A child's seizures are always scary. Especially for the youngest children. Muscle spasms in a newborn or a baby in the first year of life can manifest themselves in different ways, but in all cases, without exception, parents have one-on-one with a frightening situation in which it is not immediately clear what to do and where to go.
We will tell you about what cramps are in toddlers in infancy and how to act for moms and dads in this article.
How are they developing?
Muscle spasms (cramps) are involuntary, spontaneous muscle contractions. During an attack, certain muscles may be affected, or large muscle groups may be involved.
Spasms can be prolonged and painful - tonic. And they can be combined with periods of relaxation - clonic.
All small children, from the moment of birth, are characterized by increased convulsive readiness... This term in medicine explains the tendency of the body under the confluence of certain circumstances and factors to react with the occurrence of a convulsive syndrome.
In babies, the nervous system is immature, and the load on it from the very first hours of independent existence, separately from the mother, is very serious. This often explains the increased seizure readiness in very early childhood.
A convulsive symptom in the vast majority of infants occurs once in a lifetime, and does not recur again. But there are other cases when a child grows up and has muscle spasms from time to time. Any case of seizures needs careful study and follow-up.
Not every seizure is dangerous, not everyone is able to somehow influence the mental and intellectual abilities of the child in the future, and not every spasm contributes to the development of epilepsy.
Muscle spasms in more than 80% of newborns are caused by the influence of an unfavorable factor from the outside or are physiologically explainable and not dangerous. But there are also another 20%, which can be attributed to convulsive manifestations due to diseases, pathologies of the brain, nervous system, and so on.
The mechanism of a seizure in a child always lies in the violation of the close connection between the brain, nervous system and muscles. The signal from the brain may be erroneous, may not reach the desired muscle group due to metabolic disorders, due to pathologies of the nervous system.
A "failure" in signal transmission can be temporary, and the brain will be able to recover it quickly enough, or it can last long enough.
Seizures or normal?
Most of the parents of the baby are rather suspicious people. And therefore, sometimes movements are taken for convulsions that have nothing to do with spasms. Consider several quite normal and healthy situations that are often perceived by parents as manifestations of convulsive syndrome:
- The kid suddenly shudders and sharply throws up his arms or legs in a dream - this is the norm. The baby's nervous system is imperfect, it is still in its infancy. Such impulses are a sign of "debugging" the work of a complex and important nervous system.
- A shaking chin, a twitching lower lip, and trembling hands while crying are normal. The reason lies again in the work of the nervous system.
- Holding your breath. The mother may notice that the baby sometimes "forgets" to breathe in a dream or holds the breath for a long time while crying - this is also a norm that cannot be considered convulsions.
Convulsions always develop suddenly, most of them - while awake... The cramp looks unnatural. For example, with mild focal seizures, the baby may just freeze, looking at one point, and this is already considered a muscle spasm.
In some types of convulsive syndrome, loss of consciousness occurs, in some, the child does not lose consciousness.
In an attack, the baby can take unnatural and bizarre poses, can involuntarily pee or empty the intestines, and temporarily stop breathing.
To distinguish convulsions from ordinary flinching actions, it is enough to carefully observe the baby - if there is a cyclicality and a certain sequence, then we are talking about muscle spasm.
Possible causes and symptoms by type of seizure
Convulsions mostly occur in newborns and infants who were born earlier than planned, because premature babies have a weaker and more vulnerable nervous system than their peers who appeared on time.
Spastic muscle contractions in the first days and months of life always have prerequisites, but doctors fail to establish them in a quarter of cases, especially if the spasms happened once and did not recur again.
The most common diseases and conditions that can lead to seizure syndrome are presented below.
Neonatal
These are muscle spasms that can accompany the first 4 weeks from the birthday of the baby. This is a rather dangerous symptom that always has adverse consequences.
The mortality rate for neonatal seizures is about 40%. Many of the surviving babies later become disabled. The cause may be birth trauma, intrauterine infection, structural abnormalities or brain tumors, severe cerebral lesions, congenital or acquired during childbirth.
Convulsions are manifested by seizures, in which the baby suddenly freezes, throws his head back, stretches his arms, "rolls his eyes." Breathing may stop for a while.
Febrile
These seizures begin against the background of 12-24 hours of elevated temperature (38.0 - 39.0 degrees and above). Fever can be a symptom of any disease, and it is almost impossible to predict the development of seizures.
If the baby has suffered from febrile seizures at least once, then the probability that they will recur with the next illness with fever is quite high - more than 30%.
