Muscle tone in newborns: what parents can expect

“My three-month-old baby is so friendly,” exclaims one mother. “She seems so responsive to me,” says another. “I just melt when he reaches out to me with his little hands,” adds a third. The third month is an exciting period for both the baby and the parents. Your child becomes more animated, active, organized and responsive. Communication with him takes place at a qualitatively new level, because by the 3rd month both the child and the parents begin to understand each other’s signals. It is these reasons that allow parents to characterize the third month as the easiest.

Open baby's fists

The sooner the baby opens his fists, the sooner he will begin to play with his hands. If your child still keeps his fists clenched all the time, try helping him. Gently tap on the back of them to stimulate the reflex that causes the baby to open his fingers.

Entertaining hands

Just recently you were playing with little hands, unclenching your tightly clenched fingers and running your baby’s palms over your cheeks. Now he has learned to play with his own hands.

This is the most remarkable feature 3rd month of development. The previously clenched fists unclench and the fingers remain half-open.
During this period, babies try to reach with their hands the most familiar and easily accessible toys and, more importantly, themselves. Watch how your baby plays with his with your own hands. He can grab one hand with the other and sometimes hold the entire fist in his palm, and sometimes 1-2 fingers. Of course, these curious little hands find their way to the mouth; Thumb sucking is a favorite pastime at this age.

Reach and grab. Watches, hair, clothes - everything becomes a desired target for these little hands. A baby at this age loves to grab his hair, grab his glasses, his father’s tie, and most willingly, his mother’s blouse when she takes him in her arms. These first grasping movements are very strong and far from affectionate. If your hair is caught in a child's fist, it is not so easy to get it out.

These movements are not yet very defined. When a baby tries to reach out and grab a dangling toy, he often fails to achieve his goal. The movements of his hands remain shortened, similar to the sharp blows of a boxer or karateka. But in a month things will get better, the blows will hit the target.

Holding power. The baby's hand becomes stronger. Having grabbed an object, he holds it, instead of immediately dropping it, as before. The baby squeezes the rattle placed in his hand with his fingers, holds it and studies it until he gets tired or gets tired of it.

Which rattle should you choose?

The lighter the rattle and the easier it is to hold, the longer baby will deal with it.
Black and white as well contrasting colors attract the baby's attention more.
Babies prefer soft ones made of fabric to plastic rattles.
The safest rattle is one that will not cause any harm - at least 1.5-2 inches (up to 5 cm), without sharp corners or protruding parts.

The best position for playing with your own hands

The child's position significantly influences the development of hand motor skills. The horizontal position prevents play with the handles, the vertical position promotes it. Lying on a flat smooth surface(for example, on the floor), the child makes movements in free style- something like a “bicycle”, performed simultaneously with both arms and legs; he can stretch his limbs different sides. But when a baby at this age lies on his back, the still active reflex of the resting neck is triggered (when the head is turned in the same direction, the handle reclines, and the fists remain clenched). It is much better if you hold the child in a semi-upright position on your lap or place him in a special baby chair. In this position, his head is turned forward and he looks straight ahead; at the same time, his fists unclench and he, as if for a hug, pulls his hands towards you. Thus, the semi-upright position encourages the child to start playing with his hands or engage in some kind of toy, holding it in front of him.

26-02-2007, 13:15

My child is one month and a week old, a few days ago the pediatrician examined him and said, “everything is fine, but he shouldn’t clench his hands into fists anymore, there may be some minor neurological problems, see a neurologist” :005:
It always seemed to me that babies up to 2-3 months old clench their fists, isn’t that so?

26-02-2007, 13:28

26-02-2007, 13:33

Your baby doesn’t owe anything to anyone, especially the pediatrician :)
flexor tone -- normal phenomenon. I still sometimes have cramps, even though I had a massage. if this bothers you, try the following: just gently take his palms and stroke your face or arm with them, put them in his hand soft toy- for example, a bear’s paw, etc. just stroke the handle gently inside and out, shake the brush lightly. This is how you can relax your muscles.
pet him more often and don’t listen to the pediatrician.

