Can I hold my baby during confinement?

During the confinement period, many mothers like to hold their babies in their arms. In fact, this is a bad behavior. Because during the neonatal period, if you keep holding your baby, it will not only cause certain harm to the child, such as damage to the baby's neck, but it will also cause fatigue to the mother and affect her physical recovery. So, what are the dangers of holding your baby during confinement? The following is a detailed introduction.

1. One of the possible injuries

During the first six months after birth, newborns will have difficulty supporting the weight of their heads because their neck muscles and ligaments have not yet fully developed. When holding the baby, one hand should gently support the baby's head, and the other hand should hold the baby's hips to the waist to avoid excessive extension or flexion of the baby's head and neck due to improper posture, which may cause invisible harm to the child. Many young mothers, because they are first-time mothers and do not have much experience in holding newborns, may accidentally let the baby's head fall backwards, which is not good for the child's growth and development.

2. Possible harm

When newborns are born, two important joints in the brain, the occipital-atlantoaxial joint and the atlantoaxial joint, are in a state of external subluxation. It is said that this happens in more than 80% of newborns. Therefore, you should be more careful when holding your child. Finally, let your child rest more in his or her own bed. Do not hold and rock him or her in your arms all the time. If you are not careful, it may cause discomfort to the child's head and affect the child's joint development.

3. Common neck injuries in infants

We often see some elderly parents helping young couples take care of their children. They carry their children on their backs and don’t even notice when the children fall asleep. As a result, the child's head is always tilted back or buried. Adults can know what it feels like if they try this sleeping position themselves. It is very hard and tiring, and the cervical spine will hurt like hell when waking up. Children are still young and they don’t know how to express fatigue and discomfort, but this sleeping position is very detrimental to the development of their cervical spine. Family members should try to avoid similar phenomena.

4. Correct holding and sleeping positions for infants and young children

There are many ways to hold a baby, but for babies under six months old, you should not leave the baby's head with one hand and should gently support the baby's head. No matter you hold the baby horizontally in your arms or vertically in front of your chest, one hand should hold the baby's head and neck tightly to prevent the baby's head from suddenly drooping and causing damage to the cervical spine. Normally, the child should sleep lying flat and comfortably. In special environments and circumstances, try to hold the child in your arms while he sleeps, rather than letting him sleep with his head tilted, hanging his head or tilting his head back. Such sleeping positions can easily cause cervical fatigue in children, which is not good for their health.