Reasons why it may occur:
If a child is very overexcited, he may look joyful, run, jump and laugh non-stop. Often after this condition, children begin to be capricious, cry, or even start a real scandal. Any parent would prefer to avoid such a situation.
Having noticed the first signs of overexcitation, parents need to calm the child down and switch the focus of his attention. It is unlikely that this can be done by simply calling for reason or shouting: unfortunately, children in such a state are not able to calm down at your sole request or even their own.
I want to offer 10 proven and fairly simple ways to relieve nervous overexcitement in children. They work on almost all babies. Some can only be done at certain times or at home, but others are universal.
1. Walk.
I admit, this is the method I use most often. The excited son and daughter instantly switch their attention to getting dressed, and as soon as we go outside, a change of scenery, fresh air and the opportunity to run freely quickly calm them down.
Even if it’s not time for a walk, you can go out for half an hour - this will have a great effect on children. If it’s raining or cold outside, it doesn’t matter: just choose suitable clothes and walk for less time. Don't be afraid to go for a short walk before bed: if your baby is overexcited, he won't sleep well, and a walk will relieve tension and help you fall asleep better.
2. Warm bath.
If you are at home, prepare a bath for your baby. It’s okay if he doesn’t wash at the usual time: some water will instantly relieve tension and redirect his attention. Give vessels for transfusion, a water mill, a watering can, a syringe, a sponge, whatever is appropriate for the age.
Body cream and a gentle massage after bathing will further relax you. If it is not possible to take a bath, replace it with exercises with water: pour liquid into a large basin and provide vessels for transfusion. Water has an excellent therapeutic effect, and activities with it relax and develop motor skills.
3. Exercises with cereals.
Soft cereals have almost the same therapeutic effect as water. Boys and girls like to pour lentils or millet from one container to another. A great activity for an excited baby is to look for small toys or natural materials in a bowl of cereal. Sand can always be used instead of cereal, both outside in the sandbox and at home. However, it is more difficult to clean up, so we usually use cereal.
4. Dancing to calm music.
Listening to calm melodic music will be a wonderful relaxation experience. However, overexcited children are unlikely to want to sit still. Invite them to dance. Pay attention to the smoothness of movements and their correspondence to the melody. Use accessories, such as light colorful scarves.
5. Sports activities with clear instructions.
Often excited children run around and cannot sit still. In this case, redirect the energy - offer sports activities with clear instructions: yoga poses that you will demonstrate, or any other physical exercises. Concentrating on doing it correctly will shift your focus and calm your mind.
6. Motor work with small objects.
Children aged 2–4 years love to work with small objects, and such work requires concentration. Select an activity by age:
Whatever is at hand. The main thing is to interest the children, otherwise it will not be easy for them to make such a quick switch.
7. Cooking.
It happens that an anxious state is caused by hunger. But even if this is not the case, children are usually fascinated by work in the kitchen. Ask your child if he is hungry and offer to prepare a snack on his own. Let him peel boiled eggs, cut fruits or vegetables, make himself a salad or sandwich.
Remember that sweets, candy, and cookies tend to increase anxiety, so don't give them to already anxious children.
8. Creativity.
Another great remedy for overstimulation is creative activities. One of the most calming is modeling. I always pull out the plasticine for my angry son and daughter.
Instead of plasticine, you can make salt dough by mixing a glass of flour, half a glass of salt and a little water. Children will definitely love making this mixture themselves.
Painting is another quick way to relieve stress, as is gluing various materials onto cardboard (collages).
9. Practical life exercises.
UPZh can occupy not only overexcited, but also hyperactive children. Depending on the situation, you can offer different types of cleaning: washing dishes, furniture, or cleaning your shoes. Montessori groups are well aware of the calming effect of such activities. This is where presentations to children begin during the period of adaptation to the group.
10. Reading a book or listening to an audio story.
If your baby is a fan of looking at books or listening to audio stories, there is nothing easier than switching his attention to his favorite or new book.
As you can see, there are many methods to calm children. There's something for everyone. But the best way is to prevent overexcitation, for which you should:
But even if these rules are followed, due to the immature nervous system, children will still be overexcited. Try to react calmly to this and switch the children’s attention to quiet, relaxing activities.
