A newborn child is born with an increased muscle tone , which is physiological, since the baby in the womb was in a clamped state. However, often the parents can notice the hypotonicity of the muscles in the child: he is sluggish, has little physical activity, his swallowing and sucking is broken, the baby later begins to master the motor skills (keep the head, turn over, lean on the handles, etc.).
The syndrome of muscle weakness can be caused by such serious diseases as:
- poliomyelitis ;
- congenital myopathy;
- spinal muscular atrophy;
- botulism;
- neonatal myotonic dystrophy.
It is important in time to identify the cause of the decline in muscle tone and begin to adjust the physical state of the child.
Hypotonus in newborns
If the infant has a hypotension, then, as a rule, such a child does not cause inconvenience to parents, since it is not visible or audible. He lies to himself inactive in the same pose, little anxiety, much sleep. However, such a state of the baby should be alerted to the parents.
You should immediately contact a neurologist to choose the best treatment: massage, special gymnastics, designed to develop the child's muscles.
Gymnastics for hypotonia
Gymnastics is designed to strengthen the weak muscles of the baby. To do this, you can do the following exercises:
- Criss-cross. The kid takes his mother by the thumbs. Mom spreads the child's hand to the side and crosses it criss-cross alternating between the right and the left hand on the top. With the resistance of the baby's handle, you can shake it.
- Boxing. The adult takes the pen of the baby, putting his thumbs in his hands. Then begins to perform "boxing" movements: one handle is pulled forward, the second - bends at the elbow. So the pens alternate. Movements should be made slowly.
- Topotoshki. When the child lies on his back, the adult takes his legs in his hands and tries to straighten one leg, drawing on the surface of the table and pulling the leg to the buttocks of the baby. Then the adult also moves the second leg of the table with sliding movements on the table.
- Pulling. The adult holds the baby by the handles, while the child grabs his thumbs. Then the parent slowly starts to straighten the child's handles and pull them up so that the child wants to lift the head and upper body independently. The child seems to be trying to sit down. It is necessary to provide him with a semi-sitting position at an angle of 45 degrees.
Children's massage with hypotonia
To the child to whom the doctor has diagnosed a "hypotone" it will be useful to undergo a course of therapeutic massage, which includes rubbing, kneading of limbs, pinching, tapping. The number of massage sessions and its duration are determined by the doctor in each case separately, taking into account the physiological state of the child's muscles and the dynamics of the recovery process.
It should be remembered that if you turn in time for medical help, parents will help their child to maintain health and catch up with their peers in terms of the level of psychomotor development, since the hypotonicity in infants can have long-term consequences at an older age.