Is this normal?

[AnnJuneJanuary]

In advance, I'd like to say thank you for your time and consideration. My question is about my daughter who is two years old. Since she was a baby, I noticed that while sleeping she twitches. My son never did this, but since my daughter was healthy as a baby, and active, I wasn't too concerned. She developed normally, though she is on the petite side. She's brilliant, and beautiful in every way. Though she continues to be active and healthy at two years, the twitching did not subside and has slightly worsened since she was an infant. To describe it---it starts as she is falling asleep and continues constantly throughout the night. The twitching is throughout the entire body and up into the facial muscles, causing her to grimace and smile, frown, and to make a full range of faces. It's as though a low current in passing through her. Her fingers and toes become very animated as well, along with her arms, which almost look like their attached to marionette strings at times because one will sort of lift up and her fingers will begin dancing around. The legs and toes twitch and a couple of times she's had spasms of her diaphragm that have sounded much like the involuntary sputtering after a good sob. The twitching is an obvious nuisance to her as it causes her to wake throughout the night and, unlike my son(who at 10 months was sleeping the night through) my two year old daughter has never been able to sleep through the night without waking. She does take naps during the day(1 or 2). She twitches during her naps as well and sometimes is awakened. Any advice, or thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

[KatEyes]

First let me say that I am not a medical professional.

Seems every baby I've seen twitches some, but what you describe is beyond a little twitch now and then. Unfortunately, if you take her to the doctor's office she will probably be awake and the doctor's can't witness what you describe unless you have videotaped it and and give a copy of it on a disk to the doctor.

I have 2 thoughts on this, the first being related to iron levels. Has she had any iron studies, particularly a ferritin level? In adults, some movement disorders of sleep have been linked to low iron stores. A routine CBC can be completely normal, yet the storage iron not. Even a ferritin result technically within a normal range can be too low for those with movement issues, and their level may be best kept on the upper end of the normal range, not the lower. The brain uses iron in processing movements, and if it is borderline low, with the ebb and flow of circadian rythym, it can drop even lower at night.

My one caution on this is to not just randomly give a child iron without iron studies to be sure they don't carry something called Thallasemia Minor or other anemias. For nine years I was reprimanded by my daughter's doctor, accused of not giving her proper nutrition. She was on formula with iron from the beginning, and given iron pills thru her childhood, till changing pediatricians led to uncovering that she had a blood disorder that prevents proper processing of iron. We were basically poisoning her, as the iron that cannot be processed accumulates in the liver and at worst, other vital organs. I only say that to say this is not one of those times to self treat or guess at what to do. Proceed only if the need and appropriateness is confirmed by blood tests and monitored by a doctor knowledgeable in this field.

There are movement disorders that are not caused nor helped by iron. If her movements are going to continue to disrupt her sleep, it can affect her health and cognition. If that were to turn out to be the case, I would want to work with a reputable pediatric neurologist to address those issues.

Then again, maybe her movements are normal and/or she will outgrow it. Follow your mother instincts (as you are doing now) and ask her doctors questions until you are comfortable that you understand their answers.

[AnnJuneJanuary]

Maternal Instinct does seem to be nudging me. Perhaps I will go ahead and make that appointment with her pediatrician. What you mentioned about her health and the effects that sleep deprivation can have on it, rings true in my own case, since I suffer from a sleep disorder. It has  taken a surprising toll on my own health, which is partly the reason I have been giving so much reconsideration to this issue with my daughter. Though you aren't a health professional, your insight is much appreciated. Again, thank you for your time and thoughts.