Physicians have noticed that there has been a rise in neck and head problems in infants since 1992. This was also the year when parents started to be educated how to lay children on their backs, making an attempt to drop SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). In spite of the success of the “Back to Sleep” campaign with the reduction in crib deaths by practically 50 percent, there is still a rise in deformities such as plagiocephaly (a flattening of the head) and torticollis (constricted neck muscles) due to the fact that infants do not have many chances to move and stretch when they are placed on their backs.
Actually, parents are capable of taking a lot of preventative measures. First and most importantly, it is essential that parents keep placing infants on their backs to sleep. Here are the following tips recommended for you:
There is no time like tummy time
Babies can grow shoulder and neck muscle control thanks to tummy time. When babies do not lie on their backs, they can take part in their own physical therapy, exercising their developing bodies. Try for half to an hour of supervised tummy time, divide tummy time into segments throughout the day. The best time to begin this is after the first time when the child paid a visit to the pediatrician. From four to six months, babies will be able to roll over and participate in the tummy time by themselves.
Give a gentle massage
If you can recognize that your baby is having tight neck muscles, or that he or she keeps holding the head in a particular position, massage your baby’s neck in a gentle way in an attempt to have the neck muscles relaxed and get more movement going. This can occasionally make your child feel a bit uncomfortable in view of his or her liking to hold the head one way and you push him out of that contentment.
Have your baby move
When babies become older, probably beyond the second month, their visibility and tracking ability also develops. When your baby is not asleep, he or she will move around the room in order to have a look at what is happening. In case you have other children, you should persuade them to do similarly because this offers a type of passive form of physical therapy and enables them to have their neck exercised.
Engage in play therapy
Take hold of the stuffed animal that your child likes most, pick a colorful toy up, and make yourself move around. This can exercise the child’s eyes and neck by making them follow you around.
Ward off infant seats and car seats for long periods of time
Babies have a tendency to hold their neck in the same positions when lying in an infant seat or car carrier. When they are asleep, you should place him flat on his back. Therefore, the neck muscles are in a neutral, stretched position.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
