Holding your head up on your own is perhaps a child’s very first physical skill. Therefore, parents usually treat its appearance very carefully, understanding that the delay signals some kind of problem in the small organism. However, often the baby just needs parental help. How to teach your child to hold his head up? What should you remember about this?
We don’t force things
The first thing to consider is the age norms for skill development. In a newborn it is almost completely absent. But if a baby cannot confidently hold his head up at one month of age, this is a clear deviation. As well as lack of skill at 4-5 months. Therefore, when tracking the dynamics of the baby’s development, you need to know this:
- The baby begins to raise his head for a while (a couple of seconds) at about 3 weeks;
- per month he can hold it, lying on his tummy, for about 15–20 seconds;
- at 2 months, the baby has enough strength to hold the head for half a minute, vertically for a few seconds;
- from 3 months this interval increases to a minute and then only grows;
- by the end of the third month, the baby can already hold his head in an upright position, and lying on his stomach raises it along with his shoulders;
- completely without adult insurance, the child holds his head confidently by about 4 months.
It is important to remember: in order for a child to hold his head, first of all, his neck muscles must be sufficiently strong. Therefore, you can promote the emergence of this skill by strengthening them with the help of special classes.
The fastest way for a baby to master this skill is to lie on its tummy. But start placing your child in this position no earlier than his umbilical wound has healed.
Learning a New Skill
A newborn baby does not know how to control the neck muscles. All movements are reflexive in nature. When parents take the baby in their arms, his head tilts back. Gradually he learns to control his own body. The first achievements can be observed already in the second or third week of life. Lying on his stomach, the baby begins to make attempts to raise his head. This is a kind of natural instinct of protection, so as not to suffocate.
Further development of the neck muscles proceeds according to the following scheme:
- At 5-6 weeks the baby tries to hold his head at an acute angle. He can remain in this position for about 30 seconds or a full minute.
- At 8 weeks, the newborn struggles to keep his head horizontal. If you pull it slightly by the handles, it will no longer tilt it back.
- At 2.5-3 months the skill is finally consolidated. Sitting in the arms of its parents, the baby can hold its head for quite a long time. When lying on his stomach, he tries to raise his shoulders and lean on his elbows.
Naturally, all time parameters are conditional. When a child has trouble holding his head at 3 months, there is no need to worry. However, a consultation with a pediatric neurologist would not hurt.
Strengthening exercises
So, first you need to strengthen your neck muscles. To do this, you can perform the following exercises.
- Place your baby on his tummy from about three weeks of age. He will first reflexively turn his head to the side, which helps strengthen the muscles.
- Do not let your child sleep in one position, turn him in a different direction each time.
- Rubbing and stroking massage also strengthens the necessary muscles.
- From about one month of age, you can start swimming training using a special circle. A home bath is quite suitable for this.
- Carry the baby in your arms with its back up, head down, supporting it with your hand.
- From 8–9 weeks, carry the baby upright, supporting the head with your hand, sometimes loosening the harness so that the baby can hold the head on its own for a while.
- From the same age, the baby can be placed on a fitball (back and tummy alternately), rocking it little by little.
- Carry the baby in your arms, holding it in a horizontal position, supporting the head, rocking the baby back and forth.
- When the child can turn his head while lying on his back, you can encourage him to do this with a bright toy.
- Pull the baby by the arms from a supine position to a sitting position and slowly return it back. This strengthens the muscles of the neck and back, and the little one will probably like it, because the world can be viewed from a vertical position.
- Provide your baby with a balanced diet so that the body receives all the necessary substances for proper development. If you are breastfeeding, make sure your diet is correct.
Do not place your baby on his tummy immediately after feeding. It's better to do it in front of him.
When do children begin to hold their backs and heads up?
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When children begin to hold their back and head.
An infant holds his head from 2 months of age. All factors are important in development, including feeding, exercise, massage, outdoor exercise and hygiene. Closer to 3 months, 70% of babies hold their heads quite confidently. They raise it from 45 to 90 degrees and hold it for about a minute. The support comes from the forearm. The hips and pelvis are pressed tightly to the surface. To strengthen the back, massage begins from the age of one month. These are light touches that help muscles gain strength.
A weak, not yet strong organism must be strengthened gradually and correctly. Otherwise, due to the desire for rapid development, you will harm the muscles and soft bone tissue. By five months, children are holding their back. But you should not give heavy loads. The half-sitting pose is performed at intervals of 30-40 minutes. With subsequent increasing time, the back muscles become stronger.
For a healthy child, the ability to hold his head is formed as follows: - From 2 to 3 weeks of life: The baby, lying on his tummy, can clumsily turn his head in one direction, then rest his nose against an obstacle and turn his head in the other direction to follow the mother’s movement with his eyes. – From 1 to 1.5 months: The baby, lying on his stomach, holds his head for two to three seconds. In a vertical position, it does not cope with the task well enough. He holds his head for a few seconds and sharply throws it back. In such cases, the mother should support the occipital part of the head with her hand. – At 2 or 2.5 months: Infants, lying on their tummy, hold their heads for no more than 20-30 seconds, in an upright position for up to 1 minute, but they still need to support the back of the head.
– From 2.5 to 3 months: Being upright, babies learn to fix their head for 10 minutes. We do not recommend carrying a child “standing” for a long time, it tires him. In a normal horizontal position, this skill is demonstrated better. – From 3 to 3.5 months: lying on their stomachs, babies hold their heads independently, while resting their elbows on a flat surface. Support is no longer required. – Closer to 4 to 5 months: lying on their backs, babies begin to raise their heads. Mothers conduct short lessons: they grab hands and slowly pull them towards themselves. Then slowly lower it to the starting position.
