As parents, it is normal to worry about the well-being of our little ones, especially when it comes to sleep.
We know that while they sleep well and enjoy a restful sleep they are growing and enhancing skills they learn during the day, however, sometimes we are alarmed when we see those startles in them.
Although it is common for them to occur, it is key that we know how to differentiate when to be alarmed.
In principle, newborns and infants in the first months of life, present these involuntary movements or spasms, which are completely normal. This is called Moro reflexes in honor of the Austrian pediatrician who discovered them, Ernst Moro. They usually disappear between the baby's third and fourth month of life.
Pediatricians are in charge of evidencing this in the first consultations.
What are these reflexes like?
The baby is startled when he/she feels that he/she loses support or when changing position abruptly, so he/she moves his/her hands, tenses shoulders and back, opens his/her eyes as if frightened, and may start crying in some cases. His little hands and fingers start to move -opening and closing his fists-, retracts his arms towards the body, sticks his elbows, until he starts to calm down.
In the first months of life, noticing these reflexes is key to rule out any neuronal or spinal cord damage in the infant, it could also indicate an injury or fracture in the clavicle. The presence of this reflex indicates that our baby is perfectly healthy and its development is normal.
But these are not the only reflexes that babies show.
Generally speaking, these startles are characterized by being rhythmic, they are repeated in the same way, they commonly affect parts of the body such as the head, trunk or extremities. They do not last more than twenty seconds and are due to the low muscular maturity of babies.
We usually divide them into four basic movements:
Head banging: the baby hits the pillow or mattress with the head, either sideways, with the forehead or the nape of the neck.
Head rolling: moves the baby's head sideways.
Bodyrolling: moves his little body to all sides. Rolls on the mattress or bed.
Bodyrocking: the baby falls asleep moving its body while rocking itself.
The reasons for this are varied, from imitating their parents' gestures when rocking or cradling them, to spasms that the baby performs to relax or calm down.
However, it is necessary to differentiate them from epileptic seizures or convulsions, the latter are maintained even when the baby is awake, sleep spasms cease when the baby wakes up.
If you have any doubts, the best thing to do is to record your baby's sleep and send it to your pediatrician, he will know how to advise you and give you the calm you need. Watching him will be the best way to understand what is happening.
Here are some things you can do to protect your baby's sleep:
- Make sure the surface of the head of the bed is cushioned and protects your child's head if it is bumped.
- Move the bed away from walls or hard surfaces. Avoid sharp edges.
- Invest in a comfortable crib, with barriers and a universal pillow or reducer cushion that supports the baby's body.
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