Neurological problems in children under one year old. Pediatric neurology

The nervous system of a child is one of the most important components of a holistic organism. With help nervous system not only control over the activity of the whole organism as a whole, but also the relationship of this organism with the external environment. This relationship is carried out with the help of sensory organs, receptors on the surface of the child's skin.

The nervous system is a very complex formation in the body of a child. Any violation in its well-coordinated activities can lead to the development of quite serious diseases.

The development of the nervous system is uneven. The laying of the brain occurs on early stages pregnancy (1st week prenatal development child). But even after childbirth, the process of division and formation of new nerve cells does not end. The most intensive period of formation of the child's nervous system falls on the first 4 years of life. It is during this period that the child receives more than 50% of the information that helps him in later life. Adverse environmental influences, infectious diseases, injuries during this period lead to the formation largest number neurological diseases.

Also important is physical activity child, which is also controlled by the nervous system. Being inside the uterus, the child takes a certain position, which allows him to occupy a smaller volume. After birth, the child can identify various reflexes. The presence of these reflexes, on the one hand, is associated with the immaturity of the nervous system, and on the other hand, they help the child survive in the environment. Gradually, in the process of maturation of the nervous system, many of the reflexes disappear, but some, such as swallowing, remain with us for life.

Highly importance in the life of the child have sense organs (sight, smell, touch, hearing). These organs help the child navigate environment, form an idea about objects and phenomena, communicate and learn about the world. Any violations of these sense organs lead to the fact that it becomes very difficult for a child to perceive the world, to communicate with his peers. Of no small importance for the formation of communication is speech, which will also be controlled by the nervous system. Speech impairment can be both a consequence of brain damage and organic diseases of the organs involved in the formation of speech. It is necessary to detect in time various violations speech and treat these conditions, since speech is necessary not only for communication, but also proper assimilation received knowledge.

In some cases it is difficult to recognize neurological diseases in children in the early stages, as they may be hidden behind the functional immaturity of the nervous system. In this case, only parents are able to provide all possible assistance. medical workers, as they are next to the child almost 24 hours a day, and can immediately determine whether the child's behavior has changed. feature neurological disorders in children is also the fact that many of them are wounded, timely, correct, although long-term treatment disappear almost completely.

After studying the articles collected in this section, you will be able to learn how to identify various states in children, which may indicate that the child has a pathology of the nervous system and in time to draw the attention of a doctor to this.

Pediatric neurologist (neuropathologist)

The most common pathologies of the central nervous system in children under one year old include the so-called perinatal encephalopathy. The identification of deviations and pathologies of the nervous system of the child is engaged in pediatric neurologist (neurologist). Development perinatal encephalopathy in an infant, it can provoke an entanglement of the fetal neck with the umbilical cord during pregnancy, premature from the placental puff, prolonged or premature birth, general anesthesia during childbirth. Many pathologies of the child's nervous system are associated with cerebral hypoxia due to external or internal adverse factors in last month pregnancy - toxicosis, taking potent drugs, smoking, the development of acute infectious diseases, the threat of miscarriage, etc.

To various pathologies the central and peripheral nervous system of the child must be taken seriously. Timely contacting to a pediatric neurologist at the slightest sign disorders of the nervous system in a child, you can avoid serious consequences in development. If a pediatric neurologist does not diagnose and prescribe a course of treatment for a child with certain disorders of the nervous system in time, then inaction can lead at least to a delay in the speech and psychomotor apparatus. Pathologies of the nervous system can also lead to the syndrome attention deficit to behavioral disorders, emotional instability, to a violation of the formation of reading, writing, counting skills.

Pediatric neurologist must necessarily examine the child at the first signs of pathology nervous system, to which include the following symptoms(may appear immediately after birth or several months later):
1. The arms and chin are shaking strongly at the slightest excitement, crying, and even sometimes in a calm state;
2. Very superficial, restless sleep in an infant. The baby has difficulty falling asleep and often wakes up;
3. Frequent and profuse regurgitation in an infant;
4. Convulsions (twitching) during an increase in body temperature;
5. When relying on the foot or on the "toes", the fingers are strongly pressed

As noted pediatric neuropathologists, severe lesions of the nervous system are easily diagnosed and are much less common than the lungs (especially in the first year after the birth of a child). Small pathologies of the nervous system are much more difficult to diagnose, but it is early detection disorders of the central or peripheral nervous system and the subsequent complex of treatment can avoid dangerous consequences perinatal lesion child's brain. It is extremely important that during the first few weeks after birth, the child is examined by a specialist - pediatric neurologist.