Convulsions are not particularly dangerous, only the wrong actions of adults during an attack can harm - attempts to keep the baby in an even position can result in fractures, and attempts to put a spoon in the mouth can result in a jaw injury.
It is not difficult to recognize such spasms in a baby - the baby loses consciousness, cramping his legs, and then his arms and body, the child bends over with his chin thrown up. Then the symptoms go backwards.
Disruption of metabolic processes
Minerals and vitamins useful for the human body, as well as hormones, provide easy conduction of signals from the brain to muscles through nerve cells.
An excess or deficiency of certain substances cause disturbances in this interaction. So, seizures can be observed with a deficiency of calcium, magnesium, lack of glucose, with an excess of sodium, with a lack of vitamin B6.
Symptoms can be very diverse - the baby's body can suddenly tense up, or, on the contrary, relax to an unnatural state. If the child is "limp" and twitches with a leg or handle, this may well be a sign lack of calcium or glucose.
Affective-respiratory
Such paroxysms are always associated with the onset of apnea. The baby can stop breathing because of strong emotions, in case of fright, for example, when the baby is immersed in bathing water.
Convulsions may not manifest in any way, the condition usually does not reach the loss of consciousness. This type is considered the most favorable from the point of view of forecasts - such apnea disappears on its own after 7-8 months, and for many - earlier.
It is not difficult to recognize such seizures in an infant - the baby at the peak of inhalation simply stops making sounds, freezes with an open mouth, sometimes the skin of the face turns blue sharply. Such a manifestation is often referred to as "stuck" or "rolled up". If general convulsions occur, then they are very similar to epileptic ones.
CNS pathologies
Lesions of the central nervous system can be the result of congenital abnormalities or birth trauma. Convulsive contractions of the muscles of the arms and legs are characteristic of children with hydrocephalus, craniocerebral trauma, microcephaly, and infantile cerebral palsy.
With organic damage to the central nervous system, for example, when a baby is exposed to toxins, toxic substances, a strong spastic attack also occurs.
Usually, seizures are painful, frequent, and the child must be consulted and treated with anticonvulsants.
Spasmophilia
Tetania (spasmophilia) is manifested by the tendency of children with signs of rickets to seizures against the background of metabolic disorders. Another official name for the pathological condition is rickytogenic tetany.
It usually manifests as laryngospasm, but sometimes it can look like convulsive contractions of the muscles of the arms, legs, face, body.
The extreme danger of tetany is somewhat exaggerated, because the tendency to seizures passes along with the signs of rickets as the child grows. The influence of such muscle spasms on the mental and mental development of the baby has not been convincingly proven.
What to do?
If any seizures appear in children under one year old, parents should first call an ambulance. While the team is on call, mom and dad should refrain from using any medication.
The child needs to be placed comfortably laying it on its side so it doesn't choke own saliva or vomit, if an attack of vomiting suddenly begins.
You cannot hold the baby by forcefully straightening the limbs or the back, which are compressed by convulsions, so as not to injure him, not to cause fractures and separation of muscles from the bones. Also, you should not put anything in your baby's mouth - he still does not have a tooth to bite his tongue, and it is impossible to swallow it in principle at any age.
The rest of the time before the arrival of the doctor, mom and dad should carefully observe in what order the symptoms appeared, what kind of convulsions are, how long the baby has been in an attack. All these data are needed by the doctor in order to quickly make the right decision.
Open a window or window so that more fresh air flows into the room.
Treatment
Doctors usually do seizure relief upon arrival, injecting the child "Seduxen" under the tongue or into the muscle. After this, the baby is necessarily hospitalized, because the attack can be repeated even before the doctors find its cause, and the second time the "Ambulance" may no longer be in time, since repeated attacks usually proceed faster and stronger than the first.
The baby needs close supervision. If necessary, he is assigned anticonvulsants - muscle relaxants, sedatives, for epilepsy - antiepileptic drugs.
It is worth preparing for the fact that the treatment in the hospital will not end for several days. From this moment on, the child will be monitored by a neurologist, he will be prescribed the necessary means to suppress the convulsive syndrome, antihistamines, vitamins.
You will have to visit a neurologist often enough so as not to miss the possible delayed consequences of the convulsive syndrome.
Babies who have suffered cramps are strongly advised to take long walks and sleep in the fresh air, nutrition rich in vitamins, and enhanced measures to strengthen the immune system.
For advice from your pediatrician on what to do with seizures, see below.
