Baby Has A Startle Reflex What Should Mother Do?

Babies who have just been born for a few months often have "sudden" movements when they sleep, and sometimes tremble, and then being awakened by their own tremors, and then cry. What's going on?

I believe that many new parents should have seen this situation. Some children appear more often, and some children appear less. Therefore, some parents will worry about whether their children will not sleep well for a long time and whether there will be developmental problems.

In fact, the baby wakes up with a sudden shiver in his sleep, which is the baby's startle reflex.

So, What Is The Startle Reflex? Can The Startle Reflex Be "Curable"?

As for the normal startle (Morro's) reflex, in fact, you don't need to worry too much. It belongs to a normal physiological phenomenon of animals. It is a spontaneous defensive reflex of the body caused by sudden strong sensory stimulation. For example, if you accidentally put your hand in scalding hot water, the hand will immediately retract and react.

For a newborn baby, if it is frightened by a sudden stimulus, this startle reflex will definitely occur. This reaction can actually indicate that the baby's nervous system and muscle tissue are OK from the side.

Under normal circumstances, the reaction of the newborn baby is most obvious before the age of one month, but this reaction will gradually disappear after the age of 3-4 months.

Of course, because the startle reflex is a normal response, it cannot be cured, but some methods can be used to reduce it.

How To Reduce The Startle Reflex?

As we said above, the startle reflex is a defensive reflex caused by a sudden stimulus.

According to this principle, we can reduce and avoid sudden and strong stimulation to children.

To put it simply, it is to make babies feel safe and secure.

When a mother is pregnant for ten months, the baby will stay in the womb, so after birth, it will have a startle reflex if it is not adapted to the real environment. Therefore, we can completely imitate a uterine environment to wrap the baby, which is the "swaddling" that everyone often uses.

Swaddling is also learned.

First of all, choose the right time, it is best to wait for the baby to fall asleep, and then gently wake him up;

Secondly, the material of the swaddle should be breathable, and at the same time pay attention to keeping warm;

Once again, it is the swaddling method, which only needs to restrain the baby's arms and upper body.

Of course, if you really can't swaddle, you can also buy a baby sleeping bag instead.

Another Way To Reduce The Startle Reflex Is To Provide Care After The Child Is Startled.

For example, when mothers find that their baby wakes up crying because of the startle reflex at night, they can comfort him with a softer voice, while rhythmically stroking the baby's skin, hair, or gently patting the baby's back. This way your baby can feel safe and calm down quickly.

If comforting doesn't help, try to distract your child, such as attracting him with a toy, or holding him in an odd position, rocking him, and patting him on the back.

If the baby just twists uneasily after the startle reflex appears, and does not wake up directly, then we can hold the baby's hands tightly with our own hands. This action is full of comfort and can bring the child a sense of security. After a while After that, the baby can continue to sleep peacefully.

Where To Be Vigilant

In addition, it is worth noting that parents and mothers are:

If your child is five or six months old and the startle reflex is still present, you need to be very vigilant.

From the definition of the startle reflex, we know that the startle reflex is related to the human nervous system. Therefore, if the baby's startle reflex still exists after six months of age, it is very likely that its brain nervous system has appeared. problem

Secondly, mothers should distinguish between cramps and startle reflexes. These two situations are very different. The startle reflex will generally stop after being held by us, while the cramps and other illnesses will still shake!

Finally, the startle reflex is symmetrical, so you can judge whether the baby's limbs are normal through the startle reflex of the baby.

For example, the baby has a startle reflex, but only the left-hand shakes, but the right-hand does not respond, then it is very likely that the baby's right hand has a problem.

Children are the angels of their parents. In fact, why aren’t parents the angels of their children?

None of us is a natural mother or father, it is the arrival and growth of the child that slowly turns us into a "mother" or "father". In the journey of children's growth, we have too many things to learn, and the startle reflex is only a small part of the many waves. One of the sources of protecting children.

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