According to statistics recent years, more than 50% of childhood disability is associated precisely with pathologies of the nervous system, 70% of which appear during pregnancy and in the first month after the birth of a child (perinatal period). Pathologies of the nervous system in the perinatal period cause the development of perinatal encephalopathy, a syndrome of minimal brain dysfunction (in recent times referred to as ADHD). Delayed treatment These disorders of the nervous system can lead to excessive irritability, impulsiveness of the child, poor school performance. Later, lesions of the central and peripheral nervous system can lead to various diseases musculoskeletal system, motor awkwardness, severe headaches, autonomic dysfunction syndrome.

During the inspection, pediatric neurologist collects features of development and past illnesses child from birth. The specialist also analyzes information about how the last weeks of pregnancy went, how the birth went, what diseases the mother suffered in the last month of pregnancy. If any signs and symptoms of a nervous system disorder in a child are found, a pediatric neurologist prescribes additional research- Ultrasound (NSG), examination of the fundus, EEG, ultrasound (Doppler), the technique of stem auditory evoked potentials, MRI (in rare cases). After analyzing the results of the studies, the neuropathologist prescribes and controls a specific treatment.

In the first month of a child's life, intensive maturation and development of brain structures, mental and motor functions. The sooner the pathology of the nervous system is detected and the appropriate course of treatment is prescribed, the higher the likelihood of avoiding dangerous consequences for the health of the child. Today in the arsenal pediatric neurologist there are many various methods treatment of both severe and mild pathologies of the nervous system. This and physical methods impact ( physiotherapy for children, massage, physiotherapy), and medications with researched clinical efficacy, and latest methods neurological rehabilitation(specialized computer speech programs, techniques for improving cerebellar stimulation).

Many modern medical centers equipped the latest equipment for the diagnosis of diseases of the nervous system, develop and apply effective techniques manual and emotional therapy to avoid, if possible, the use of chemotherapy drugs that have side effects.
Here are some of the techniques they use chiropractors and pediatric osteopaths for the treatment of pathologies of the nervous system in children:
1. Visceral manual therapy.
Restoration of mobility and normal functioning organs.
2. Vertebroneurology (soft technique for children manual therapy).
This technique is based on working with ligaments and muscles at a slow pace with stretching of spasmodic, tense areas.
3. Craniosacral therapy. Normalization, alignment of the work of the bones of the child's skull.
When the movement of the bones of the skull is displaced or disturbed, the movement of the cerebral fluid, blood flow is disturbed and, as a result, the work of the brain worsens, the intracranial pressure, the ventricles of the brain expand (dropsy of the brain), headaches intensify. This technique is very relevant for young children.
4. Emotional Techniques.
Very relevant for behavioral disorders, various neuroses in children. Emotional techniques are associated with the impact on the channel-meridian and stress points, with the emotional state.
5. Work with muscles for their relaxation.
As you know, muscles are associated with internal organs, bones, vertebrae. The technique is aimed at muscular-ligamentous relaxation, post-isometric relaxation (holding a special posture, and then relaxing)

Pediatric neurologist also deals with the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic and infectious lesions nervous system, tumors, cerebral palsy, diseases of the autonomic nervous system, convulsive conditions(for example, epilepsy in children), chromosomal and hereditary diseases of the nervous system, adjacent to nervous diseases(endocrinological, orthopedic, psychiatric diseases).

At an older age to pediatric neurologist should be treated for the following symptoms:
1. Frequent headache
2. Piercing back pain
3. Problems of memory and attention
4. Violations of the functions of the spine at different levels
5. Reduced concentration
6. Panic attacks
7. Delay in the rate of speech development, writing, sound pronunciation
8. Diseases peripheral nerves(neuropathy, neuralgia)
9. Quick fatigue

Scheduled examination of the child at a pediatric neurologist:
At three months
At six months
At nine months
At 1 year old
After a year - mandatory annual examination by a neurologist.

