Symptoms and causes of fright in newborns

The newborn stage is often the most worrying period for every mother. The name of a newborn is "new", which means that the little life has just come into this world and cannot express its own state, emotions, etc. through words. The mother can only guess about her baby's condition through some of the child's abnormal behaviors. What are the symptoms of a frightened newborn?

The normal manifestation of the newborn's "startle reflex" is:

Waking up from a deep sleep with eyes open; body tremors or slight convulsions; crying; both arms, palms, feet, and toes (symmetrically stretched out). This phenomenon is similar to being frightened, and is a "self-protection reaction" of animals used to respond to or defend against external invasion. Adults actually have a startle reflex, but it requires greater stimulation to trigger it.

Once the baby's nervous system matures and gradually adapts to general external stimuli, it will not be so sensitive and the startle reflex will slowly slow down or disappear. This happens when the baby is about three or four months old.

Parents should be particularly alert if their newborn's "startle reflex" shows the following symptoms:

(1) If a baby over six months old still has a clear startle reflex, there may be a problem with the brain's nervous system.

(2) If the startle reflex is not symmetrical, for example, if one arm does not react, there may be something wrong with that arm. The most common cause of this in newborns is "brachial plexus injury" or clavicle fracture.

(3) The startle reflex should be temporary and disappear in about a few seconds. If there is a continuous whole-body tremor, it is not normal.

As for the color of the stool (green), it may also be related to fright. The color of bile is yellow-green. Normal feces contain bile and are yellow in color. When the amount of bile increases, the green color will be intensified. The so-called "fright" may be due to the contraction of the gallbladder, which causes a sudden increase in the discharge of bile and stains the feces in the intestine, but this is only a temporary phenomenon; a minor fright does not affect the baby's health.

Therefore, mothers, taking care of babies is not an easy task. You must always pay attention to some of your baby’s symptoms and manifestations. It is very likely that your baby will suffer from illness due to a little negligence. Newborns are easily frightened, so mothers must pay special attention to this and adjust the baby's condition in time so that the baby can grow up healthy and happy.