Getting a head start

Something as simple as good head control opens the world up for your newborn.

Already in their first hours of life, healthy newborns try to lift their heads and display intense movement activity. However, when a baby is born, he doesn’t have much control over his limbs and body. His posture is dominated by his heavy head, which he isn’t able to lift at birth. Indeed, a baby’s head at birth accounts for 25 percent of his entire body length and 33 percent of his body’s volume. So while it may seem that learning to control and move his own head is a small thing, it is actually a significant achievement that is vitally important for the development of many other skills. Head control is actually the start of your baby’s mobility.

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?

Developing head control enables your baby to look around and use his eyes effectively, hold his head up against gravity while sitting, and use his mouth effectively for speech and eating. Remember, your baby can’t start to learn how to sit, roll, crawl or walk without mastering head control first. So when you look at your baby’s first gawky attempts to lift his head, understand that these are his very first steps on the road towards the day when he can run, jump and skip all by himself.

STARTING AT THE TOP

During the first three to four months, your baby will learn to support himself securely on his hands. At first he will clench his hands in a fist, then gradually open them, using fingers for support. Your baby’s urge to lift his chest comes mainly from the sensations of gravity, which stimulate the brain to contract the muscles in the upper back. Throughout this time, your baby starts developing core stability by strengthening his back and tummy muscles, providing the basis for head control. This is why tummy time is encouraged from a young age. Muscle control starts from the top of the body.Onceyourbabyisabletosupporthis head when lifting it against gravity, control moves downward in an orderly sequence. By the age of 6 months, your baby will be able to hold his back muscles steady enough to sit up. By the end of the year he will be trying to control the leg muscles to stand upright.

ONE STEP AT A TIME

You will notice your baby gaining more control over his head and body over time:

FROM DAY ONE

As he lies against your chest or on his tummy, your newborn baby will try to lift his head, increasing the strength of his back and neck.

ONE MONTH

Your baby is beginning to bob his head to and fro against your shoulder. He may even lift his head briefly when lying on his tummy. This happens because the pull of gravity stimulates the part of the brain that activates the neck muscles that raise the head. Over the next few weeks, this adaptive response will develop, so that your baby can lift his head while lying on his tummy.

TWO MONTHS

Your baby may be able to hold his head up – albeit unsteadily – for a few seconds while held in a sitting position, or while lying on his stomach, but he still needs your supporting hand at the back of his neck.

THREE MONTHS

Your baby may begin to raise his head off the floor at a definite angle when lying on his tummy. At this stage, your baby is likely to master the major elements of head control – the ability to move his head deliberately to gaze attentively around him, have little or almost no head lag when pulled to sitting, and hold his head fairly steady for several seconds when propped up in a sitting position.

FOUR MONTHS

Your baby’s head will sag for a moment when he’s put in a sitting position. He may be able to support his head reasonably steadily when sitting, although it will wobble if he makes a sudden movement. If he’s lying down, he can hold his head steadily to look at you.

FIVE MONTHS

Head control is complete. Even when he’s pulled up, his head remains steady. When he is held in sitting position, his head is firmly erect and his back straight. When you place him on his tummy, he lifts his head and chest up.

SIX MONTHS

He now sits independently, with his head well balanced on his shoulders. Over the next few months, this nerve and muscle control will spread downward through his body and into the legs, enabling him to roll, crawl, stand and then walk. Remember that every baby develops at their own pace, so these developmental ages are only guidelines. However, if your baby does seem slow in gaining head control or has a very floppy head, see a paediatrician. ●