What is the dial on your baby's nervous system?
What happens when your baby's sympathetic nervous system dials up?
I talk a lot about 'the baby's dial', and sometimes about the parent's 'dial' too, in the Possums programs. This is a shorthand way of referring to the sympathetic nervous system, which is part of the involuntary nervous system.
If I'm dialling up as an adult, my heart rate and blood pressure increase. I might develop a fine tremor, and have unpleasant, anxious feelings in my chest or belly. I might become flushed. I might sweat. My mind is likely to become very busy with upset thoughts, too, many of which can be very unhelpful!
When your baby's sympathetic nervous system dials up, she might start groaning and grunting, stretching and wriggling, making an upset face. As the dial turns up more, your baby begins grizzling and fussing, or arching her little back. She might draw up her fists and knees, flush red and pull a distressed face, with rapid breathing and heart rate.
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When your baby cries, the dial on the sympathetic nervous system is turned up high. His tummy muscles are tight and contracted with the effort.
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When your baby screams (which is often very upsetting for parents), your baby’s dial is turned up as high as can possibly be.
Babies dial up to communicate something, whether it’s because they are hungry or needing a change of sensory experience or wanting to be held. But often you won’t have any idea why your baby is dialling up! This is when parents start experimenting.
Parents usually try to get in early, because after a while, baby's dialled up sympathetic nervous system triggers more sympathetic nervous system activity, in a crying loop which can be difficult to soothe, expecially in the first few months of life. A baby’s cry is usually a late sign of distress. That doesn’t mean we can always stop our baby crying. But we are more likely to be able to help the baby settle down if we get in early.
You might have heard that your baby is dialling up because of gut pain, but this is almost always not the case. You can find out more about this here.
The gut gets active when your baby cries
Because the gut is like a second brain and is highly innervated, including by the sympathetic nervous system, when baby dials up the gut often gets active.
That is, the baby might puke or reflux, partly from tightening of the tummy muscles and the high pressure inside the abdomen that results from the act of crying, but also because when the sympathetic nervous system dials up, there are more gastric contractions, too. Or baby might pass flatulence, or burp.
It’s understandable that you might think your baby is dialling up because of gut pain when this happens, and if you have concerns that your baby is in pain, please see your GP. But babies aren't usually dialling up as a result of gut pain or wind. They dial up for other reasons such as hunger for milk or a hunger for richer sensory experience, including being picked up and held close to you.
Then when baby dials up, the gut activates, and you notice a gut event. It can be a great relief for parents to know that the dialling up is causing the gut activity, not the other way round.
You have two superpowers for dialling your baby down
You have two superpowers for dialling your baby down as much as you sensibly can in the first six or twelve months of life.
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Superpower #1: milk. This could mean offering the breast frequently and flexibly, for as long as you're breastfeeding. If your baby is bottle fed, this typically means using paced bottle feeding through the first four or five months of life.
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Superpower #2: sensory motor stimulation. This might mean bringing baby close to your body, but often requires stepping outside the low-sensory interior of your home.
Your first thought might be that what I'm calling your superpowers sound impractical or exhausting or weirdly out of touch with real life, so please bear with me as we work through what they actually mean in the Possums programs!
In fact, experimenting between these superpowers to dial down your baby can transform your life.
Signs shown by a baby whose sympathetic nervous system is dialling up
| Slightly dialled up | Moderately dialled up | Very dialled up |
|---|---|---|
| Grunting and grunting sounds | Grizzling sounds and crying | Crying and screaming |
| Back arching (lumbar spine hyperextended with high muscle tone) or 'banana' back | Back arching (lumbar spine hyperextended with high muscle tone) or 'banana' back | Back arching (lumbar spine hyperextended with high muscle tone) or 'banana' back |
| Stretching and writhing motions | Muscle tone increasing, draws up knees | Tight muscle tone. Knees pulled up tightly towards tummy and fists clenched |
| Pulling faces | Face showing unhappiness and flushing | Flushed face screwed up tight with open mouth |
| Eyes may still be closed as he surfaces up out of sleep | Eyes open or closed | Eyes screwed up tight |
| Flatulence (farts), burps, stool, or vomits (pukes) | Flatulence (farts), burps, stool, or vomits (pukes) | Flatulence (farts), burps, stool, or vomits (pukes) |
Recommended resources
If you are interested in reading more about how to keep your baby as dialled down as you sensibly can throughout the first six months of life, I invite you to read my book, The discontented little baby book: all you need to know about feeds, sleep, and crying. It's now available in Dutch, here.