There are the following children's neurological lesions:
1. Due to toxic disorders
2. Hereditary, genetic
3. Infectious
4. Hypoxic lesions
5. Due to traumatic lesions
6. Epilepsy (post-traumatic and hereditary)
7. Specific syndromes (including combinations of the above lesions of the nervous system)

Consider the most common neurological diseases of newborns, their symptoms. In fact, it is important for every mother to know the symptoms, since almost all neurological problems can be corrected and treated if they are detected in time - at an early stage!

Almost every baby has some kind of neurological problem: one child has problems with tone or sleep, another has increased intracranial pressure, the third is too inhibited or excitable, the fourth is vegetative - due to a violation of the regulation of vascular tone, a mesh appears on his skin subcutaneous capillaries, and the palms and feet are constantly wet and cold ...

Perinatal encephalopathy (PEP), which is also coded as a "syndrome of CNS disorders"

Her signs are found in 8-9 out of 10 newborns. They arise when adverse effects on the nervous system during pregnancy, childbirth and in the first week after the baby is born.

If you notice in time emerging problems and eliminate them with the help of medicines, herbal remedies, massage and physiotherapy, then AED can pass by 4-6 months, maximum - by a year. In mild cases - without consequences, and more serious or not noticed in time neurological problems after a year often result in the so-called minimal brain dysfunction(MMD).

This diagnosis indicates some weakness and vulnerability of the baby's nervous system, but you should not be upset about this. After all main danger- the threat of the formation of cerebral palsy (CP) - bypassed the crumbs! (For more on what to do if cerebral palsy is diagnosed, see page 62.)

In the first month and then three more times during the year, show the baby to a neurologist. If there is no such specialist in the children's clinic, ask the pediatrician for a referral to the district consultative and diagnostic center.

Intracranial pressure

Under the shells of the head and spinal cord crumbs circulate cerebrospinal fluid- liquor. She feeds nerve cells, carries away end products of an exchange, amortizes blows and concussions. If for some reason more cerebrospinal fluid is produced than flows out, or if external pressure is applied to the head of the crumbs, as during childbirth, intracranial pressure (ICP) increases to a critical level. And since in meninges there are many pain receptors, the child would suffer from an unbearable headache if it were not for the system of sutures and fontanelles, which allows the bones of the skull to diverge, equalizing the pressure.

Thanks to this baby severe pain due to intracranial hypertension does not feel, but feels some discomfort and informs her mother about it. You just need to be able to hear his signals!

Does the baby often cry and spit up often, especially when the weather changes? It looks like he has really high ICP!

Mommy should be alert a bright pattern of saphenous veins, translucent on the temples and bridge of the baby's nose, and sometimes throughout the entire cranial vault. An additional cause for alarm is a white stripe of sclera that periodically appears above the iris of the crumbs, as if he opened his eyes wide in surprise.

• Beware if the circumference of the head of a monthly crumb exceeds the circumference of the chest by more than 2 cm. Check the seam between parietal bones in the middle of the head (its width should not exceed 0.5 cm), as well as the distance between the opposite edges of the fontanelles - large (normally up to 3 x 3 cm) and small (1 x 1 cm).
• Keep the situation under control with a neurologist. Due to the compensatory capabilities of the sutures and fontanelles, it often happens that on neurosonography or ultrasound of the brain, the doctor detects intracranial hypertension in the newborn, and clinical signs there is no trouble: the baby is satisfied, calm, develops well, sleeps soundly at night ... In this case, treatment is not required - only observation by a specialist.
• If a increased ICP will begin to cause concern to the child, the doctor will prescribe diuretics that remove excess fluid from under the membranes of the brain of the crumbs.
• Great remedy for mild hypertension- pharmacy children's tea with horsetail, which has a diuretic effect.

Hypertonicity and hypotonicity of muscles in a newborn

Our biceps and triceps never completely relax - even in a state of sleep, they retain residual tension, which is called muscle tone. In a newborn, it is very high: what is normal for a child in the first weeks of life is a gross pathology for a six-month-old baby.

To fit in mom's tummy, the baby had to shrink into a ball due to overvoltage flexor muscles. It is important that it is not excessive. Muscular hypertension sometimes affects only one half of the child's body. Then the baby lying on its back bends in an arc, turns its head only in one direction, and on the tummy falls on the side where the tone is higher.