SNRV - syndrome of increased neuro-reflex excitability, is a neurological disorder that is quite common in children in the first year of life, especially up to 3 months of age. Such children are restless, sleep little, have trouble falling asleep and suck the breast sluggishly. They often flinch, worry and cry when touched, and can be difficult to calm down.
Very often the syndrome is not detected on time, since consultation with a pediatric neurologist is not included in the list of mandatory ones. Therefore, parents who notice symptoms of increased excitability in their baby should quickly show him to a specialist. This will help avoid deterioration of the condition in the future, namely the development of hyperactivity syndrome and even epileptic syndrome. If the correction of SNRV is started in time, the baby’s condition returns to normal by the age of one year.
Why does it develop, how does hyperexcitability syndrome manifest in infants, how is it carried out? Let's talk about it:
Causes of hyperexcitability syndrome in infants
Most often, this condition is diagnosed in babies who have experienced oxygen starvation or hypoxia before birth or during childbirth.
The health of the mother during pregnancy, as well as the baby himself immediately after birth, has a great influence on the functioning of the baby’s brain and the state of his nervous system. These are, first of all, various infectious diseases.
Risk factors for the development of this syndrome also include: worries, stress of the mother during pregnancy, severe toxicosis, rapid labor.
SNRV in an infant - symptoms of increased excitability in an infant
During communication with the baby by parents, as well as during a medical examination, when they touch him, turn him, talk to him, he begins to scream loudly. At the same time, the cry is high-pitched, irritated. In addition, he exhibits motor restlessness, shudders, and trembling of the limbs and chin is observed.
In addition, the syndrome of increased excitability in infants manifests itself in increased muscle tone. When nervous, he throws his head back, and the movements of his arms and legs become large-scale. Convulsive syndrome is expressed by various paroxysmal phenomena.
It is difficult to calm the baby down; he falls asleep poorly, sleeps little, and sucks poorly. Often parents notice that he just lies with his eyes open and looks at one point.
Correction methods
The need for corrective measures is determined and developed by a neuropathologist. Before this, the baby is examined to exclude other diseases that cause similar symptoms. Such pathologies include, among other things, increased intracranial pressure in a child. The condition also often results in restlessness, trouble sleeping, and frequent crying.
Once the diagnosis of SNRV is confirmed, the doctor will determine the measures necessary for your baby, and medication will not necessarily be prescribed. The prescription of medications depends on the child’s condition and is always individual.
Traditional correction methods include:
Massage (general, acupressure or relaxing). This very effective method helps reduce muscle tone and reduces nervous excitability. The course of therapeutic massage is carried out only by a specialist. For classes you will need to visit a children's clinic or other medical institution.
Swimming and gymnastics. Exercises in water are very beneficial for a child, especially those with SAD syndrome. Swimming trains muscles, reduces their tone, and relaxes. Gymnastics trains the baby’s brain, sending the right impulses to it. When performing exercises, its damaged tissues are restored faster and more actively. Therapeutic gymnastics is carried out under the guidance of a specialist in a clinic.
In addition, the child should establish a daily routine. In general, this is a simple but extremely effective method that promotes the normal development of the child. For hyperexcitability syndrome, it is also used for therapeutic purposes. Hours for sleeping, playing, eating, walking outdoors, etc. should be set. Your doctor will help you develop the right regimen.
Drug-induced hyperexcitability in infants
Sometimes it is necessary to carry out medication correction of increased excitability in infants. Magnesium preparations, soothing herbs such as motherwort or valerian, and vitamin B6 are prescribed. According to indications, medications that improve cerebral circulation are used.
When diagnosing increased intracranial pressure, the doctor will prescribe diuretics and drugs containing potassium. Naturally, in age-appropriate dosages.
Usually, dosage forms in the form of suspensions are prescribed for infants. If the drug is produced only in tablet form, the required amount of pills is crushed and then mixed with water, breast milk or infant formula.
