Why does a newborn's chin tremble. Trembling of the chin in infants: physiological and pathological causes

Tremor in newborns is a kind of muscle twitching that can be seen in babies from birth. It occurs in almost all young children: there are practically no parents who would not notice a tremor of the chin in newborns, trembling of the legs or hands. It manifests itself most often at moments of stress for the baby - when he cries or worries due to hunger or pain (for example, with).

Causes of tremor in children

Immaturity of the nervous system.

In the first weeks of a child's life, his movements are completely uncoordinated, the nervous system is still immature, which causes trembling of the limbs. If the baby also has an increased muscle tone, then the likelihood of tremors increases significantly. Most often, this trembling occurs due to the fact that infants have immature nerve centers that are responsible for movements in the brain, and also due to an excess of norepinephrine in the blood of a newborn during the manifestation of emotions. This excess appears due to the immaturity of the adrenal medulla.

Fetal hypoxia.

While waiting for a child or during childbirth, disturbances in the placental blood flow may occur, which also contributes to disorders that are associated with the activity of the brain. Hypoxia itself also occurs with violations of the functionality of the placenta, and with various bleeding, and with the threat of miscarriage, and with polyhydramnios, and with intrauterine infections. Sometimes during childbirth there is a weakness of labor activity, and sometimes there are rapid births, sometimes there is an entanglement of the umbilical cord, or all these options can lead to problems with the nervous system in the baby. As a result, there is a violation of the movement of oxygen to the brain, which is fraught with the development of tremor in newborns.

Premature baby.

Very often, it is premature babies who suffer from tremors of the legs, chin or lips, since their peripheral and central nervous systems were initially immature. And although their maturation continues outside the mother's body, despite full and proper care, this still cannot replace all the conditions of being in the mother's womb.

When should tremor be treated?

As a rule, treatment is not required, because the tremor in children passes by the age of three months on its own.

If the trembling captures not only the arms or chin, but also the legs, the head at the same time, then this is an alarming symptom. Especially if the twitches are completely unrelated to arousal or hunger. It is dangerous if the tremor does not decrease for weeks or months. This condition of the baby can be associated with serious problems:

1. hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy,
2. hyperglycemia,
3. drug withdrawal syndrome,
4. hypocalcemia,
5. hypomagnesemia,
6. sepsis,
7. intracranial hemorrhage,

In the event that the tremor occurs during crying, fright, or REM sleep - do not worry, but if the tremor is unreasonable and intensifies - there is a clear neurological disorder. In this case, you should immediately contact a specialist. Basically, in addition to observation by a neurologist, children are recommended a course of massage and therapeutic exercises - this should be carried out by a highly qualified specialist. Well helps to cope with the tremor of swimming - this can be done even in the bathroom. Such children must be in a calm environment - benevolent and even. This will be a kind of treatment for the crumbs.

Hello, dear parents, my beloved readers. Today we will talk about an important topic: why does a child's chin shake when crying? With the birth of a baby, parents have a lot of worries and worries associated with raising a child and his health. Of course, fathers and mothers, seeing the muscular twitching of the chin of their child, which are sometimes accompanied by hand tremors, worry, fear that the child is not all right. But you should not panic.

In fact, sometimes children can experience chin tremors - this is an infantile feature that is quite normal for a newborn.

If a baby's chin trembles, then this is an absolutely normal phenomenon that occurs, for example, after the baby has cried a lot or has been awake for a long time. Against the background of general physical fatigue, a tremor can also be observed.

By the way, at the same time, blue chin skin can also be observed, so do not be alarmed - this is not a pathology. It's all about the immaturity of the nervous system. In addition, the work of the adrenal glands has not yet been established in a monthly child.

Other reasons include:

• Hypertonicity;
• prematurity;
• unfavorable situation, quarrels in the family;
• depression in a nursing mother after childbirth.

Causes associated with the course of pregnancy and childbirth

1. The threat of abortion.
2. Smoking during pregnancy.
3. Intrauterine infections.
4. Taking hormonal drugs during childbearing.
5. Stress during pregnancy.
6. Rapid delivery.

Due to intestinal colic, the baby may be disturbed by sleep. This will negatively affect the nervous system. The general condition worsens against the background of overexcitation and constant lack of sleep. This causes stress - it is expressed in the trembling of the chin, and the leg may even tremble.

If your child is in a calm state, and the tremor still occurs, maybe it happens during feeding, then you need to consult a neurologist. He will identify the cause and prescribe the right treatment in order to relax the tone.

