Why Baby Stiffens Legs When Changing Diaper?
Have you ever observed that your baby becomes notably stiff at inconvenient times? Sometimes, such as during diaper changes, this occurs at the most inconvenient moments. This can make you slightly anxious if you’re a new parent. Is this normal?
In this article, let’s address this concern. We’ll go into more detail about why babies often become stiff during diaper changes and other situations in the paragraphs that follow. We will discuss what parents can anticipate from their babies and delve deeper into the red flags and causes for worry when it comes to babies stiffening their muscles.
Why do babies stiffen their legs when changing diapers?
Leg stiffness in a baby is usually nothing to worry about. Babies frequently act in this way as they develop new muscles, learn how to respond to their environment, and learn how to express their pain or dissatisfaction. Babies stiffen their legs during diaper changes for a variety of reasons, but one of the main ones is that it is an uncomfortable and stressful time for them.
They dislike having their legs lifted up, their legs get cold, and they anticipate the baby wipe being cold. When having their diaper changed, babies frequently straighten their legs as a response to this discomfort and as a means of expressing their annoyance.
When should you worry?
As previously noted, it’s very typical and customary for babies to straighten their legs when having their diapers changed. It is merely one of the ways they express their annoyance, pain, or discomfort.
Typically, it is not a cause for concern. But if the stiffness lasts longer than brief episodes of discomfort or annoyance and starts to restrict your baby’s movement, it might be time to contact a doctor or physical therapist.
What to do for easy diaper changes?
If changing your baby’s diapers is becoming increasingly challenging, there may be some things you can do to make the experience a little more pleasant. Try some of these suggestions:
- Sing to the baby.
- Give your baby a plaything to engage in.
- While you are changing your baby’s diaper to clean diaper, make noise and play with them. Play, tickle, and blow raspberries into your belly.
- To make the diaper change quick and simple, have the clean one prepared to place underneath the dirty one.
In other situations, your baby may stiffen their legs
In addition to wet diapers or soiled diaper changes, you could notice your baby stiffening their legs at other times. Babies frequently become rigid when they are uncomfortable, in discomfort, or frustrated about something.
Such situations include teething, being strapped into the car seat, or being unable to perform the desired action. When they are stimulated, such as when they are lifted up or see something that makes them happy, they may, nevertheless, do the reverse and stiffen.
Baby stiffens body and cries
For babies, crying is a perfectly normal and healthy behavior. Crying is a baby’s way of communicating their needs to their parents, especially in the first few months through the first year of their lives.
The minor pain that newborn babies frequently experience causes them to wail. Since their bodies are still growing and adapting, children will experience some little discomfort from gas and other bodily changes.
Crying that is accompanied by rigidity and an arched back might occasionally be an indication of more serious issues, like spastic cerebral palsy or other birth traumas. But this is really unusual.
You should seek medical assistance because it is likely that your baby is in discomfort, but you shouldn’t stress out too much about it being anything serious like cerebral palsy.
Hypertonia babies
A disease called hypertonia makes a baby’s muscles rigid and challenging to move. Damage to the parts of the brain and spinal cord that regulate muscular action causes it to occur.
While babies’ muscles must contract in order for them to move and sit up straight, too-tight muscles are less flexible. Frequently, a baby’s arm, leg, and neck muscles are affected by hypertonia.
Children with hypertonia move differently because they frequently have restricted joint ranges of motion. They might struggle to move, maintain their balance, and release the hold of anything they’ve clutched.
Hypertonia symptoms
Hypertonia’s primary symptom is muscle stiffness. The position and degree of the stiffness can change depending on the cause.
A child with hypertonia may typically have the following warning signs:
- Is unable to move some joints, particularly those in the arms, legs, or neck
- restrict your range of motion
- Is frequently unsteady and falls over
- Muscle ache or discomfort is experienced
- Twitch or jerk their arms or legs
In cases of extreme hypertonia, the joint may become frozen. Medics refer to this as a contracture. Babies that have contractures might not be able to move the affected body part at all or very little.
Hypertonia causes
A child’s neurological system (the brain and spinal cord) sends messages to its nerves, which tell the muscles to contract or relax when the baby wants to move. The nerves may not receive those messages if the brain or spinal cord is damaged.
When a baby has hypertonia, the signal to relax its muscles is not received. They keep their contract. Among the potential causes of baby hypertonia are:
- oxygen deficiency during birth
- head injury
- brain cancer
- exposure to a brain-damaging substance
- issues that occurred while the developing brain was in the womb
Hypertonia treatment
The condition hypertonia can frequently be cured if caught in time. Exercises for stretching and physical therapy are frequently used to treat mild symptoms of hypertonia. Other frequent forms of treatment include massages, joint compressions, and practicing typical movements.
Casting a muscle can occasionally be necessary to give it a temporary stretch and increase its range of motion. Muscle relaxants like baclofen are used to lessen spasticity in more severe situations.
Hypertonia cure
Although hypertonia is a lifelong illness, depending on how severe it is, it may become better with time. The purpose of treatment is to lessen symptoms and enhance muscle performance. The severity and underlying cause of the disease determine when and how many symptoms will improve.
Faqs:
What causes an infant to be stiff?
High muscle tone causes the baby to be stiff and rigid, especially when held. Newborn babies with this condition may have difficulty with mobility and flexing. A stiff baby is often called hypertonic or is said to have “stiff baby syndrome.”
What do I do if my baby has infantile spasms?
Speak with their healthcare provider as soon as you suspect they are experiencing spasms, which seem like short jerking or tensing episodes that often occur in succession. If you can, try to record a video of their spasms to show their doctor. Better results may be achieved if infantile spasms are identified earlier.
How can you tell the difference between an infected diaper rash and a fungal infection?
Although they seem similar, a yeast infection and a diaper rash are not the same. Typically, a diaper rash looks like a patchwork of red, parched skin. Yeast infection warning signs include: regions of deep red inflammation that have lumps around the borders
Final thoughts
Our responsibility as parents is to look out for and support our kids. Naturally, this worries us, sometimes a little too much! Ideally, you have a little bit more understanding of why your baby might act as little stiff babies at times and have found some solace or, if required, received direction on what to do next to assist your little one.
Reference:
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/Pages/Movement-4-to-7-Months.aspx
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22231-hypertonia-baby