Muscular Hypertension Syndrome - one of the most common manifestations of PEP. The tone should be normalized as soon as possible: otherwise the child will lag behind in motor development will have difficulty walking.

This can be avoided doing massage and gymnastics with baby.

Smooth swaying movements relax the clamped muscles. The effect can be achieved by rocking the baby while bathing, as well as on the handles, in the stroller, rocking chair. These movements are great for relaxing tight muscles!

Exercise in the fetal position will be beneficial. Lay the baby on your back, cross your arms on your chest, pull your knees up to your tummy and hold with your left hand, and tilt your baby’s head with your right hand, then gently and rhythmically rock towards you and away from you and from side to side (5-10 times).

Muscular hypotension - the exact opposite of hypertonicity: the arms and legs of the newborn are not pressed to the body, as expected, but are half extended, the resistance to passive extension is insufficient. But in order for the child to actively develop physically and master motor skills, his tone must be normal.

Follow the changes in muscle tone with a neurologist! If you don't fight muscular hypotension, the baby will belatedly learn to roll over, crawl, sit and walk, his feet will remain flat, his legs and spine will bend, dislocations will occur in loose joints. You and your doctor must do everything to prevent this from happening.

Some easily treatable ailments in adults lead to grave consequences, if they occur in babies, and vice versa, there are conditions that the child's body copes with without much difficulty, while in older ones they are practically incurable.

Who is a pediatric neurologist?

Children often get sick. Some diseases of the nervous system in young patients are similar to adults, others are found only in childhood. Some ailments that are easily curable in adults lead to serious consequences if they occur in babies, and vice versa, there are conditions that the child’s body can cope with without much difficulty, while in older ones they are practically incurable. Just as a newborn differs from an adult, the structure and functioning of the brain differ. little man and adult. The same pathological process can proceed differently in the adult and children's nervous system.

That is why there is a separate medical specialty- Pediatric neurologist. Until recently, any pediatrician who listened to a series of lectures on child neurology could treat neurological diseases in children. Now you can become a pediatric neurologist only after completing a full-fledged clinical residency in neurology, including “adult” diseases. children's doctor must know perfectly the anatomy and physiology of the central nervous system with age-related features, be able to determine the level of damage, understand issues of pediatrics, neonatology, obstetrics. But, it turns out, you also need to be well able to distinguish the norm from the pathology and know those conditions of children that go away on their own and do not require treatment.

The baby meets a pediatric neurologist for the first time when he is one month old. it scheduled inspection, on which the doctor assesses the state of the nervous system of the infant, his achievements in terms of psychomotor development in the first 30 days of life. Then, up to a year, the neurologist examines the child four more times, observing his development. This is a medical examination, which is needed in order to identify and start treating in time. possible diseases that affect the development of physical and mental skills.

Nervous diseases in newborns

How can such a baby get sick? The most common group of conditions are the consequences of lack of oxygen, trauma or infection that occurred during or shortly before childbirth. As a rule, the probability of perinatal (“peripartum”) damage to the nervous system is high with severe course pregnancy, when the fetus receives little oxygen, or when pathological course childbirth. Often, CNS damage develops in premature babies. When exposed to one or another damaging factor on the brain, first appear general symptoms, such as convulsions, depression or arousal, and then the signs of a focal lesion come to the fore. This means that those functions for which the dead parts of the brain are responsible are turned off. Most often this is a movement disorder - paresis or paralysis. As a result, at focal lesion The central nervous system in a child develops cerebral palsy and epilepsy. The doctor in the clinic should assess the history of pregnancy and childbirth, risk factors, examine the baby and, if necessary, prescribe additional examination. Children with epileptic seizures should start receiving antiepileptic drugs as soon as possible. Children with baby cerebral palsy(cerebral palsy) must undergo modern rehabilitation.

hereditary diseases metabolism appear immediately after birth or during the first year of life. The child may have epileptic seizures, violation of muscle tone and gross delay in psychomotor development. The debut in childhood is also characteristic of hereditary degenerative and neuromuscular diseases. Such illnesses are severe. They develop rapidly and lead to the immobilization and death of the child, whose mental development does not suffer and the level of consciousness does not change. Early and accurate diagnosis of these diseases is important, first of all, for further family planning and calculation of the probability of developing the disease in other children in the family.