In the first three months, twitching of the chin and legs in children is the norm. During the phase of REM sleep, the arms and legs of the baby tremble intensely, the eyes often move under half-closed eyelids.
Gradually, such twitches disappear, appearing only in case of a strong fright or with a hysterical cry.

Involuntary contractions of the limbs in a one-year-old baby is already a cause for concern.

So, hand trembling may indicate that there are disorders in the thyroid gland. In this case, before the tremor, there is insomnia, increased sweating. The list should be added indigestion, colic. All these symptoms are a reason to go for a consultation with an endocrinologist.

How should parents behave?

To begin with, it should be remembered that with any changes in the child's condition, it is necessary to show it to the doctor. It is necessary to follow all the recommendations of a specialist. In difficult cases, the doctor prescribes special drugs that help improve the supply of oxygen to the cells.

Sometimes it is quite possible to do without medicines. Relaxing baths with herbs help. In addition, you can do a therapeutic massage. It is very important that a calm atmosphere reigns around your child.

It is necessary to do everything possible to save the baby from stressful situations. Extraneous noise should be removed, pay attention to the lighting - it should be pleasant, not hurt the eyes. Create a welcoming atmosphere in your home.

Relaxing massage

Of course, it is best to contact a massage therapist for tremors, but in principle, why shouldn’t mommy carry out this procedure herself? The course should begin at five to six weeks from the birth of the little one. It is necessary to ventilate the room in which you will do the massage.

Fingernails should be cut short so as not to scratch the baby. Remember to remove jewelry from your fingers and wrists before starting the procedure. Your hands should be warm and dry. Massage should be done on a flat surface - it can be a changing table, for example.

Very carefully should be massaged in the spine. The same goes for the liver. You should not massage the mammary glands.

During the massage, talk to the child, smile at him, you can even sing songs. The procedure should be carried out when your little one is in a good mood. The optimal time is before bathing or an hour before feeding.

If the child is tired of the massage, then stop doing it. Use four basic movements - stroking, vibrating, kneading and rubbing. Begin and end the massage with gentle strokes. The session should last about five to ten minutes.

Well, now you know how to save a child from chin tremor.

On this today we will say goodbye. See you next time on the blog. Share your impressions of the article with your friends from the social network. Let them join our lovely company. By the way, I strongly advise you to watch the video course " A child from birth to one year.».

The appearance of a baby in the family brings, of course, joy, but also worries and worries about his health. Of course, some parental fears are groundless, but these experiences are so intrusive that it is very difficult to get rid of them.

One of the most frequently asked questions that first of all arises among young parents is why the child's chin is trembling and the hands are shaking.

Tremor (trembling, involuntary muscle twitching) of the chin, lower lip and arms, which is most noticeable during crying, is considered normal in a child under three months old.

Causes of chin tremor

All premature newborns have a tremor of the chin. This is due to the pronounced immaturity of the nervous system of such children.

There may be several reasons for this condition. Let's consider them in order.

• natural physiological causes.

In the first weeks of life, the baby's body is not yet fully formed. It is the immaturity of the nerve centers responsible for the coordination and control of movements that causes the chin and arms to tremble.

The condition is exacerbated by excess amounts of norepinephrine, a hormone that contracts smooth muscle and raises blood pressure. It is produced by the adrenal glands in stressful situations. Since the adrenal glands in a child are underdeveloped in the first months of life, in response to the slightest disturbances, they can release large amounts of noradrenaline uncontrollably. These two factors cause the baby's arms and chin to tremble.

All premature babies have tremors, as their nervous system, unlike babies born at term, is even more immature. Moreover, outside the womb, it will take much longer to form.

This video briefly talks about the main points of caring for a newborn, you can also see the tremor of the chin and arms. The specialist explains that this is often due to physiological causes and quickly passes.

• Pathological causes that can occur both during pregnancy and childbirth, due to various injuries of the nervous system (in particular, the brain).

Factors that act during pregnancy and lead to pathological tremor in a child: infections, including intrauterine; polyhydramnios; risk of miscarriage; nervous stress in the mother, in which the produced noradrenaline passes through the placenta into the blood of the fetus and causes disruptions in the development of its nervous and endocrine systems.

Weak labor activity or vice versa, rapid delivery, entanglement of the baby with the umbilical cord, placental abruption, bleeding and other pathological conditions resulting in hypoxia (lack of oxygen in the brain) of the fetus and numerous neurological pathologies based on it lead not only to trembling of the lips or chin, but also to tremor of the limbs and head.

Small twitches or a slight tic of the chin and arms (namely, this is what a tremor looks like), which lasts for several seconds, can be caused by both positive and negative emotions of the baby.

Pleasant moments, such as bathing or feeding a child, can cause this condition.

