‘Newborns should not be able to do this… it’s a huge red flag’

“You may be thinking your baby is advanced, but this could be a sign of a dangerous condition,” a sleep consultant said in a viral TikTok.

If there’s anything we learned from the Baby Race episode of Bluey, it’s that parents are super competitive about their babies hitting milestones.

Whether you’re obvious about it, or you try to look chill while silently praying your baby will beat all the other babies and be the superior baby, it’s in our parent DNA to want our kids to be the best.

So when mum Samantha Elizabeth and her mum put Samantha’s three-day-old daughter on her tummy and the baby started not only holding up her head, but making her way around the hospital bassinet, the pair were thrilled.

“No way. Is that even normal? Mum, she’s crawling!” Samantha said in a TikTok, shocked.

“She should not be this strong, already,” the proud grandma replied. “Go girl, go.”

But according baby sleep consultant, Cher, Samantha’s baby’s behaviour is actually a sign of something wrong.

“If your newborn is doing this, it’s a huge red flag for tension through your newborn’s body,” Cher posted a stitch video.

 “Newborns should not be able to lift their heads up like this and a lot of parents like the parents in this video are thinking, ‘Oh my god, she’s so advanced’, but actually it’s a sign of tension.”

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this.

Sleep expert warns of newborns holding head up

Cher said that although parents are often proud their newborn has seemed to hit a milestone extremely early, the kind of strength seen in Samantha’s baby isn’t normal and can be the cause of sleep issues.

“Little ones should be keeping their heads flat, they should not be able to raise them,” Cher said.

RELATED: Every time she has a spasm, they cause brain damage

“You can see the tension in her shoulders on the video, and she can’t bring her head all the way back down which is not good.

“I would highly recommend if you’re experiencing this with your newborn, get them seen by a paediatric osteopath or physio.

“This can be a huge cause of disturbed sleep and fussy behaviour in a little one.”

RELATED: My baby stopped breathing as my other kids screamed

The sleep expert believed the newborn's "strength" was due to hypertonia. Photo: TikTok

Cher turned the comments off on the post, but there was plenty of commentary on the original video.

“This can sometimes be a sign of hypertonia,” one person said. “Make sure you show this to her paediatrician.”

Introducing our new podcast: Mum Club! Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode.

According to Baby Centre, hypertonia is a condition where a baby’s muscles are stiff and hard to move. “Often hypertonia affects a baby’s arm, leg and neck muscles,” an article on the site says. 

“That might be a sign of tension, such a tongue tie,” said another person. “If you haven’t already, maybe have the paediatrician have a look.”

“Please go to the paediatrician and talk about this,” a third person recommended. “My son had similar issues with hypertonia.”

RELATED: ‘These new pandemic babies are built differently’

But others thought the baby was simply super strong.

“The main character has arrived,” one person said.

“I swear the babies that are coming out nowadays are just a different breed.”

Originally published as ‘Newborns should not be able to do this… it’s a huge red flag’