Why does the child shake his head at night?

Children are young and often develop bad habits. Especially when sleeping at night, some children have their own habits such as talking in their sleep and crying. Or there is the phenomenon of shaking head, these all need attention, and frequent shaking of head can cause the human mind to be unclear, so people need to pay attention to children's behavioral habits. What happens when children shake their heads at night?

Why does my baby shake his head when sleeping at night?

1. Don’t worry too much about shaking the head. The baby is still young, and the nervous system is not yet fully developed. They all have some minor problems, but they will get better as they grow up. Observe and see if the symptoms get better. Don’t make yourself too nervous. The baby will be fine when he is about one and a half years old.

2. Losing all the hair on the back of the head is called occipital baldness, which is a sign of calcium deficiency. Just pay attention to calcium supplementation and get more sun exposure. It will grow out of it after one year, don't worry.

3. Babies who are not fed complementary foods get hot due to being covered up. Don’t be afraid of keeping your child cold. Covering your child up for too long will weaken his constitution and cause a serious illness. The ambient temperature should not be too high, it is best to keep it between 18 and 22 degrees, and the humidity should be controlled between 45% and 65%. Don't dress your baby in too thick clothes or blankets. To know whether your baby is hot or cold, you need to touch the back of his neck. It should be slightly cool. If the baby has hot flashes, he is hot and will be irritable and restless. If it feels cool, the baby is a little cold.

Reasons why babies shake their heads

1. The baby shakes his head due to external factors during the growth process

1. The indoor temperature may be too high, or the baby may be covered with too many quilts, causing him to be too hot.

2. When the baby does not accept new food, he will resist by shaking his head or pushing the food away with his hands to indicate that he does not want to eat. This just requires letting the baby try it slowly and many times.

2. The baby shakes his head involuntarily due to tics.

If your child exhibits the following symptoms in addition to shaking his head, then your child is likely suffering from tics.

1. Eye muscle twitching: manifested as raising eyebrows, frowning, blinking, squinting, rolling eyes, staring, etc.

2. Facial muscle twitching: manifested as grinning, pouting, shrinking the nose, making weird faces, etc.

3. Neck muscle twitching: manifested as nodding, shaking head, twisting neck, shrugging shoulders, etc.

4. Symptoms of upper limb tics: shaking hands, raising arms, twisting arms, rubbing fingers, and clenching fists

5. Symptoms of lower limb tics: manifested as shaking legs, kicking, tiptoeing, spinning, abnormal gait, etc.

6. Vocal twitching of the throat: manifested as abnormal sounds, such as dry coughs, clearing of the throat, roaring, or constant spitting, or stuttering, improper syllables, improper stress, involuntary obscenities, swearing, and dirty talk.

A baby's head shaking may be healthy or pathological. Babies are naturally very interested in the people and things around them, and are constantly learning and imitating. Therefore, they may learn such movements when they see people around them doing so. It is also possible that they find shaking their heads to be interesting and can attract other people's attention, or that these movements are the result of neuromuscular development that has not yet fully developed. These are all healthy behaviors.

On the contrary, there are many possibilities for pathological conditions, the most common of which are otitis media or otitis externa. Due to ear discomfort, the baby will want to improve it by shaking his head, often accompanied by scratching his ears. Sometimes atopic dermatitis or eczema on the face may make the baby feel itchy and uncomfortable, and he may shake his head or try to rub his face against something. Other possible illnesses are neurological problems, such as infantile nodding spasms or Tourette syndrome.