Our daughter did something similar to this with her head when she was a bit younger. She's 14 months now and I don't remember exactly when she would do it, but she'd do something peculiar with her head sometimes and eventually I guess she just stopped doing it b/c I don't really ever see her doing it now.
I am around, Rita, but can't imagine what it would be. Is she moving her head around fast or is it more slow and deliberate? I think you are right to show the doc....stick with the mommy instinct! My Dan tends to downplay things, too, but if you're really concerned, show the doc. And let us know what he says, okay? Thinking of you...
1st time mommy to our "princess"
Sometimes fast sometimes slow. It seems like it's a voluntary motion as she stops when I distract her and only does it when she's awake. My Dan thinks it's cute and funny like oooh look what I can do. But something about it just makes me feel uneasy. Thanks! I'll post an update after appt tomorrow.
Often times babies will move their head around like you described and that is pretty normal, without seeing it I can't really help you there. I can however tell you that if she is shaking, her muscles are contracting or she goes limp and looks blank, refuses to acknowledge her name or your touch this COULD be a seizure disorder, especially if she falls asleep afterward, this is called a post-ictal state: temporary incoherence, inability to respond to contact or unfamiliarity with environment which commonly follows tonic-clonic, complex partial and atonic seizures. I have first hand knowledge of tonic-clonic seizures (also called grand mal or drop seizures with muscle contractions) as my DD had them when she was younger. Absence seizures also can be missed, they are: generalized seizure most common in children; a lapse in consciousness with a blank stare that begins and ends within a few seconds. May be accompanied by rapid eye blinking or chewing movements.
I don't want to scare you but if it's worrying you I would take her in as soon as possible.
Sheila do you know what causes them? Her appt is at 10 tomorrow. Do you think that's too long to wait? She didn't go limp. She was kicking her feet and looking at her hand and I saw her eyelashes flutter like she does when she's sleepy but it seemed like she was asleep with her eyes open. She didn't shake or have muscle contractions and when she woke up after the nap she was playful and alert like usual.
In my personal opinion I would say you are safe waiting until her appt but if she does have anything that looks like what most people think a seizure looks like then you need to head to the ER. There are so many causes and on the other hand so many unknown reasons for seizures that it is hard to tell you an exact cause, typically in children a high fever or brain injury (like a fall or something similar) is the leading cause but for my daughter they NEVER figured out why she had them. She was 5 and went into a full blown convulsion, muscle contortion, yowling sound...the whole nine yards just out of the blue at home one afternoon...we called 911, by the time they got there she was totally limp and incoherent and they took her to the hospital, she had another one shortly after she got there and they gave her a full IV of anti-convulsant meds and were going to send her home when she had a third that lasted over 2 minutes...then they kept her, we got her to her hospital room and she had another really bad one that sent me into a full blown scared rage and my Dad had to take me out of the room while they let it go it's course. That is the scariest, most horrific thing about your kids being hurt or sick, total helplessness, nothing I could do at all. They did cat scans, MRI's, a sleep study of her brain and couldn't find anything that would have caused it. She was on anti-convulsant meds for several years and had several sleep deprived sleep studies before they finally think she outgrew them, she hasn't been on those meds for almost a year now, she is almost 15.
I wasn't trying to scare you, just giving you some things to watch for, as I said you are probably fine waiting until tomorrow...I was told that as long as one didn't last more than a minute (or she didn't hit her head or injure herself while having one) that there is very little, or no harm done.
thanks for the info. Her appt was supposed to be at 10 today but the dr was out for a delivery so we had to reschedule to Fri. I think Holly is just playing, she smiled after she did it the last few times like she was enjoying it. I'll post an update after Fri's appt. Thanks mommies! I appreciate the advice. :)
Rita
Hi Rita. I don't know what to tell you, neither of my children ever did anything like that. I worked at a daycare ten years ago and remember one of the little babies would do something similar with her head, but she was different from Holly in that she could barely sit up on her own and could barely support her own neck. She was old enough to do so, but would always just tip over, or her neck would spontaneously just fall back or forward or to the side. Her body was almost "floppy" for lack of a better word. Her mother came in bawling one afternoon to pick her up and announced the baby had been diagnosed with muscular dystrophy. I am not trying to scare you because Holly's actions really don't sound like the same thing, just sharing my own experience, but definitely take her in tomorrow if you can. I'm sure she is just fine, probably just discovering what she can do with her body parts like all babies do, but it certainly won't hurt to bring her in to the doctor. I'm sorry you are going through this right now, but don't worry unless you have to, you know?
Thanks Sarah. I'll let you guys know what I find out tomorrow. I need to check on the baby. bye. Rita
My youngest son did something similar all the time. We videotaped it to show our dr’s, too. His was like a really fast shaking his head no. He did it when he was sleeping, too. When we first brought this up to the dr, he said that when he does it, see if we can stop it. We could stop it. What Holly is doing sounds so similar. Two neurologists opinions and an EEG later we were told that it was just a sensory thing. Similar to when little kids spin in circles because they like the feeling. They said he probably did it one time as he was falling asleep and liked the feeling so then did it a lot. I’m not a doctor, and would recommend you talking to your pediatrician but would honestly say don’t worry about it. Elijah slowly quit doing it as he got older. I think he almost completely stopped around 12 or 13 months, but it seems like he started around 5 months. Good luck.