Folk remedy for increased excitability in infants
Healing baths with infusions and decoctions of medicinal plants provide a good calming and relaxing effect. The baby's skin is penetrated with nerve endings and quickly absorbs all the beneficial substances contained in plants. It is recommended to take such baths before bedtime.
The water temperature for swimming should not exceed 36-37 degrees. Therefore, always use a thermometer. The course of treatment is 15 procedures.
Here, for example, is a good healthy recipe:
Finely chop 50 g of calamus roots and 20 g of willow bark, mix. Combine with 20 g of dried juniper berries. Pour everything into a large saucepan. Add 3 liters of boiling water. Simmer at a gentle boil for 15 minutes. Then insulate it and wait until it cools down. Pour the cooled broth through cheesecloth into a prepared bath of water. The duration of a child's bath is 10 minutes.
In addition to this collection, it is useful to take baths with an infusion of mint, chamomile, string, and a decoction of pine needles. A bath with sea salt will relax and soothe you. Be sure to discuss the possibility of using medicinal baths for your baby with your doctor.
In conclusion, it should be noted that any corrective technique usually includes a whole range of different measures. If there is such a need, include medications. If you follow all the recommendations of the attending physician, the symptoms of SIDS disappear without a trace by the age of one year and no longer bother the baby.
Physical and emotional mobility is characteristic of most children of any age. Sometimes situations arise when behavior enters the phase of nervously active actions. Such overexcitation in a child has its own reasons, which should not be ignored.
Constant nervous excitability may be a consequence of deviations in the development of the psyche, but these are isolated cases that should be dealt with by doctors. When a completely healthy child is overexcited, external factors specific to each age group play a role. Although there are also reasons of a general nature.
Reasons for child overexcitement:
Among the negative factors leading to mental agitation are conflicts in the family or punishment for wrongdoing. Sometimes the reason is the toddler’s inability to do what he intended - this is where the factor of dissatisfaction with oneself manifests itself. Sometimes a child’s overexcitation is associated with a desire to attract parental attention, which he so lacks.
Babies are by nature very excitable, because their brains are developing rapidly and every day they absorb a large flow of information, which infants perceive figuratively for now. This often prevents them from sleeping peacefully, especially if the environment around them is not entirely comfortable.
If the child is overexcited, he may be frightened by sharp or loud sounds or a sudden flash of bright light. A child's crying and hand tremors are not yet a reason to run to a neurologist. The mother will also calm the baby down, showing maximum attention to him.
How to calm a child if he is overexcited:
A 4-month-old child begins to become overexcited due to his psychological development. He already consciously reacts to the world around him, distinguishes objects, colors and sounds. The more new information, the stronger the overexcitement. Adults need to systematize the flow of sensations by establishing the baby’s routine. When your baby is overstimulated, this will help calm him down quickly.
Growing up, the baby perceives the world in a new way, entering a new stage of development. Overexcitation in a 2-year-old child is somewhat different from the infancy period. Having acquired some speech skills and learned to walk, he already consciously shows his emotions. So they calm him down from the standpoint of verbal communication, creating a calm environment for this, distracting, for example, the baby with a fairy tale.
Overexcitement in a 6-year-old child is often similar to hysterical behavior. Preschoolers already think logically, so it’s easier to calm them down with a friendly conversation discussing the reasons that caused such a violent reaction.
Whatever the age, and whatever factors influence the overexcited state, parents need to approach the situation calmly, influencing the behavior of their children only with tenderness and affection. The more attention to problems, the easier it is to calm the psyche.
Ekaterina Morozova
Reading time: 4 minutes
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Why is the baby crying, and how can mom calm him down?
Well, in addition to the above reasons, it is also worth noting the child’s natural desire to be closer to his mother, fear of loneliness, intracranial pressure, weather dependence, desire to stay awake etc.
Try to walk with your baby more often, protect his nervous system from overstimulation, make sure his clothes match the weather conditions and room temperature, check the baby’s skin for redness and clear his nasal passages, play calm classical music, sing songs and Call a doctor if you cannot figure out the reasons for persistent and prolonged crying on your own. .
How do you calm your baby? We will be grateful for your opinion!
