Child (now 3years old) Twiches/Jerks During Sleep Several Times Since Birth

[njbryan]

My son has is now 3 years old and since birth, he had what was first identified as the "startle reflex" and then what his ped referred to as my son continuing to have a startle reflex well after it should have went away. My son, born at 37 weeks on the dot, and then on oxygen for 12 hours after his birth has been healthy except for extensive behavorial problems. However, his startle reflex has NEVER gone away while sleeping during naps or at night. He doesn't sleep well at night and this startle reflex is like a full body jerk or tremble, very fast, very short. I have consulted 4 doctors about this, 1  and a pychologist, none seem to think its and issue. Is this an issue, should I look to someone else, for help, is there anyone else to look to? I feel that maybe this may be a link to other problems my son is having, i.e. behavorial issues, lack of sleep... and I just want so much to give him the help he needs.

Thanks for any help you may offer.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

The jerks your son has in sleep may actually be normal. You need to observe if the jerks are seen when he is falling asleep or coming out of sleep or anytime during the sleep. It is difficult to tell if it is a startle reflex. A startle is usually a reaction to some stimulus.

I would be interested to know what his behavioral problems are. Please keep me posted.

Regards

[Katherine7]

Hi, I have been interested in your post because my almost five year old boy displays the same or a similar startle reflex (known as Moro reflex) and I have been wandering about it too.

When disturbed in his sleep (i.e.  when I need to carry him to his bed, after falling asleep in my bed or when I need to adjust his sleeping position) he will jerk his arms backward with his fingers spread apart. He was born two weeks before his due date but without complications. However he started showing symptoms of ADHD at 18 months and a delay in his speech and  language development (10 months at age 3), which I found out is quite common with boys with ADHD. Having been trained as an Occupational Therapist and believe that the startle reflex and the delayed language development seem to indicate a neurological immaturity of the brain. Fortunately the brain of a young child is very adaptable and my son has been showing increasing progress in his speech and language development. As his brain matures I believe, like  with his older brother, his ADHD symptoms too will become less severe and he will be able to learn behaviors that will help him cope better with this condition. The startle reflex too might gradually fade away as he matures neurologically.

Recently I found out that I have mild hypothyroidism and must have had it for a long time. I also read research that states that a mother‘s defficient thyroid function during
the pregnancy can influence the neurological development of the fetus. I suspect that in my case my low thyroid function may possibly have had a significant influence on my sons neurological immaturity and their manifestation of ADHD symptoms. But this is
something I still need to research a little further.

I would be interested to learn more about the other behaviors you indicated that your son displays as well as a better discription of his sleeping pattern.

Sincerely

Katherine7

[njbryan]

Thank you for responding to my question about about my 3 years and what I call a startle reflex. The full body jerking/jumping/twitching occurs during his sleep. I have started to time them, for example: Just yesterday during a nap, within one minute, he experienced 7 episodes, full jumps/jerks througout his body. One second he is sleeping soundly and then the next second he it looks as though he is jumping out of his skin, and the entire time he is sleeping. His arms fly about, legs jolt, and his breath catches. The episodes are clusterd together, and can go on back to back and then stop abruptly. They can be large jolts and then small ones. He has done this since about 2 weeks since being born and it has never stopped, it continues daily.

In regards to his behavior we began having trouble with him at 2 years old, at first we thought, he was spoiled. Then, he began hurting himself by hiting himself, biting, banging his head- and seemed to have an unusual tolerance for pain. Anything would set him off! We began going through the step with pychologist/counselors for Austims and Aspberger's. He is a very, very bright child, but seem frustrated and something seems wrong, and he seems like has trouble coping and is easily frustrated. Psychologists do not believe nor does he test on the Autustim spectrim and has been test again, this year, this past 6 months. He is very loving, but very defiant and frustrated and it could be because he isn't getting the rest he needs- possibly because of what is going on with what I am explaining?

