The baby's physical development is delayed

After birth, babies usually develop very quickly, especially their weight and height growth is very fast. However, since each child's physical condition is different, the degree of development of the baby is also different. But these differences are normal, so you don't need to worry too much. However, some babies develop physically slowly, and parents need to pay special attention to such cases.

Symptoms of delayed physical development in babies

1. Physical development is backward

Some children with congenital developmental delay have abnormal facial and body appearance. For example, children with congenital idiocy have eyes that are too wide apart, slanted eyes, flat noses, tongues that often hang outside the mouth, and drooling, which is what people often call an international face. Children with hydrocephalus have particularly large head circumference, while children with microcephaly have particularly small heads. Children with hypothyroidism are particularly short, children with phenylketonuria have abnormally white skin and very light hair, etc.

2. Motor development is delayed

Children with developmental delays have significantly slower motor development than normal children. The starting age for movements such as raising the head while lying on the stomach, sitting, standing, and walking is later than that of normal children of the same age. This is especially obvious in walking. It is often not until the age of 3-4 or 4-5 that the child can walk independently, and the walking is unstable.

3. Language development is delayed

Normal babies will imitate sounds at 7-8 months old, call mom and dad at around one year old, can say a dozen words at one and a half years old and understand simple instructions, can ask simple questions at around 2 years old, and can basically express their thoughts at around 3 years old. If these symptoms appear only after a child is four to five months behind or even one to two years behind, they should be regarded as a sign of intellectual disability.

4. Intellectual development retardation

The earliest symptoms shown by babies with developmental delay are often difficulty in feeding, inability to suck, and being particularly prone to spitting up, which means that the nervous system is damaged and their intelligence will be affected in the future.

5. Delayed psychological development, etc.

If only one of the indicators of height, weight or head circumference is low, it means that the child may have partial developmental delay. Further examination of brain nerves or endocrine system etc. may be required to understand whether the child's physical development has been affected.

What to do if you have slow development

1. Let your baby go out more often

Going out and doing activities is very helpful for the baby's growth and development. Exercise promotes the child's growth and speeds up metabolism. After appropriate exercise, the child will sleep better and grow faster. Learn more about your child's growth and movement patterns, and choose different exercise methods for your baby at different age groups. For example, a baby can only stand after about 10 months and starts to learn to walk after one year old. Mothers should not let their children learn to stand and walk too early.

2. Nutritional supplement

Many mothers feed their children a lot of delicious food but their children still suffer from malnutrition. When choosing nutrition, mothers should base it on the needs of the child's body instead of simply eating some fish or meat. Blind eating will increase the digestive burden of the stomach. Children's nutritional needs are protein, various vitamins and trace elements. Protein comes from eggs and milk, vitamins come from carrots, tomatoes, beans, fish, etc., and trace elements include iron, calcium, zinc, etc. Pay attention to a diversified diet, a combination of coarse and fine foods, and meat and vegetables, and develop reasonable eating habits, so that children's nutrition will be more balanced.