SAND BOAR

26-02-2007, 13:53

In general, a neurologist told us that clenching fists in a child is a natural phenomenon up to 6 months. That is, there is no need to worry.
And also: I also listened to my local pediatrician for the first month, and she gave us so many diagnoses, both neurological and orthopedic. And not a single one was confirmed!
When Dashik needs it, she unclenches her fists and grabs everything that lies nearby with her hands :)

26-02-2007, 14:07

Mashok, (http://www..php?u=18417)
leriy (http://www..php?u=28486)
Thank you!

The fact is that in this situation I am not so much worried about the child, but about right choice pediatrician We are not a local doctor, we invite you by recommendation, but something confused me about this statement of hers. We won’t see a neurologist until a week later, so I decided to find out on the forum.

26-02-2007, 14:29

The pediatrician is partly right...
But you need to see the child. If your hands are not in good shape all the time, then everything is ok.
Be sure to show it to a neurologist. After a month you can see a lot...
Do a massage, relax your hands, put objects in your palm more often.

27-02-2007, 10:20

It is permissible for a child to clench his fists up to 4 months.. After the massage, the picture has changed for us, but he still clenches his fists sometimes. When he needs to take something, and this is exactly at 3-4 months, he will unclench them!

I didn’t have such difficulties with my first child, and she was born 7 years ago. We were not sent to physiotherapists, we were not diagnosed with hernias - which do not exist, and we were not given stupid neurological diagnoses. When I was 3 months old, I examined the child for all sorts of pathologies, but nothing was found. But now I have noticed a tendency that doctors are once again playing it safe and sending for further examination. M.b. this is not bad, but:
- We feed children and it’s harmful for us to be nervous again
- it is advisable to know the doctors you are going to, because... Not everyone, even paid ones, are competent!
- my personal opinion is that if the child behaves normally, nothing bothers him, then there is no need to be nervous, children do not owe anything to anyone! Everyone has different development. If one is already crawling, then the other does not HAVE to do this. My daughter didn’t crawl at all, she just stood up, now they say that this is a pathology... but everything is ok with us! She goes to school, studies well and has no health problems.

My advice is to listen to doctors less and give your child a massage - it helps a lot.

Entertaining hands

Just recently you were playing with little hands, unclenching your tightly clenched fingers and running your baby’s palms over your cheeks. Now he has learned to play with his own hands.
This is the most remarkable feature of the 3rd month of development. The previously clenched fists unclench and the fingers remain half-open.
During this period, babies try to reach with their hands the most familiar and easily accessible toys and, more importantly, themselves. Watch your baby play with his own hands. He can grab one hand with the other and sometimes hold the entire fist in his palm, and sometimes 1-2 fingers. Of course, these curious little hands find their way to the mouth; Thumb sucking is a favorite pastime at this age.
Reach and grab. Watches, hair, clothes - everything becomes a desired target for these little hands. A baby at this age loves to grab his hair, grab his glasses, his father’s tie, and most willingly, his mother’s blouse when she takes him in her arms. These first grasping movements are very strong and far from affectionate. If your hair is caught in a child's fist, it is not so easy to get it out.
These movements are not yet very defined. When a baby tries to reach out and grab a dangling toy, he often fails to achieve his goal. The movements of his hands remain shortened, similar to the sharp blows of a boxer or karateka. But in a month things will get better, the blows will hit the target.
Holding power. The baby's hand becomes stronger. Having grabbed an object, he holds it, instead of immediately dropping it, as before. The baby squeezes the rattle placed in his hand with his fingers, holds it and studies it until he gets tired or gets tired of it. Which rattle should you choose?
- The lighter the rattle and the easier it is to hold, the longer the child will engage with it.
- Black and white, as well as contrasting colors, attract the baby's attention more.
- Babies prefer soft ones made of fabric to plastic rattles.
- The safest rattle is one that will not cause any harm - at least 1.5-2 inches (up to 5 cm), without sharp corners or protruding parts.

The best position for playing with your own hands

The child's position significantly influences the development of hand motor skills. The horizontal position prevents play with the handles, the vertical position promotes it. Lying on a flat, smooth surface (for example, on the floor), the child makes movements in a free style - something like a “bicycle”, performed simultaneously with both arms and legs; he can stretch his limbs in different directions. But when a baby at this age lies on his back, the still active reflex of the resting neck is triggered (when the head is turned in the same direction, the handle reclines, and the fists remain clenched). It is much better if you hold the child in a semi-upright position on your lap or place him in a special baby chair. In this position, his head is turned forward and he looks straight ahead; at the same time, his fists unclench and he, as if for a hug, pulls his hands towards you. Thus, the semi-upright position encourages the child to start playing with his hands or engage in some kind of toy, holding it in front of him.