Hydrocephalus- Another disease that most often debuts in the first year of life. This disease is associated with a violation of the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid (fluid that washes the spinal cord and brain and circulates in the cavities of the brain - the ventricles). Hydrocephalus may be due to birth defects development of the central nervous system, inflammation of the membranes of the brain, tumors. The cerebrospinal fluid presses on the brain tissue, so the development of the child is inhibited, convulsions may appear, and when acute course- respiratory failure and death. A pediatric neurologist in a polyclinic may notice the first signs of the disease: too fast growth head circumference, divergence of the sutures of the skull, signs of intracranial hypertension (increased CSF pressure). In this case, the child is urgently sent to the hospital, where neurosurgeons deal with it. With timely surgical treatment these children have a chance to develop and live a normal life.

Unfortunately, the condition of the baby during examination is not always adequately assessed and normal age features a small person is often interpreted as neurological symptoms. In the medical record healthy child there are such diagnoses as perinatal encephalopathy, hydrocephalic syndrome, pyramidal insufficiency or delayed psychomotor development. Vascular and nootropic drugs with unproven efficacy and safety. Young parents should carefully consider the comments and appointments of a pediatric neurologist and, possibly, consult with several specialists.

Nervous diseases in children after a year

After a year, a neurologist examines children before kindergarten, before entering school, after the first grade, before the fifth and after ten years - annually. What diseases are in his "management"? With what complaints to come to this doctor? What can be given to a child?

epilepsy people of all ages suffer, but in the vast majority of cases, the onset of this disease occurs in childhood. In infants of the first year, these are, as a rule, severe symptomatic epilepsies and malignant epileptic syndromes of infancy. In early school and adolescence idiopathic and presumably symptomatic forms of epilepsy may begin. The question of epilepsy arises in any stereotypically repetitive seizures with or without loss of consciousness, unusual short-term fading, involuntary movements in the muscles, repeated sensations of smells or sounds. The doctor should definitely examine the child after any fainting. Only for children are typical febrile convulsions in response to high temperature and affective-respiratory paroxysms - these conditions have nothing to do with epilepsy, they do not need to be treated, and therefore it is important to distinguish between them. Anyone under the age of 20 is likely to have at least one episode of seizures. Not all seizures require immediate treatment, but in most cases earlier child started taking a properly selected antiepileptic drug, the better the prognosis for the course of the disease, mental development and quality of life. Children with seizures do not require any examination, except for an EEG every six months and an MRI once at the first symptoms of the disease. No drugs, except modern anticonvulsants, will help them. Often prescribed by polyclinic neurologists, pantogam, mexidol and cortexin to "increase the threshold convulsive readiness» should not be used. Not only do they not help, but they can also be dangerous for children, especially if you rely on them instead of taking anticonvulsants early.

Headache- scourge modern people, and in big cities even children of kindergarten age complain that their head starts to hurt in the evening. Headache in children may be accompanied by diseases such as anemia, pathology thyroid gland, bronchial asthma, depression, chronic tonsillitis and many others. To treat a headache, it is very important to understand its cause. In Russian clinics, for diagnosis, they still use such uninformative studies for headaches as REG and ECHO-EG, they look for the causes of the disease in changes in the EEG, although often a careful questioning, examination and general analysis blood. With a headache, the traditionally prescribed nootropics, cavinton and cerebrolysin, are useless. Often, instead of annual examinations and medications with dubious effectiveness the child can be helped by a simple organization of the daily routine, sufficient sleep, limiting the computer for gaming purposes and adequate exercise stress. Analgesics can help relieve pain. Unfortunately, children with migraine who regularly visit a neurologist and their parents become so "ill" that they refuse to change their lifestyle and rely on vascular therapy. Year after year, they expect improvement, believing that the cause of the pain is a violation of blood flow in the brain, limiting themselves in sports and in general in life activity. And it is the pediatric neurologists who are supposed to dispel such misconceptions, on the contrary, diligently cultivate them, which leads to chronic pain and the development of depression.