In the early days, while the baby gets used to the world around him, everything new is a kind of stress for him, so his nervous system, along with increased physiological muscle tone, reacts sharply, provoking crying and accompanying tremor.

The unpleasant moments that cause trembling of the chin, first of all, include pain, for example, colic in the abdomen. But even the simplest dressing, feeling of hunger or ordinary fatigue after a walk, that is, situations in which the baby experiences discomfort, can provoke crying and tremors in the child. Cold, bright light or loud sound, unpleasant smells or thirst - this is not a complete list of factors that cause dissatisfaction of the baby.

Summing up the above, we can conclude that the tremor is caused by overexcitation of the immature nervous system of the child as a result of emotional experiences or physical exertion. Do not panic if a slight trembling of the chin appears at the moments when the baby is experiencing discomfort, and lasts for several seconds. After three months, these symptoms disappear, and only in premature babies, the tremor lasts longer.

What can be done?

• Analyze in what situations the child experiences discomfort: it is quite possible that they can be avoided, at least partially.
• Based on the first point, create the most optimal conditions for the emotional comfort of the crumbs.
• Child care procedures and activities - walking, bathing, feeding - should be carried out in a quiet, calm and friendly atmosphere.
• The next step is a relaxing massage. This procedure has an excellent effect on the fragile body of the baby; you can do it yourself (each pediatrician can show a few simple movements), but it is best to take a course of sessions with a specialist.
• Adding decoctions of herbs to the bath when bathing - oregano, mint, lemon balm, valerian, chamomile or motherwort - well calms the child's nervous system and relieves stress. However, herbs should not be abused, as the baby may develop an allergy; You can use them no more than three times a week.
• Mandatory strict adherence to the regime of the day.
• Sometimes, in more complex cases, the doctor may prescribe drugs that improve the supply of oxygen to the brain tissue, such as Glycine or Mydocalm.

It should be noted right away that a consultation with a neurologist is necessary in any case. At three, six and nine months in the baby's body, rapid "leaps" of growth and development of the nervous system occur. These are the so-called critical periods when the child's nervous system is most vulnerable. Therefore, the main and mandatory visits to specialist doctors fall precisely on these moments.

In what cases should you see a doctor?

Trembling of the chin in a child 6 months and older is a reason to contact a neurologist.

In addition to the mandatory scheduled visits to the neurologist, you need to show him the child in the following cases:

• along with the trembling of the chin and arms, a tremor of the muscles of the head is observed;
• twitches occur at times when the child is absolutely calm, and there is no reason for discomfort;
• the skin during such attacks turns blue, and perspiration appears;
• the tremor is expressed not by small, but by large trembling, the child is “pounding”;
• each time the tremor is prolonged and lasts more than half a minute;
• trembling of the chin, lower lip, hands occurs stably for several days or weeks;
• tremor does not disappear by the age of six months;
• the birth of the baby took place with complications: prolonged labor, prematurity and other conditions leading to fetal hypoxia.

When it is established that the trembling of the chin and arms is caused by pathological processes in the body, in no case should you self-medicate. It is best to follow all the recommendations of the attending physician, and the baby's condition will quickly return to normal.

Which doctor to contact

When a trembling of the chin, arms of a newborn or infant occurs, it is necessary to consult a neurologist.

Tremor in newborns, various twitching of the limbs are observed from birth. Most often, the child's arms or chin tremble. Sometimes there is a tremor of the head, but this is already evidence of serious disorders of the nervous system.

The child's chin is trembling: causes

In a newborn child, the immaturity of the nerve centers responsible for movement is still observed.

There are critical periods in the development of the nervous system in a child of the first year of life. These are the first, third, ninth and twelfth months of life. If the child's chin trembles even after a year, then this indicates that during childbirth or during pregnancy the child's nervous system was disturbed.

If a child's chin trembles, the reasons must be sought during pregnancy and childbirth.

The reasons for such damage during pregnancy may be the nervous state of the mother. Hypoxia of the fetus during pregnancy or during childbirth could lead to disorders of the nervous system.

Usually, a child develops a tremor of the chin after physical exertion or emotional outbursts. Up to three months, tremor is not considered a pathology.

Premature babies often suffer from tremors in the limbs. This is due to the fact that their nervous system has not matured. And outside the womb, she matures more slowly.

If a child has a chin tremor, then parents should think about the fact that the child has a weak point - his nervous system, which requires constant monitoring. In newborns, the nervous system is very flexible and with proper treatment, the baby will be healthy very soon.

When to contact a neurologist

You should consult your doctor if:

• the baby's lower jaw trembles in a calm state, and this is not associated with emotional activity;
• not only the lower jaw twitches, but the whole head;
• the child is older than three months, but the twitching does not subside.