Thanks that makes me feel better. At least enough to wait til Fri. :)
I completely agree-that is how it was with my daughter-it never worried me b/c while she was doing it she would usually smile-it was like she had discovered she could do something with that head of hers so she'd shake it back and forth, etc. and she thought it was funny.
mom of 5
Rita,
Kids do all kinds of weird things that are no big deal. I pray that this is one of those things. However, it does also fit the symptoms of seizures like earlier stated. I am an epileptic, and my sister has a baby who has seizures, and the staring spell fits what we have experienced. The good news is that if these are seizures then in most cases they are easily controlled with medication. If not, hopefully not, this is pretty silly. I would like to encourage you either way, most of the time the source of seizures is unknown, and as in my case, we lead normal full wonderful lives. In some cases kids who have seizures as a toddler suddenly stop having them. You will be fine no matter what and so will Holly. My thoughts and prayers are with you, please keep us posted.
I was able to transfer the video from my computer of this but I don't know how to upload to the site. Can anyone help me? Thanks, Rita
I'm pretty sure you can't upload videos to this site...only photos. I could be wrong though. Maybe you could send it to momof5 or SheilaL if they give you their emails? They seem to have a lot of background on stuff.
1st time mommy to our "princess"
Thanks for the tip. I'm trying to load it to photobucket my friend said you can use it for videos and post a link.
http://s306.photobucket.com/albums/nn265/Ritata78/?action=view¤t=HPIM0890.flv
this is the link. Please tell me what you think. It's towards the end. For a while she's just playing with her toys and doesn't do anything but then she does it a few times.
Thanks,
Rita
OK, I watched it and I think you are a typical worried Mommy over nothing LOL Don't take that the wrong way, I meant it in a good way....aside from the fact that being that cute should be illegal, I think you have NOTHING to worry about from my experience. She is just liking the new sensory motion she has found. Go enjoy your baby and give her a kiss for me :-)
I don't know why that made me cry. But thank you! :)
You are so very welcome, though I didn't mean to make you cry! I know I initially came off as an ogre on this site but I really am not, I am just opinionated and passionate about certain things. LOL
~ Sheila's Sweet Treats ~ Elegant Wedding Cakes and Desserts for all Occasions! http://community.webshots.com/user/missyvixen1217?vhost=community
Having strong opinions doesn't make you an ogre. : ) Or, if it does, then I should be married to Shrek . . .
mom of 5
Wow,
I just happened to log on. I watched it too and I agree with Sheila. She looks like an incredible happy baby to me. To me it looks like she is really excited, and why wouldn't she be with her mommy doting on her. Good work, keep it up, she is tooo cute.
Jen
Thanks so much Jen! I'm glad that we're coming to a consensus that it's just me being a worrywort! I guess that's to be expected. :)
Okay, I watched it too, and I think you are just looking for an excuse to show off your beautiful baby! Just kidding, Rita....but I agree, too...just looks like she likes her newfound skill! Still, show the doc just in case, but I wouldn't worry about it anymore!
1st time mommy to our "princess"
Well... I thought fishing for a compliment outright would be a little obvious! ;)
Her neck movements seemed perfectly normal to me as well. I honestly wouldn't be extremely concerned or anything. Just take her in, and then you'll feel better knowing for sure, but in the meantime just relax. There are probably going to be all sorts of things she does in the next few years that will worry or confuse you, if you're like me. But she seems very healthy (and sweet as can be). What a beautiful baby girl!
Thanks so much,Sarah! I'm still a little concerned so I'll make sure Dan shows the video to the dr but now I think I'm just being overly cautious. She's so much fun, the first couple times she did it I just laughed and thought it was cute but when she started doing it more often it scared me. But mom and sis and friends all seem to agree that it's pretty normal so I won't freak out too much. :) Thanks again! I love coming here and being able to ask you mommies for advice, you're always so nice and helpful!!! Thanks!
Hey Rita-Looks like she is trying to figure out the muscles in her neck. Babies about her age tend to do that. She looks ever so strong and also looks like she is having a great time doing it! Kaija always did things more the more we laughed at them, she's always trying to make us laugh! I think Holy is fine, but as we all know, just asking the DR. always makes us feel better! Hope all goes great on Friday!
Life is short, eat dessert first!
Hey! How are you and Kaija? Hope you're all good. Thanks for the message, I'm feeling pretty silly for getting so worked up over this. :)
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Hi I hope someone's around... hope you're all having a good weekend.
I videotaped this and I'm going to show it to the Dr at Holly's 6 mo appt tomorrow. She's been doing something weird with her head that Dan thinks she is just playing but it scares me. She moves her head in circles, side to side, up down and all around. She does it over and over again. Anyone else's LO doing this? Do you think she's playing or it's something to worry about? TIA!!! Another thing is that when she first started doing this, we were at lunch and she was sitting in front of us and she had been playing then stopped all of sudden, got a blank look on her face and didn't respond to her name or when I touched her. it was like she fell asleep sitting up with her eyes wide open. I tapped her car seat and she looked at me, smiled and fell asleep so I guess she was tired. But both these things kinda have me freaked out.
Thanks,
Rita