Almost all babies are born with increased muscle tone. This is due to the fact that in the mother's tummy they are in the embryo position. Their arms and legs are tightly pressed to the body, so the muscles are in constant tension. Usually, the child's condition returns to normal by 3-4 months.
Muscle hypertonicity: what is it?
Sometimes the baby is diagnosed with hypertonicity. This indicates that the fetal nervous system was negatively affected during pregnancy. This may be due to poor ecology, health problems of the expectant mother, or birth trauma. Children with hypertonicity usually lag behind in development, in the future they may have problems with posture and coordination of movements.
You can determine the level of muscle tone of your child yourself. Such children sleep restlessly, often cry for no apparent reason, and regurgitate after eating. The chin often trembles while crying. Don't be happy that your child starts to hold his head up early. This suggests that his neck muscles are too tense. If you try to put the baby on its feet, then a healthy child will lean on the whole foot, and the one suffering from hypertonicity - on his toes.
Relaxing exercises
Treatment for the child is prescribed by a neurologist. But the mother should deal with daily help to the baby. How can you help a little man grow up healthy? To normalize muscle tone, it is necessary to do massage and do special gymnastics. There is a set of exercises and postures to help relax the muscles.
Embryo pose. Take the baby in your arms and give his little body the position in which he was during the period of development before his birth. Fold the arms on your chest, pull your bent knees to your stomach, tilt your head slightly forward. Having fixed this position with your hands, shake the baby. Move rhythmic, but smooth. This can also be done in cases where the child is very excited or agitated and needs to be reassured.
Rocking on the ball. To do this, you need a large ball called a fitball. Place the baby on the ball with his tummy and gently swing left and right, back and forth. Although the ball is very flexible and soft, you need to hold your baby securely so that he does not fall. The measured movement of the ball is good for calming. With the help of a fitball, you can significantly reduce or completely remove the increased tone.
Wiggle. Take your baby under your armpits and hold it in front of you. The position of the body should be vertical. Just rock it from side to side. It is even better to do it in water. There you can make movements not only in a vertical, but also in a horizontal position. Exercises in the water are very useful for children with hypertension. Teach your child to clap their palm on the water while bathing. Of course, there will be a lot of splashes, but the baby will open the hand, which helps to reduce the tone of the extensor muscles.
The main set of exercises for your child should be chosen by the doctor. A massage and physiotherapy specialist will show you how to do these exercises correctly. And mommy will need to carefully follow the recommendations.
