Newborn baby sleeping with hands raised on both sides of head

The sleeping posture of an adult often reflects a person's personality. Gentle types are more conservative and sleep lying on their backs, while manly types often sleep with their limbs spread out in a spread-eagle position. Of course, this is only a rough estimate. Everyone has different sleeping positions. The same person may have different sleeping positions at different ages. The sleeping position of a newborn is relatively simple. Because they are too small and have a small range of movement, they usually sleep with their hands raised on the side of their head. So why do babies sleep like this?

The reason why the baby is so "persistent" in sleeping in the "surrender" posture has a lot to do with the baby's state in the mother's belly before he was born. Because there is limited space when the baby is in the mother's belly, they curl up together, with their arms bent in front of the chest and their legs bent as if they are squatting. The baby is in the same posture for ten months, so after birth he or she will naturally get used to keeping his or her arms and legs bent, which will make the baby feel more secure. Especially when the baby sleeps on his side, it will be more similar to the posture he was in before he was born.

However, because it is more dangerous for newborns to sleep on their stomachs, most parents are accustomed to letting their babies sleep on their backs. When babies sleep on their backs, they cannot curl their hands on their chests, so they can only raise their hands above their heads. Similarly, this is the reason why babies cannot straighten their legs and lie in an O shape on the bed.

Some parents, worried that their baby will catch a cold if sleeping in this position, will repeatedly correct their baby's posture.

To this, Xiaokangjun would like to say: There is no need! Because even if you deliberately force your baby to straighten the chair, he/she will habitually lift it up again after a while. For babies with bad tempers, this kind of behavior by parents will annoy the baby, making the baby feel very uncomfortable and lose temper at you, cry, etc. So parents just need to let nature take its course. Because as the baby grows, he will naturally change this sleeping position, put his hands down, and return to normal. Parents really don’t need to worry too much!

As for parents who are worried that their babies will catch a cold if they sleep with their arms raised, you might as well change their babies into long-sleeved clothes when they sleep. This way, their arms will have an extra layer of clothes to keep warm and they will not catch a cold. Or you can try using a sleeping bag for your baby, so that your baby can sleep in any position he wants in the sleeping bag, and it also provides an extra layer of protection.

But never deliberately straighten the baby's arms and press them against the sides of the body, straighten the baby's legs, wrap the baby tightly in a swaddle, or even tie the baby tightly from the outside with a belt. This not only limits the baby's limb movements, causing the muscle receptors to not receive proper stimulation and the muscles to be in a state of tension, but also affects the baby's breathing movements, especially when crying, the expansion of the lungs will be restricted, thus affecting the baby's chest and lung development.