Vision development

Watch your baby when he becomes interested in the pattern on the wallpaper or carefully studies your face. Now he can do it for much longer and pays more attention to details instead of just glancing over them.
He follows you better with his eyes when you pass by, and at the same time, like a radar, he turns his head. If you leave the room, he may cry.
At this stage of development, children see not only better, but also further. While in a state of focused calm, the child can look at the ceiling and the fan on it, dark contrasting railings, shadows on the walls, plants located at a distance of 15-20 feet (5-6 m) from him. The most attractive are dark contrasting objects on a light background.
From Martha's diary: "I manage to attract Matthew's attention by using a black and white 6-sided cube about 2 inches in size, which I place in front of his eyes. For a while he is simply riveted by these "moving pictures" and studies each side as he goes. "Slowly rotating the cube. It even seems to distinguish images on each side. Sometimes, if Matthew begins to act up, I pull out the cube, and the moodiness stops."

Conversation with a 3-month-old baby

This is when the real conversations begin. This period seems easier to you than the previous ones, because now you can understand your baby. Observe his body movements and facial expressions, try to guess what he is thinking about when he behaves in one way or another. By understanding his body language and facial expressions, you can predict what will follow: is he going to cry or smile? By timely intervention in the situation (“Hey, .... (name)!”), you can turn the impending cry into a smile. Your happy face can make your baby forget that he wanted to cry.
Different shapes crying. Now it is not only easier for you to read your baby’s body language, but also the reason for his crying becomes more intelligible. Different cries reflect different baby needs. Demanding crying and a face flushed from tension - a clear sign an urgent desire to be in your arms. With whining crying, you can limit yourself to answering from a long distance, even from another room. Pay attention to the pauses that punctuate the baby's crying. It is as if he is telling you that he is waiting for an answer, and not having received it, he continues to call you.
Extension " vocabulary". The child begins to “talk” more - the sounds he makes become louder, longer. He begins to draw out vowel sounds for a long time (“aaah”, “eeh”, “eeee”, “oooh”). Listen to this long humming, cooing, grunting , sniffles, squeals and sighs. The baby seems to be trying out what other sounds he can make with his mouth and tongue. The baby is interested in how loud he can squeal, and especially how such screams affect you. And he seems to soon begin realize that this kind of sounds produces a shock impression on parents. All this does not mean that he does not like pleasant sounds. Even at this early stage As the child develops, he tries to adapt the sound of his own “speech” to yours. If you meet your child's ear-piercing scream with a quiet whisper, perhaps he will moderate his "loudness."

Movements of a 3 month old baby

Place the baby on a soft surface on the table. Position yourself so that your head is at the same level. Try to make eye contact and start talking. The child can raise his head 45 degrees or even more and continue this head-to-head conversation. Now his head does not fall helplessly down as before; he can hold her in this position for some time. Turning his head from side to side, he begins to explore the world.
A new game. Turn the baby onto his back (most babies at this age cannot yet roll over on their own), holding him with both hands, slowly move him to a sitting position. The head and torso will rise at the same time, whereas in previous weeks the head movement was lagging behind. IN sitting position The baby's head does not sway as before, but becomes stable. Of course, if you do not help him and do not support his head, it will quickly bend, but the child can return it to a controlled vertical position.
Stand and support. Take the baby under the arms and hold him in a standing position. A month ago, his legs immediately gave way. Now they bear the load of the whole body for several minutes and your support is needed only to maintain balance. Now put the baby in your arms, leaning him against your chest. Do you notice how much stronger his legs have become?
Game on the floor. The game of up and down has begun. Most 3-month-old babies love being held in your arms, but they may enjoy lying on the floor and enjoying freedom of movement. The resting neck reflex gradually begins to weaken, allowing the baby to stretch his arms and legs in different directions and make movements like a “bicycle” (sometimes called “flapping his wings”). Naturally, such exercises are encouraged by admiring spectators from above. But it will be better if you sit down next to the baby on the floor and keep him company.
Cause and investigation. At 3 months, the child discovers that he can somehow influence the world around him. “I pull a hanging toy - it moves,” “I shake a rattle - it rattles.” Thus he discovers the connection between cause and effect. This discovery is stored in his developing brain, and he begins to use it to receive desired result. For example, by this time the baby learns to suck more efficiently - so as to get more milk with less cost.
From Martha's diary: "I noticed that Matthew was catching my breasts, making several sucking movements, and then waits until the milk eruption reflex is triggered and it flows into his mouth in a full stream. Only then does he begin to actively suck and swallow. He realized that this was the most easy way to start feeding."

