Some parents say with great pride that they have a very active child. Indeed, this is good if it is not a sign of increased activity of the baby. Overly active behavior becomes a problem after some time, the baby cannot concentrate normally and has poor control over its actions.
So what is the problem?
Syndrome of increased neuro-reflex excitability in childhood can appear against the background of brain damage. This type of symptom complex is found in 10% of preschool children. It is believed that boys are more susceptible to this disease. The main distinguishing feature of the syndrome is that the children are too active, are characterized by an increased level of anxiety, tremor can even occur, most often in the limbs, less often in the chin area. In infants, frequent regurgitation and sleep disturbance, restless sleep can be observed.
At its core, it is a perinatal lesion of the nervous system. Russian doctors attribute this syndrome to the pathological process, and foreign experts believe that this is a borderline condition that does not require any correction. At the same time, practical medicine shows that the lack of timely medical intervention often leads to persistent neurotic conditions in the future.
Why is this happening?
There are a number of reasons that can lead to hyper-excitability syndrome:
- Injuries. First of all, intracranial, which were obtained during childbirth. The culprits of such injuries are most often medical personnel.
- Rapid and too fast childbirth, which lead not only to excessive activity of the baby, but also to other serious consequences.
- Hypotoxic birth. Such situations occur against the background of fetal and newborn asphyxiation. A violation of placental circulation can lead to this condition.
- Infectious causes. The cause of infection may be the mother herself, who fell ill with an infectious disease during the period of gestation. It can also happen in the first days of a baby's life.
- Toxic and metabolic. In such situations, only the mother is to blame, perhaps she smoked, and it doesn’t matter, she smoked cigarettes or hookah, or drank alcohol or illicit medications, and violated their dosage.
However, hyper-excitability of newborns can appear against the background of constant stress in the mother. After all, the baby’s nervous system is formed much earlier than it is born.
Or maybe it's heredity?
There is still a debate on this issue in medical circles. Some experts believe that if at least one of the parents had such problems in childhood, then the baby is at great risk of inheriting the same syndrome.
Other experts believe that there is no hyper-excitability syndrome, this is just a lack of education. Simply put, if the baby is allowed everything, then he does everything he wants and is practically uncontrollable. The question is open, so there is no exact answer to it.
How is the syndrome manifested?
First of all, the child has constant mood swings, emotional outbursts. Outbursts of "anger" are manifested in completely unexpected situations, and most often a bad mood takes shape on the parents. Then, the mood of the active child is replaced by joy and laughter is heard. Such situations constantly occur, but parents can get used to such differences, and problems often arise in the school and kindergarten, on the playground.
Such children strive to become leaders in any situation, however, most of their peers cannot keep track of the speed of thought of a baby who, as a result, remains without friends. Kids often become bullies.
In children with the syndrome, signs of neurotization are visible, manifested in a tendency to anxiety from scratch, increased fatigue. May cause a sleep disorder. They can constantly bite their nails, pick their fingers in the nose. Often there is a lack of coordination, the child may seem angular and awkward. This symptom leads to the fact that it’s even difficult for a child to master a bicycle, he will learn this skill for a long time.
Another unpleasant symptom of hyper-excitability syndrome is the desire to constantly establish contacts with strangers. On the one hand, it may seem that the child is sociable, but the modern world is quite dangerous, and contact with a stranger can lead to irreparable consequences for the child himself.
Education and school
Over-excitability syndrome often causes poor grades in school. The child’s attention constantly switches, so it’s rather difficult to focus on what the teacher tells the child throughout the lesson.
Errors in the text and tasks are most often made precisely by inattention. Simply put, no self-organization skills are observed. The teacher, in turn, may think that the child does everything out of harm. Such children usually have very clumsy handwriting, a lot of corrections in notebooks.
At the initial level, children with the syndrome have a normal level of intelligence, like everyone else. However, if parents do not pay attention to the behavior of their offspring, then, over time, the child will have a poor vocabulary, they cope poorly with abstract tasks and poorly understand what space and time are. In cases where no measures are taken to eliminate the syndrome, the child may have a secondary decrease in intellectual development.
Newborns
After birth, the syndrome manifests itself in poor sleep and constant crying. Tantrums last a long time, and crying is monotonous. Such babies very sluggishly suck their breasts, and the fingers on their hands most of the time are clenched. The child trembles in a dream, often wakes up and scream a little.
The skin, as usual, has a marbled hue, and on the bridge of the nose you can see how thin wreaths are visible through the skin. In frost, the skin usually acquires a bluish tint. The severity of the network of vessels increases precisely in the cold. This is due to the fact that the newborn has increased intracranial pressure, which often provokes the development of the syndrome.
In cases where the course of the syndrome is favorable, the symptomatology decreases by 5 months of age, and completely disappears by the year.
Diagnostics
To date, there is no methodology for determining hyper-excitability in children. Even what happens in the brain and central nervous system is unknown. And very often it’s quite difficult even for an experienced doctor to determine if a child is poorly raised or has a syndrome.
The doctor collects an anamnesis, including perinatal. It is necessary to be very careful with such children, because an unfamiliar environment, touches can cause hysteria, a certain resistance, an increase in muscle tone, that is, making a diagnosis will be difficult.
In some cases, the doctor prescribes an ultrasound scan of the vessels of the brain, electroencephalography, and other studies that will determine the features of the processes in the neuromuscular tissues.
Not the least role is played by factors that led to this condition in the child, perhaps these are the consequences of toxicosis during pregnancy, or somatic, metabolic, psychological reasons.
Therapeutic measures
It should be understood that hyper-excitability is not a sentence. However, getting rid of the syndrome only by using medication does not work out. They can only slightly calm the baby, and the parents themselves will have to be patient.
Fairly good effect in children after visiting sessions of osteopathy. Literally a couple of sessions help some children and the symptom complex goes away forever. An osteopath restores normal blood supply to the brain, which begins to work fully.
Also, behavioral therapy is required so that the child can adapt as much as possible in society, to study normally at school. Family consultations with a psychotherapist may also be required, and a speech therapist undergoes treatment.
In the first years of life, therapeutic measures are aimed at eliminating the perinatal lesions of the central nervous system in order to eliminate the symptoms when the child starts in a dream, eats badly. In such cases, swimming, baths with the addition of aromatic salts or needles are recommended. Well help sessions of massage and exercise therapy, physiotherapy: amplipulse therapy, electrophoresis and other procedures. It is at this age that the wonderful effect of herbal medicine, which consists of treatment with sedative teas and fees.
In addition, parents are obliged to do everything so that the baby is quiet and calm in their own homes, they should follow the regime and take frequent walks in the fresh air.
The main thing is not to ignore the problem, but to consult a doctor earlier so that the baby becomes a full member of society.
Prevention
It is very important, after the birth of the baby, observe the regimen of the day, regularly visit a doctor. Parents should definitely abandon bad habits. The baby should be looked after, given him a massage, tempered.
An important role is played by the timeliness of the examination by the doctor of the future mother. It is very important to prevent perinatal damage to the central nervous system in the baby, that is, eliminate all factors that can lead to fetal hypoxia, childbirth trauma (spinal injury, intracranial injuries, etc.). Although, the appearance of such injuries is more dependent on the professionalism of the obstetrician.