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Neurology (Expert Forum)
20 month old started strange movements
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20 month old started strange movements
by mamby, Oct 14, 2003 12:00AM
My 20 month old started opening and closing his fist and twisting his wrist and arm while settling in for the night. These are not sudden or jerking motions but slow repetitive motions. After about a week he added a jerking motion of the whole arm and sometimes the leg. At times these seem to keep him from falling asleep. Next he started doing these motions at other times, i.e.: an hour or two after waking but while watching TV at rest. He does it all the time in his car seat while he blankly stares out the window. It seems to relate to times of tiredness or relaxation. I don’t notice the motions when he is engaged in purposeful movement. When he does the movements he stares into space and won’t follow my finger across his line of vision. Sometimes he is responsive to voice and sometimes it takes several calls of his name before he will respond. It seems to depend on how deeply zoned out he is. When he does respond he stops the motions.
Pregnancy and birth were normal. He was slightly behind in speech development but has caught up. All other benchmarks met appropriately.
His half-sister has tics, which are controlled by buspar. He only has one relative with a seizure disorder and that is a second cousin to him.
We continue to observe these motions daily . His pediatrician says this is normal myoclonic motion and not to be worried at all. Does any of this warrant a follow up or testing of any kind? Does this sound like “normal myoclonic movements”? Could these be very short seizures? Does being tired make one more susceptible to seizure?
Thank You
Pregnancy and birth were normal. He was slightly behind in speech development but has caught up. All other benchmarks met appropriately.
His half-sister has tics, which are controlled by buspar. He only has one relative with a seizure disorder and that is a second cousin to him.
We continue to observe these motions daily . His pediatrician says this is normal myoclonic motion and not to be worried at all. Does any of this warrant a follow up or testing of any kind? Does this sound like “normal myoclonic movements”? Could these be very short seizures? Does being tired make one more susceptible to seizure?
Thank You
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS, Oct 15, 2003 12:00AM
Based on the description you have provided the possibilities include normal baby movement, tic disorder, or possibly seizures. Did your pediatrician witness a movement. If he/she did then perhaps they are correct and it is simply normal baby movement. However, if you wish to investigate this further, then consultation with a pediatric neurologist is reasonable. Both a tic disorder or a seizure disorder could be treated by a neurologist. It is possible to have very brief seizures, and in some patients seizures do predominantly occur out of sleep. Based on the description provided it sounds as though this may be a tic disorder, however I can not be 100% because I have not had the opportunity to speak with you or examine your child. Good luck.
Member Comments (3)
by ozark, Oct 16, 2003 12:00AM
when these occur, maybe you could video tape them to show to the drs.......
by KatieDee, Oct 29, 2003 12:00AM
I would like to encourage you to do a followup with a pediatric neurologist. I videotaped my son's movements, which were exactly what you described, and the first neuro thought they were tics and sent us on our way. We saw a second neuro who felt the same as the first, but did a 3-day EEG monitoring on him "to rule out seizures" and the results were not what he expected at all. He said that my son was having "constant seizures" and treated accordingly. The seizures now present themselves differently with no limb jerking. His aura is a funny feeling in his stomach and then unresponsiveness, as he cannot hear or see you during one, and he usually makes strange movements during one (mouth chewing, looking afraid and lost, etc.) These are complex partial seizures. Based on what you've said, I would surely look to get further testing done. I should also mention that he also has Tourettes, which presented itself after the onset of the seizures, and there is a world of difference in the tics and the seizures. Good luck to you.