The boy is 2 years old and 11 months old. About 4 weeks ago he began to experience discomfort in his fingers. He often asked to wash them, to lick them, and he constantly kept his fingers in his mouth. These symptoms have subsided a little, but now he increasingly keeps his fists closed - while playing, communicating with adults, watching TV, and sometimes carrying toys with his fingers clenched into fists. After falling asleep for about an hour, the fists are clenched and it is difficult to unclench them. At the request of an adult, the child can voluntarily unclench his fingers, this does not cause pain. No neurological symptoms were observed from birth; they were not registered with a neurologist. Development according to age.

ANSWERED: 02/26/2017

Hello, Elya. At this age, it is difficult to carry out any diagnostics, but since a child under 7 years of age is completely energy-informationally dependent on the mother, you can understand what is happening to the child through the mother. I have such diagnostic approaches - read my post - http://centrzdorovia.ru/ mnogomernoe-zdorovie/ and if you are interested, call and make an appointment.

Clarification question

ANSWERED: 02/26/2017 Valeeva Elvira Raisovna Moscow 0.0 doctor oncologist gynecologist

Hello, thanks for the question and detailed description A pediatric neurologist can handle the diagnosis at this age.

Clarification question

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Causes

hypertonicity, newborn, massage for a newborn, gymnastics for a newborn, treatment of hypertonicity Why does this happen? There are two reasons. The first is perinatal encephalopathy - disorders of the central nervous system caused by exposure to negative factors on the baby (from prenatal period until the first days of life). They may be:

diseases of the mother of a somatic nature, in which chronic intoxication occurs;
spicy infectious diseases women during pregnancy (toxoplasmosis,), intrauterine infections;
and availability genetic diseases;
pregnancy with a pathological course, when early and late toxicosis, threat, fetal hypoxia and the like;
mothers (alcohol, smoking), which cause disruption of blood flow in the uterus, alcohol and nicotine poisoning of the fetus;
the presence (in a woman) of chronic diseases of the heart, kidneys, liver, disorders endocrine system;
pathological course of labor, that is, when rapid labor occurs or, conversely, there is a weak labor activity, long anhydrous period, poor opening of the birth canal, obstetric aid (vacuum extractor, “forceps”, etc.), entanglement of the fetus with the umbilical cord, big sizes fetus;
with a “cosmetic incision”, when the child’s head is brought out through an opening that is too narrow (it is approximately 25 cm in circumference, while the circumference of the child’s head is about 34-35 cm). Because of this, obstetricians have to pull a little on the baby's head, especially when removing the hanger, which can cause damage to the cervical spine.

As a consequence of perinatal encephalopathy, three degrees of hypertonicity are distinguished: mild - manifests itself in the first two months of life, moderate - observed for more than two months, and severe - lasts a whole year.
Another factor that causes this disease is hemolytic disease of the newborn, which means the incompatibility of the Rh factor of the child with the mother.

How to determine hypertension in an infant

Hypertonicity in a child is not always determined only after 6 months; this can be done immediately after birth. Its main features:

Nervousness of the baby, prolonged crying for no reason.
Throwback of the head, both during sleep and while awake.
Trembling of the chin when crying.
The baby's arms and legs are very tightly clenched, and with any attempts to straighten them, the child resists and cries.
When you try to put him on his feet, he must stomp by inertia. If he steps on his toes, then this is also a sign of illness. Normally, children step on their entire foot, just like an adult when walking.