Classes should not last more than two minutes. If the child was born premature, then the missing period is added to the developmental period. Much depends on the physiological development of the child, so each small organism should be considered individually.
If the child cannot hold his head up, we recommend that you consult a doctor and undergo an examination:
– Conduct an examination with a pediatrician and visit a neurologist.
– Take blood and urine tests.
– Monitor body weight.
– Other examinations as recommended by the doctor.
One of the important indicators is the child’s ability to hold his back. By 5-6 months the muscles become stronger. Minor deviations are quite acceptable. Therefore, daily exercises need to be carried out. After all, children need not only good nutrition and proper care, including hygiene, but also the help of their parents.
How to strengthen the back muscles of infants?
Babies show interest in life, but they are helpless and defenseless. Therefore, physical development is half dependent on the help of parents. It is a mistake to assume that infants do not understand anything. This is wrong. When you talk, the child picks up every sound and watches you carefully. Looking at your lips, the children also try to make sounds and express their desires, while twitching their legs.
In order for your child to be able to hold his back and head correctly, you should exercise him and not put him to sleep after the next feeding. You must find time for your child's development. Of course, it is difficult and difficult to train the muscular system if the child is still small, but you must do the following every day:
– Place on stomach before feeding. This will allow you to strengthen your shoulder girdle within two months. The baby will be able to develop correctly, hold his head up and train his back muscles. Leaning back leads to serious injuries not only to the neck, but also to the spine. Bone tissue is still very fragile and can be damaged. You need to constantly hold the baby's head.
– Massage your back regularly. Training the muscular system allows you to develop the skill of holding your back. Special exercises begin from the 1st month of a child’s life.
Start with game types, they initially lay the foundation for the best effect:
– Motor skills develop.
– Strengthening muscle tissue.
– The touch of mother’s hands on little fingers that learn to clench. Maintaining balance. Lift the baby in one palm and hold the back with the other. A few seconds is enough. Such actions can begin after three months.
– Coordination is developing.
– Blood circulation increases.
– Breathing improves.
What factors influence the development of back support in children:
1. The head should not be thrown back.
2. Pay attention to the position of the child during sleep. Flooding of the body in one position is unacceptable. Uncomfortable mattress in the crib. Babies sleep more than they move, so choosing a comfortable crib and mattress is of great importance in the development of children's muscular system.
3. Birth trauma. Development may be delayed for up to 4 months.
4. Birth ahead of schedule.
5. Poor nutrition. The baby lacks vitamins. Because of this, the formation of bone tissue is disrupted.
6. Improper care and hygiene.
7. Lack of classes and massage.
8. Water procedures in one position.
9. Rare walks in the fresh air. A small organism is poorly saturated with oxygen. This affects development as a whole.
10. Mom doesn’t visit doctors. A doctor should monitor development and record all the pros and cons to prevent developmental delays.
Ligaments and muscles in babies are not yet developed, so make all movements as carefully and carefully as possible. All movements can be demonstrated by a pediatrician who visits the children after discharge from the hospital. Use your palms to stroke the back in different directions. Hands should be clean and warm to the touch. The cold contracts the back muscles and prevents them from relaxing. During sleep, change your body position every 2 hours. Adjust the light sources, this affects the rotation of the head and stimulation of the neck.
Swim in a special circle. This helps develop the musculoskeletal system. You can start swimming in the bath as soon as your belly button heals. Breastfeeding is good for babies. Therefore, mothers must have a sufficient amount of calcium and fluoride in their bodies.
You can’t stop classes if your baby doesn’t like it. He will gradually get used to it and will not be capricious. If he cries, pick him up and hold him for a couple of minutes, then continue your studies again. Stimulate your child with toys, let him hold them in his hands. Then, lying on his stomach, he tries to reach them. Do not forget about walks in the fresh air, they allow you to develop your respiratory organs, which are important during physical activity.
If you want your babies to develop correctly and be able to hold their head and back, then don’t be lazy, from the first two weeks of life after birth. This way you can strengthen your body and raise healthy children.
When do children begin to hold their backs and heads up? Daddy's Daughter.
Possible problems
Sometimes it happens that even after all the lessons, it is not possible to teach a child to hold his head at 5 or 6 months. This signals the presence of certain violations. For example, they may affect:
- unbalanced diet of the child, resulting in poor weight gain and developmental delays;
- premature birth;
- difficult childbirth, birth injuries;
- torticollis;
- muscle hypotonicity;
- neurological problems.
In all these cases, the baby will not be able to independently hold his head up in due time. Therefore, it is important to show the baby to specialists in a timely manner: pediatrician, neurologist, orthopedist. The causes of disorders may be different, but it is important to detect them in time and begin treatment. After all, if you leave them unattended, in the future the problems will grow like a snowball, preventing the baby from fully developing.
True, it often happens that the child was simply not laid out on his tummy enough, and not enough attention was paid to strengthening the muscles and massage. Especially if he was born large or is actively gaining weight. In this case, it all depends on the parents. Helping their child develop normally is their main task throughout the child’s entire childhood. Undoubtedly, the task is not always simple, requiring a lot of time and effort. But no one said that being parents is easy and simple. This is long, painstaking work, the best reward for which will be a healthy, happy, independent child.
