Did you notice that the child is holding his toes up? The child should be shown to the doctor. First, tell the pediatrician about this. Most likely he will refer you to a consultation with a neurologist. But do not worry, maybe there is no problem in this. It all depends on the age of the baby, on his health and behavior.
This article will discuss why the child is clutching toes. What is hypertonicity, how is it diagnosed and treated. The child tightens his toes - is it worth it to sound the alarm?
This situation is a frequent cause for concern for inexperienced young mothers. Parents begin to read medical literature, surf the Internet in search of information about this. Often, mothers completely lose their peace and normal sleep. But this is very bad, because your condition is transmitted to the child. In addition, a lactating woman may lose milk. You should not be left alone with experiences - just see a doctor as soon as possible.
Get ready for this visit. The child should not be hungry during the examination. Try to get to the doctor at a time when he is usually awake. Let’s explain why. Often mothers go to the doctor with sleepy and hungry babies. He was woken up, stripped, and generally he wants to eat. The child is uncomfortable; for him, an unfamiliar environment is stress in itself. In a stressful situation, squeezing the legs and arms for small children is the norm.
Some doctors have no time to understand. They immediately diagnose and prescribe medication. Moms are in a panic. To avoid this, try to ensure that the child at the time of being in the office was in a benevolent mood.
An adequate doctor understands that conclusions cannot be drawn so quickly. He will ask to watch the baby at home. What should alert you?
- The child does not sleep well. Wakes up every hour.
- The baby has a bad appetite.
- He is behind in development from peers.
- He constantly cries for no reason, often shudders.
- The baby constantly spits up.
Have you noticed such symptoms in your child? Then there is no reason for concern. Perhaps this is how a grasping reflex manifests itself - the same as in the arms. Only in this case, the baby tightens his toes. In addition to prophylaxis, you can do a light massage.
If after a while you notice that the baby is nervous, the fingers are constantly squeezed, and they are difficult to unclench, and other symptoms are present, then hurry to the neurologist. Your child may have hypertonicity. Do not worry. This problem can well be dealt with. In the following sections, we will talk about what kind of violation. At what age is this the norm for children, and when should treatment be started?
Symptoms of increased muscle tone in the crumbs
Childbirth is a lot of stress for the baby. His body is gradually becoming accustomed to the fact that now he is not constrained by anything. There is a lot of space. Breast need to get used to it. After all, in his mother’s stomach, he was in the fetal position. Now his muscles should gradually relax, and his limbs get used to new conditions. With problems with the central nervous system, the brain cannot control muscle activity. In this case, deviations appear.
Symptoms of severe hypertonicity, when the fingers and toes cannot be squeezed, should disappear during the first two weeks of the baby's life. Is the baby a month? Squeezes the toes so that you can not straighten them? Are the symptoms described above present? This is a reason for examination by a neurologist.
In addition to squeezing fingers, a monthly baby may have the following signs of hypertonicity:
- The baby does not sleep well and eats.
- Often and abundantly burps.
- When the baby sleeps, its back flexes reflexively. He throws back his head.
- The arms and legs of the baby are firmly pressed to the body.
- When the baby cries a lot, his body is tense. He bends.
- In infants, chin tremors are observed during crying.
- From birth, the baby holds the head upright.
- In order to spread apart the legs of the crumbs, you need to make great efforts. Kroha does not like it - he resists and screams.
- The kid does not rest his entire foot on the surface when in an upright position.
If you observe this with your crumbs, then a consultation by a neurologist is simply necessary.
Diagnostics
Neurologist will check the reflexes of the baby.
- Reflex walking. Up to two months, children in an upright position sorted reflexively with their legs, as if running. This feature normally disappears after two months of age.
- Symmetry of reflexes. The child is placed on the back, the chin is pressed to the chest. In this case, you need to look at how the limbs behave. Handles should be bent, legs should be unbent. If you tilt the baby's head to the right side, then the limbs on this side should straighten, and on the left - strain. The same thing should happen to the opposite side.