Treatment

Hypertonicity, in principle, can be left untreated if it is not excessive and has not been observed for more than 6 months. There are situations when hypertonicity interferes full development child and therefore requires treatment.
There are two types of treatment. The first is when the disease is noticed immediately and can be eliminated by special massage, gymnastics, aromatherapy and physiotherapy. Second - the doctor prescribes drug treatment strong drugs.
The main goal of the above methods is to eliminate the root cause of hypertonicity caused by pathology. And with any treatment option, the active participation of the mother and her positive attitude towards her child are required. She must create conditions in which he will be calm and comfortable.

Relaxing massage

Such children are prescribed a relaxing massage, which is performed on the arms, legs and back. The massage therapist performs all movements smoothly, without sudden movements or pats. If mom has a desire, she can learn how to do a relaxing massage on her own, and then it can be done at home. As a rule, the doctor prescribes it for long time a couple of courses.
First, they start stroking the clenched fingers of the hands, then the legs, and then the back. Moreover, stroking is done alternately: either with the surface of the fingers, or with the entire hand. Next comes the turn of rubbing the skin in a circular motion. The baby is placed on his tummy and they begin to massage his back with stroke movements, without lifting his hand (up and down, left and right).
After this, the baby is turned back onto his back and they begin to develop his arms and legs. For example, hold the hand with one hand and shake it lightly, while holding the forearm with the other hand. The legs and arms can be rocked from side to side using quick but smooth movements. The relaxing massage ends with gentle stroking.

Gymnastics

Also no less effective for muscle hypertonicity and physiotherapy. A physical therapy specialist can show mom what exercises to do at home. So there is nothing difficult here either. A set of exercises for pens very large, here are some of them:

Swinging on a ball. The baby is placed with his tummy on the ball and, holding his back and legs, is gently rocked back and forth, left and right. Here it is also important to maintain smooth movements and caution so that the child does not get scared. When he gets used to this exercise, you can try to slightly stretch his arms forward.
You can also do swinging on weight in a vertical or horizontal position. The baby is simply taken under the arms and gently rocked from side to side. The same can be done in water, which makes the task easier.
Mandatory exercises are those aimed at moving the bent arms upward (with the body positioned on its side) or forward (starting position on the stomach). In this case, the straightened arms are also moved to the sides, crossed on the chest, and again moved to the sides. In addition to these exercises, you also need: circular movements, “scissors”, lifting up (alternate and joint) and rotation of the forearms.

For legs You can use the following relaxation techniques:

In the presence of increased tone muscles in the lower extremities and their crossing, it is recommended “ wide swaddling”, when a diaper folded in several layers is placed between the baby’s legs and secured there with pants.
Raising the bent legs is possible only after complete relaxation of the muscles and is performed gradually so as not to cause pain the baby, otherwise next time he won’t let you do it at all.
The baby's crawling helps a lot. Of course, the baby does not yet know how to do this on his own, but if you put him on his tummy, spread his legs to the sides and use his hands to support him, he will push off and begin to move forward little by little.
If the baby stomps “on tiptoes,” you need to do exercises to strengthen the front surface of the lower leg and stretch the muscles of the back surface. For example, the baby is turned over, the legs are bent at the knees, and the shins are held vertically. At the same time, very gentle pressure is applied to the soles, which allows you to stretch the Achilles tendon.
Also, to develop the supporting function of the legs, you can do exercises that use the baby’s natural reflexes. So, if you grab the feet with the index and middle fingers of both hands, and press the area near the toes with your thumbs, the foot should bend. And when you move it from the toes to the heel, the foot, on the contrary, straightens.

Massage and gymnastics must be carried out together, undergoing a course of treatment for 10-15 days. After this, you should take a break for two months. Of course, everything needs to be clarified with a doctor, since every child requires individual approach.

Additional procedures

In addition to massage and gymnastics, aromatherapy, herbal baths, swimming and physiotherapy (electrophoresis, ozokerite, paraffin) are also used. So, when bathing, you can use valerian, sage, pine needles, motherwort or lingonberry. Therapeutic baths must be done alternately for three days in a row, and on the fourth day - an ordinary bath.
The success of treating hypertension in a child depends on how the baby perceives it and how systematically all the necessary procedures are carried out. The disease needs to be treated, as it can lead to delayed development, problems with coordination of movements and speech delay. Therefore, parents should closely monitor the development of their baby and, if there is any suspicion, contact a pediatrician or neurologist. A disease noticed in time is much easier to cure than an advanced one.