Curving the back and tilting the head is a fairly common problem among babies. Almost every parent notices such changes in their child. Quite often, tilting the head and arching the back, which is often accompanied by crying, can be caused by colic in newborns. But unfortunately, there are more serious reasons.
The child cries and bends in an arc
If you notice that your baby in the crib performs an action similar to an acrobatic trick, you should not assure yourself that he had early abilities for gymnastics. Very often, arching, somewhat reminiscent of the position of the "bridge" in sports, is associated with serious problems. Perhaps these are colic. Or maybe an increase in intracranial pressure or hypertonicity of the baby’s muscles, requiring an immediate visit to a neurologist.
Colic newborns
Almost all babies face intestinal colic in the first months of life. The cause of the occurrence is considered to be a change in the nutrition system, as well as improvement of the gastrointestinal tract.
In the mother’s tummy, the baby received all the necessary substances for growth and development through the umbilical cord. When the baby’s stomach is born, he’s not yet ready for independent work. Therefore, quite often, infants can experience gas, pain, cramping and other unpleasant sensations. Most often, they are the main reason that the child bends and cries.
In order to make sure that the reason is determined correctly, it is necessary to observe the crumbs for some time. If the baby calms down after the departure of the gaziks, then this anxiety will soon end. On average, the colic period in newborns lasts from 1 to 2 months.
Signs of colic
Diagnosis of this phenomenon is significantly difficult. The fact is that the baby tends to cry a lot in the first months of life, since this period accounts for his adaptation to life outside the womb. The norm fits no more than 2 hours of vagaries during the day. Anything above the indicated indicator should start to bother parents. Often crying and arching of the back with colic are intensified at night. In addition to these symptoms, colic may be accompanied by several more symptoms.
Consider the most common:
- The kid can scream piercingly.
- The baby's face turns red.
- Often the knees are bent, and the legs are as tight as possible.
- Hand crumbs are compressed into fists.
- The body is in a state of tension, and the head is thrown back.
- The baby has flushing of the face.
- The feet of the baby are quite cold in comparison with the temperature of the whole body.
How to fight?
A child in a dream cries and bends. Fortunately, such unpleasant symptoms disappear suddenly. Usually by 3-4 months, colic ceases to bother the baby.
There is no single method that would help all babies in the fight against colic equally. Despite the huge number of special tools that are found on the shelves of pharmacies, there is no guarantee that they will help you.
Some help with the following methods to combat colic:
- Light massage of the tummy clockwise.
- Warm bath.
- Feeding while screaming.
- Free swaddling baby.
- Warm diaper on the baby crumb.
Despite the concern of the baby, parents should be patient, as colic is exclusively temporary.
Hypertonicity of the neck muscles
Now quite often this diagnosis is given to children during the first month of life. The fact is that such a deviation is temporary and is characteristic of many newborns. Up to 3 months, arching the back is considered a physiological norm and does not require treatment.
Hypertonicity of the back and neck can cause involuntary arching of the back.
You can identify this problem as follows:
- Put the baby on your stomach and watch it. If the child begins to throw his head back and raises his shoulders without the help of his hands, then hypertonicity of the back muscles can be suspected.
- In order to check the hypertonicity of the neck muscles, it is necessary to put the crumb on the back, and then lower its chin closer to the chest. If resistance is felt during this manipulation, then this indicates an increased tone.
Usually, for the treatment of mild hypertension, a massage course and gymnastics are prescribed. Sometimes pediatricians recommend swimming. Complicated forms of hypertension accompanied by torticollis often include drug treatment.
The main signs of hypertonicity
Increased tone in children is often accompanied by the following features:
- The child bends back and cries. Vagaries are more like grunts. From the outside it may seem that the crumb is struggling to lift a heavy load.
- Light strokes, as well as massage, can calm the baby for a while. Moreover, the baby will take the usual position of the body after such manipulations.
- The baby bends, and the muscles are in intense tension. It may seem that the baby is trying to master a difficult physical exercise.
Increased intracranial pressure
Why does the child bend and cry ?! Quite often, parents attribute this phenomenon to increased intracranial pressure. But besides the fact that the child bends, he can also spit up. The main reason for this behavior of the crumbs is a neurotic disease. This is pretty dangerous!
Consider the causes that can lead to this disease:
- Metabolic disease.
- Encephalitis.
- Complicated pregnancy.
- Birth injury.
- Heredity.
- Traumatic brain injuries.
- Meningitis.
- Brain tumors.
Quite often, the condition of a child who has encountered this problem may be accompanied by vomiting. After this, the baby is in absolutely calm state for some time.
A neuropathologist working with children can diagnose a disease of this kind. He will examine the baby. If the diagnosis is confirmed, the doctor will conduct treatment. If the diagnosis is not confirmed, then in the future you just need to continue the planned observation.
Signs of intracranial pressure
The child is one year old, crying and bending. What could it be? At this age, a neurologist should be consulted immediately. The fact is that colic and the physiological norm of this phenomenon pass much earlier.
To exclude increased intracranial pressure, you must make sure that the following symptoms are absent:
- The child cries and bends at night. Very often, whims turn into a scream. Thus, the baby tries to show his parents that he is in pain.
- The kid bends restlessly in the back, and also throws his head back far.
- Periodically, symptoms of vomiting may appear, after which the crumb calms down for a while.
Important! Such a serious disease should be diagnosed exclusively by a doctor. You should not look for all kinds of treatment methods at home, especially without consulting a specialist.
The vagaries of the newborn
If the child bends and cries for no reason, then parents need to pay special attention to the upbringing of the baby in order to wean him from such vagaries. For starters, switching attention to something else will work just fine. It can be an interesting toy, picture or rattle.
Often children tend to be capricious while feeding. Most often, crying can be caused by a variety of reasons. Consider the most common among them:
- The baby indulges when he is already full, but really does not want to tear himself away from his mother's breast. As a result, in order to extend the pleasant process a little longer, the child begins to act up.
- Sometimes the cause of the baby’s crying can be not whims, but an insufficient amount of breast milk or its taste. As for the taste of breast milk, it depends on the nutrition of mom. And if milk is not enough, then this can also be accompanied by arching of the back and crying from the side of the baby.
Other reasons
Sometimes a child bends and cries when he wants to master the coups on his stomach. Despite the fact that parents may think that their baby is crying, often this is not so. It is common for children to groan at the next attempt to learn such a skill.
Often arching the back and crying occur if the child tries to reach the toy of interest to him, but it does not work out for him.
Despite the options listed above, it is important to remember that consulting a doctor will never be superfluous. An experienced pediatrician and neurologist will always be able to recognize the true cause of this behavior of the baby. Based on the results of the examination, a diagnosis will be made. And if necessary, the baby will be prescribed massage and gymnastics. In severe cases, medication may be prescribed. The whole complex of such events is aimed exclusively at the health of the child and its full development.