All children develop differently, so because of the trembling of the lower jaw, in any case, you should not panic. But visiting a doctor will not be superfluous.

What to do if your child has chin tremor

Since jaw twitching is not a disease, getting rid of it can hardly be called a cure. It is, rather, helping the baby to adapt to our world. Massage, swimming and, most importantly, a good emotional atmosphere in the family are well suited for these purposes.

If the cause of the trembling was any disease of the nervous system, the treatment will not be directed to this individual symptom. The nervous system of the baby is perfectly recoverable, thanks to its flexibility, most diseases are well treated and do not leave consequences.

If you are very concerned about the tremor of the chin in a child, then first of all you need to go for a consultation with a pediatric neurologist. If the reasons are unknown to you, then only a doctor, after a thorough examination, can prescribe treatment depending on the degree of the disease (if it is needed at all). All treatment can be limited to relaxing massage and therapeutic exercises. These procedures must be carried out by specialists. Very good to do swimming with the baby.

At home, the environment should be calm and quiet. Add decoctions of mint, valerian and lemon balm to the bath for bathing the child. These herbs calm the child, relax him.

Video materials on the topic of the article

Useful information about pediatric neurology:

Only a born baby has a set of unconditioned reflexes that he acquired while in his mother's stomach - sucking, swimming, grasping. The nervous system of the baby is imperfect and not fully formed, which may result in trembling of the limbs and other parts of the body. Most of all, young parents can be frightened by a tremor that has begun - when a newborn's chin is shaking. You can find out whether there is a real reason for excitement by understanding the causes of muscle tremors.

Interaction with external stimuli is a great stress for a newborn child. The immaturity of his nerve centers leads to the fact that the legs can begin to twitch, the arms shake, and when crying, the chin, lower lip, jaw. Why does the baby's chin shake:

In response to physical or emotional overexcitation, the baby's central nervous system reacts with increased excitability, which leads to excessive motor activity and chin trembling.

Strengthening the nervous system and normalization of the endocrine system in infants occurs at about 3 months of age. According to a well-known pediatrician, whose opinion many mothers listen to, Yevgeny Komarovsky, chin tremor in infants is observed in almost half of newborns and in most cases does not require treatment.

Parents should observe the development of the baby, identifying on their own why the baby's lower lip and chin are shaking. Do not worry if the tremor is observed during feeding, crying, sudden movements, loud sound, and in a relaxed state the baby completely disappears.

There are the following signs when you should consult a neurologist:

• Shaking not only the lower lip, chin, but also the eyelids, tongue, head.
• At rest, trembling of the chin, head, and lower jaw is observed.
• The tremor does not go away and continues beyond the age of 1 year.
• Asymmetric trembling of different parts of the body.
• Muscle cramps are accompanied by blueness, and perspiration appears.

All suspicious symptoms should alert parents and serve as a reason to see a doctor. Only a comprehensive examination will help determine the true causes of tremor - why the newborn's lower lip and chin are shaking.

Pathological tremor, which is also observed at rest, affects the general condition of the child: sleep and appetite are disturbed, babies have tantrums and cry for a long time. To alleviate the condition and relax the muscles, it is recommended:

1. Taking warm baths, if it brings pleasure to the baby. The calm actions of the mother during bathing have a positive effect on the general condition of her child.
2. Gentle full body massage. The massage procedure can be prescribed on the recommendation of a doctor, in which case it is better to perform a professional massage in a course. A beneficial effect on the muscles will be provided by light massaging strokes of the child, which can be performed by the mother using baby oil. If the baby began to cry during the session, then it is worth stopping the manipulation and reviewing the massage technique.
3. Children's light body gymnastics. It will provide good blood flow to all tissues of the body, strengthen the muscles.
4. After examination by a doctor, in more difficult situations, medication can be prescribed.

To conduct a massage at home, you need to learn how to perform basic movements: stroking, vibration, rubbing and kneading. Recommendations for a massage:

• Creating the optimal temperature in the room at which the baby will not be cold.
• It is necessary to start and end the massage with strokes.
• It is necessary to conduct a session when the baby is in a good mood - most often this is in the evening before bathing.
• The session time should be approximately 5-10 minutes so that the baby does not get tired and does not freeze.

How quickly the baby's nervous system will return to normal depends on the behavior of the parents.

Warm atmosphere in the family, affectionate attitude towards the baby, games and care will help to successfully overcome physiological tremor. In close alliance with the pediatrician, with careful implementation of his recommendations, pathological tremor will also be overcome.