Sleep disturbance- a very common complaint in childhood, which usually comes from parents. From birth, the baby may sleep at inconvenient times, cry at night, wake up too often during the day, startle and grunt in sleep. Older children fall asleep late, refuse daytime sleep, and teenagers in general can stay up half the night, talk and grind their teeth in their sleep. All this worries attentive parents who think that something is wrong with their baby. In fact, complaints become relevant only if they excite the child himself. Late falling asleep and night tantrums, after which the child is well-rested and active - this pedagogical problem, not requiring medical intervention. Sleepwalking, sleep-talking, grinding of teeth, and startling in sleep are parasomnias that occur in anyone. healthy person And they don't need treatment either. Medical reasons sleep disturbance should be looked for when the baby clearly does not get enough sleep after he could not fall asleep at night, does not sleep because of crying, the cause of which may be pain, if nighttime awakenings from nightmares are too frequent. In such cases, the child should be examined by a neurologist, pediatrician and child psychiatrist.

Neurologist's patients are often children with compulsive movements, or tics. It can be blinking, wrinkling the nose, shrugging, as well as coughing, "grunting" and "grunting" - vocal tics. Some children react with tics to an emotionally significant situation or illness for them. Obsessions can be provoked by a transition to another kindergarten or school, a trip to the sea, moving, and even such unimportant events from the point of view of adults as the arrival of a grandmother, going to visit or to the theater, a walk in a new place. Most tics are called transient, and they end on their own within three to four months without treatment. It is on the peculiarities of tics that they pass on their own and the myth is based that such medicines as pantogam, phenibut, cortexin and sedative herbs help them. Parents are worried that their child is “nervous” and that “it will remain so for life”, and are happy to support the decision of the outpatient neurologist to prescribe pills. When the tics go away after some time, the mother rejoices that the treatment was correct and not in vain. In fact, only persistent tics that interfere with a normal life need treatment (for example, he is ridiculed at school for blinking or he cannot write accurately because of a tic in his hand). In such cases, serious drugs are prescribed that alleviate the child's condition at the time of admission. Tourette's syndrome, or generalized tic, is quite rare. With this disease obsessive movements they capture all muscle groups, it is difficult to live with him in society, so children with this condition constantly take drugs that restrain tics. Tiki - childhood disease, they disappear in most patients with the onset of puberty.

A neurologist is often visited by children with behavioral and developmental disorders, conditions that should be managed by child psychiatrists. Delays in the development of intelligence, speech, the formation of social skills may be associated with somatic disease(impaired speech development with deafness), neurological (oligophrenia with cerebral palsy, epilepsy) or are independent diseases. One of the most common behavioral disorders in modern world Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD. It is based on three main symptoms: inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. It has been proven that ADHD is hereditary disease, and work is underway to determine the role of environmental factors in the development of this condition. Not every child who makes noise, runs around and “stands on his ears” has ADHD. More often it is physiological hyperactivity in combination with defects in education. ADHD has clear criteria that a doctor must strictly follow when making such a diagnosis. Unfortunately, in bad behavior of their child, many parents tend to see the disease, and instead of thoughtful pedagogical work hope for pills prescribed by a neurologist. If a child does have ADHD due to a deficiency of certain substances in the brain, he needs to be prescribed a drug that will increase their concentration and help the patient cope with the symptoms. Medicines designed to improve blood flow in the brain, sedatives and nootropics will be useless in such a situation. If the baby (and the diagnosis of ADHD is increasingly appearing in medical records preschoolers and even one-year-olds) is healthy, but due to age is more active and noisy than parents expect, sedative herbs can calm him to please sensitive adults. But the child doesn't really need it.

Remembering the words of the elephant Horton from a children's fairy tale, I want to say: “Personality is personality. There is no growth here." Every child is an individual individual person with their experiences, thoughts and interests. With your own character. If he is sick, he needs help to cope with the disease, and in modern medicine there is effective ways fight many ailments. If he is healthy, you just need to let him grow and develop, without trying to find a pathology and change his character.

Articles

Dieting, choosing foods that the body really needs, and avoiding excesses in food are all fundamental points that can slow down the development of cerebrovascular disease.

Russian medical journal

Suponeva N.A., Nikitin S.S., Piradov M.A.

Russian medical journal

Isakova M.E.

Consilium Medicum

R.V. Akhapkin

Russian medical journal

Solovieva I.K.