- The general tone. If the child is placed on his stomach, then he should tighten the arms and legs. If the crumb is turned over, he will relax the limbs. This behavior is normal for up to three months.
If your child is fine with reflexes, then do not worry.
Nature of violations
Muscle tone can be either increased or decreased. In rare cases, there is a combination of the first and second. This means that the tone of the hands can be increased, and the legs - on the contrary, lowered. This violation is called dystonia.
Asymmetric hypertonicity. In this case, the violation is present only on one side. It is also called "torticollis." To diagnose it, the baby is placed on his stomach and examined from the back. If asymmetric hypertonicity is present, then the head will be turned in the direction where there is tension. The back will bend from the same side, and the arm will strain.
Hypotension
Another violation that occurs in young children. The phenomenon is completely the opposite of increased tone. With this deviation, the child is sluggish, motor activity is very weak.
Hypertension and hypotension are not an independent disease. These disorders are associated with serious CNS pathologies. That is why, with fairly clear signs, a small patient is prescribed a series of examinations:
- Ultrasound of the brain;
- tomogram.
What is the reason?
The cause of such disorders may be problems that occurred during pregnancy or during childbirth.
Muscle tone can be caused by:
- Infectious diseases of mother during pregnancy.
- The use of prohibited medicines during gestation.
- Smoking, drinking alcohol, overstrain during pregnancy.
- Rhesus conflict in the mother with the fetus.
- Birth injuries.
- Severe environmental pollution.
Disorders of the central nervous system can not be diagnosed only by the fact that the child is pressing his toes. The child should be fully examined by specialists. Doctors see how the development of the baby’s nervous system is age-appropriate.
Age norms
- The child is one month old. The norm for him is the pose of the embryo. He often presses the arms and legs to the body. If you put it on your stomach, then he calmly allows you to turn his head in both right and left. With legs, the baby makes repulsive movements.
- Third month. Lying on his stomach, the baby raises its head and briefly holds it. Turns independently in both directions. If you put a light toy in his palm, he will hold it.
- The baby is six months old. The palms of the baby are completely relaxed and open. The baby can turn on either side. He independently turns on his tummy. Trying to crawl or already doing it. He tries to sit down, in rare cases, sits.
- The baby is nine months old. The kid loves movement: he crawls, sits down on his own, can stand with the support of an adult, or leaning on something. What to do if at this age the child holds his toes up? The child needs to be shown to a specialist. After all, very soon he will begin to walk.
- The kid is one year old. The baby takes the first steps without support. Well worth it.
One-year-old baby is holding on to fingers
Is the child a year old? Clenching toes? If before the baby was not registered with a neurologist, and muscle tone was not observed, then there is no reason for concern. At this age, hand motility is actively developing. Most likely, the baby does the same thing with his legs.
Offer him a useful game: put small toys in a bucket and let him take them out with their legs. It stimulates nerve endings and relieves muscle tension. Pay attention to one more fact. There is no reason for concern if the child stands on his full foot and also walks. Usually the bending of the toes goes to two years.
Does the child tighten his toes when he is standing? You will need a specialist consultation. As a rule, the doctor prescribes several massage courses, after which the problem disappears.
The main task of the doctor is not only to eliminate muscle impairment, but also to identify the cause that caused this condition. Then it will be clear how to deal with the disease.
Treatment methods
The doctor may prescribe the following procedures:
- swimming;
- massage;
- gymnastics (dynamic gymnastics is strictly prohibited).
With medical treatment, the doctor prescribes drugs that improve blood circulation, reduce muscle tension, normalize the activity of the nervous system, and improve metabolism.
What is dangerous violation of tone?
Increased or decreased tone interferes with the normal development of the baby. Joints and ligaments cannot form normally. If you do not work to overcome the problem, then in the future, motility will be impaired, perhaps a spinal curvature will appear.
After reading the article, you found out why the child is clutching his toes. The child needs a lot of attention and care. Be mindful of your children. Timely identified pathologies are a guarantee of solving most problems.