massage and gymnastics. If there are additional warning signs, it is better not to waste time and consult a doctor.
On their own at home, parents, in the process of observing the child, can deal with the elimination of external factors that may cause the child's strange postures:
- Reconsider the location of the crib, toys, transfer from the headboard area to the middle of the crib everything that may interest the child - rattles, mobile, etc.
- Give your child enough attention. (very often babies with tantrums and whims not only seek to eliminate phlegm in the diaper or hunger, but also simply require communication with adults).
- Go swimming - You can teach a child this at any age, starting from 1 month. Swimming in a bath or pool will help muscle tissue develop and grow more evenly, and increased muscle tone will be relieved faster.
- Do not panic - a calm mother can give a child much more for his health and development than a hysterical person.
And finally, the most important advice. When visiting a doctor, do not rush to immediately express all your concerns to him. In Russia, the problem of overdiagnosis is acute, when a healthy child, after the mother's complaints about oddities, which, in her opinion, may be a pathology, are prescribed a treatment that he, in fact, does not need.
An experienced doctor himself will pay attention if the child really has lesions of the nervous system or musculoskeletal system. In this case, he will certainly ask a lot of questions that mom can answer most fully.
Dr. Komarovsky will talk about neurological problems in children in the next video.