Russian medical journal

Alekseev V.V.

Russian medical journal

Kovrov G.V., Lebedev M.A., Palatov S.Yu.

Today, problems in the field of neurology in newborns are very common. After all, the child is affected by modern ecology, and parental nutrition, stress. To the most common neurological disorders in infants lead: birth injury, lack of oxygen during the development of the fetus in the womb in the first months of pregnancy, complications that arose during childbirth, poor heredity. Also, the mother's toxicosis can affect the child if it manifests itself in a severe form.
The health of the baby depends on the heredity that he received, as well as on the social conditions he is in. At the same time, in early age he needs dynamic observation in the first, third, sixth, ninth and twelfth months of life, after birth.
Motor, mental and speech development child in the first year of life - dynamics
In the first month after his birth, the baby learns to hold his head, fix his eyes, trace the movement of bright objects, listen to various sounds. At the same time, he unconsciously begins to smile and make sounds with the help of the larynx.
In the third month, the child has already learned to confidently hold his head, rise on his forearms, roll over on his side from his back. Often trying to take objects around him, such as toys, began to respond to the voice and face of his mother, shows a vocal reaction to hunger or discomfort. The facial expressions of the baby come to life when someone's voice sounds, if he feels good, then he smiles or laughs.
At six months, the newborn should already sit on his own, get on all fours, and can swing. At this age, he often tries to crawl away somewhere. He takes objects with one hand, showing interest in them, and has already learned how to manipulate them quite well. The kid is already starting to babble (imitated speech), pronounce his first syllables, he also loves to imitate the intonations of adults.
At the ninth month, the baby is characterized by active crawling, the ability to stand (of course, with support or holding on to the nearest support). He is already good with toys, he has learned to take objects of small sizes. During this period of development, he already distinguishes between relatives and strangers, he can repeat movements, imitating the “interlocutor”, for example, playing “patties” and “magpie-crow”. Also, the child will be able to show a certain part of the body and understand that they are saying “no”, say short words(usually "mom" and "dad"). Now he is already able to complete a simple task and drink from a mug on his own.
At twelve months, children begin to walk independently, understand speech addressed to them, play with dolls or cars, help themselves dress, learn to be neat. Vocabulary at this age - about ten to twelve words.
It is important to know that when forming a child's speech, two options are usually distinguished: 1) the number of words spoken by the child gradually increases; 2) speech develops unevenly (the child starts from the simplest syllables, and at 6-12 months it falls silent, and at 9 months begins the conscious repetition of syllables).
The most common neurology in newborns (nervous system damage) at this age is caused by hypoxia (while carrying a child in the womb or during childbirth) changes in the functioning of the central nervous system. Changes mean: too high excitability, disturbed sleep and eating behavior, movement disorders (and muscle tone), violation in the regulation of pressure inside the skull, the skin became marbled, the palms and feet are moist, the extremities are cold, meteorological lability is observed, the possible occurrence of different types convulsions.
Parents must be aware that in the absence of the necessary and proper this case attention to such manifestations, which are pathological, with regard to the state of the child's central nervous system, certain consequences can be reaped. The baby may have delayed psychomotor and speech development, which in turn can lead to behavioral disorders (hyperactivity), lack of attention, emotional instability may frolic in him, and the formation of writing, reading and counting skills may be impaired. In addition, the development of brain functioning will also slow down, i.e. speech, attention and memory in a child will be impaired.
If parents have noticed the following symptoms in a child, it is imperative to go to the appointment of a pediatric neurologist:
- the baby's suckling is too sluggish, he interrupts because he gets tired;
- the baby chokes, milk flows out through the nose;
- there is nasality in the voice, and the cry is weak;
- in a child, regurgitation occurs often, and the whole is added insufficiently;
- the newborn is inactive or too restless, and this condition only intensifies, even if almost nothing changes around him;
- the baby's chin, upper and / or lower limbs especially when he cries;
- the child has an unreasonable shudder, it is difficult to fall asleep, and the dream itself is superficial and short;
- when lying on his side, he usually throws back his head;
- head circumference grows too fast or too slowly;
- the child is inactive, sluggish, the muscles are in a flabby state (in low tone) or he is constrained in his movements (which indicates a high muscle tone), which makes swaddling him a difficult task.