When the child begins to keep his head independently: the norm and deviations. How can parents help the child hold the head?

In this article, we will talk about how the child should hold his head and at what age he should practice this skill.

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The process of development and growing up for a newborn is not the easiest task. He must learn a lot of things, consolidate the skills and reflexes, which he will then use his whole life, even without realizing most of the actions performed.

And the ability to keep the head is one of the very first most important stages of such development, so the task of adults is not to miss the right moment, to make sure that the baby does everything right, and do everything possible to enter adulthood with his head proudly raised.

How does a child learn to keep his head?

Important note: Watching the development of your baby daily, in no case are guided by the conversations of friends or relatives. If you need someone's advice, you should first contact the pediatrician who observes you. After all, the slightest problem arising during the acquisition of the initial skills of owning its body can turn into enormous difficulties in the future!

As you know, each baby grows up and develops according to an individual program, so the first attempts child to learn how to keep his head Performed at different age.
Ideally, this happens somewhere in the third month after the birth-it is then that the baby can raise and hold your head, lying on the stomach, and keep it parallel to the body in an upright position for several minutes.
Let at first the child holds his head Just a few moments, but this is his first victory and it is safer than, for example, when swimming with a circle around the neck (which is now promoted by some methods).

Of course, some children are late and begin to perform such “exercises” a little later, especially if they transferred some disease or the process of birth was accompanied by complications. Be that as it may, parents should definitely consult on this issue with a neuropathologist.

Attempts newborn to hold his head too early - Also a bad symptom. If this happens throughout the first weeks after birth, it can signal the increased intracranial pressure or tone of the neck muscles, which also requires consultations with neurologists. The fact is that newborns have very weak vertebrae and not yet quite developed muscles, so adults hold them under the head and back so as not to break the fragile balance.

When does the child start holding his head?

If you break the learning process the baby is holding the head According to the main milestones of his growing up, the following scheme will turn out:

First month of life: Attempts to raise your head for at least a few moments begin in the second or third week after birth-this is the start of learning.
The second month of life: The baby holds the head for about 1 min., Lying on the stomach. (Depending on a number of factors, this sometimes occurs in the third month of life).
The third month of life: In a vertical position in the arms of adults, the child confidently holds his head, and lying on his stomach, even raises his shoulders.

Fourth month of life: In his hands, the baby confidently turns his head in all directions, considering the world around him, and from the position of lying lifts the entire upper part of the body. If this does not happen, you need to urgently find out the cause with a specialist.
Starting from the fifth month of life: The child is very active, confidently holds the head and turns it in all directions, begins to turn over in a lying position, makes attempts to crawl, and the most active - even get up!

How can parents help the child hold the head?

At the age of 3 weeks, the wound on the navel in newborns usually heals - this means that the time has come to lay on the tummy. The lying in such a position not only helps to remove excess gases and prevent intestinal colic (especially if the baby is flying so immediately before feeding), but also trains the neck muscles.

Like any training, at first it can cause the baby’s discontent - he can be capricious and whimper. This comes from the fact that he is forced to strain and leave the comfort zone. But over time, he will certainly get used to it, the muscles will strengthen and he will no longer protest. Therefore, parents should help your child hold the head, alsoit is worth showing more patience and perseverance in this matter.

If the development of the child goes according to plan and without failures, then about the age of 1-1.5 months from the birth, he will already try to raise his head lying on his stomach. It should be remembered about the fragility of the cervical vertebrae of the baby until his four -month -old age and continue to support the head, taking it in his arms. It is by this age that the baby should already be completely “trained” and confidently hold the head both in the position of lying down and being in his arms.

The alarm should be beaten if the baby does not hold his head at three months of age - Parents should immediately consult a doctor who will establish a diagnosis and prescribe effective treatment. This does not apply to premature babies - they simply have not yet caught up with their born peers in time.

Sometimes the reason lies in the weakened neck muscles - in this case, a special massage is prescribed, with which the problem is eliminated. If the baby begins to hold the head, but not quite evenly, then the use of the pillow created for this can help, which will force the baby laid to the side, turn his head in the right direction.

Understand if a three -month -old child is enough long and properly hold the head, you can use a simple way:

The baby should be put on his back and, holding him by the handles, slowly pull on himself and put him. After that, he should hold the head half a minute evenly, possibly - with small fluctuations.
The next test is no less simple: again put the child on the back and pull the handles on yourself, but let him “hang” in an intermediate position, do not sit it. With this position, the norm is considered to hold the head on the spine line from two seconds or more.

Performing these simple actions, you will not only check the ability of your baby to hold the head correctly, but also conduct a wonderful set of exercises with it. If you repeat them daily, then very soon you will see how much the muscles of his neck will strengthen.