I took him back to see his doctor this week to discuss these episode and his doctor tried to tell me, that my son was just dreaming, and experiencing the classic "falling from a high place feeling" therefor causing him to jump- so his doctor doesn't feel this is a problem. I still am troubled by this, and think there is more it!

Thank you for your time.
Natalie

[njbryan]

Hi Katherine7-

You are the first person that I found that has any similar experience to my son's. My son's episodes occor clusterd together while he is sleeping. They can happen multiple times, for example 5-7 times per minute. His entire body jumps, his legs jolt, arms fly up-
It sounded like your doctor acutally your son a diagnosis? I am going to look up the Moro Reflex  here in the next few minutes. Our doctors have been uncoopertive so far and I am hoping that will change after I know what direction to head, and I am hoping get that here.

As far as behavior goes, my three year old is very aggressive. We often times have problems with him being self injurious to himelf, i.e. biting and hiting. He spits, on people and object and he does that whether he is mad or not. He does no the difference between what is is allowed to do and not, for the most part. And, he already had a huge problem talking back- and has no other older brother and sisters nor is he around older children, he just turns what we say around. Also, his screaming is out of control, he will go through fits where he CANNOT be calmed down- by anyone- he will vomit- and still not be calmed down. Finally, fifteen-twenty minutes later after he just stops on his own, its like he is in a daze.  These fits, are rare any more, but they used to be almost daily during the terrible 2's.  Well, I think that about wraps up my son, beyond all that- he is a loving and joyful child-for the most part. :)

Thanks for your response-

Natalie

[Katherine7]

Hi again,


I can sense and sympathize with your frustration as well as your son’s but hope you are well dispite the challenge.

Now that you have described your son’s jerky movements a bit better, I don’t think they are a startle reflex, since I believe you are saying they appear spontaneously. The Moro Reflex is triggered by a sudden change in an infants body position, i.e. when you hold a baby in an upright position (facing you, one hand supporting head and shoulders and the other under its bottom) and suddenly let it “fall” backward to a reclining position (still supporting it of course). This reflex normally fades away by the 6th month.

For your pediatrician to make a better judgment, I would like to suggest you videotape your son and keep a log for several days and nights and show him/her what exactly you are talking about and to rule out epilepsy.

Regarding the behavioral issues, my son’s terrible 2s, like many other kid’s would go beyond the age of 3 and 4 and biting, hitting and spitting were some of his bad “normal” temper tantrum habits that he outgrew. Head banging too can be a sign of frustration. Even today (at almost 5 years of age) my son’s temper tantrums can be intense. But one needs to consider he had and still has communication difficulties due to his delay in speech and language and that is very frustrating for a young child. While sleep disturbances can make your son (anybody actually) irritable and frustrated even aggressive, is there anything else that may be disturbing to him or people that he might be imitating?

You mention that your son’s temper tantrums can last for about 20 minutes and that he is seems dazed afterward. I would consider the time length normal, even average compared to other children that can have 30 minute and longer tantrums. Also, they are exhausting for a toddler and may cause a blood sugar drop. Offering him a little diluted natural juice may help. I imagine these tantrums make you feel pretty helpless, since one doesn’t have much control over them. I used to feel like that, until I realized they are a phase and developed some strategies to help him get distracted from whatever would frustrate him (whenever possible). Sometimes I just had to ignore the behavior and wait it out. Sometimes a tight hug would let him know I was still there for him and in control of the situation, especially if he could hurt himself or was very frustrated. It is important that your attitude is consistent and firm but loving to give him a sense of security, since he senses he is emotionally out of control and that can be somewhat scary for his age. I am sure you will find out what he responds best to. For more ideas and sound advice I can recommend “The Discipline Book”, from William Sears, M.D. and Martha Sears, R.N. (they have the experience of having eight children).

Love Katherine

[njbryan]

Katherine-

You are seem so kind and knowledgable- thank you for all your encouragment and underderstanding. It is so hard to go from doctor to doctor hoping that they will be the key to help unlock the mystery behind what has been effecting our son- and to get NOTHING or to be strung along.  I pick up the book you mentioned and hopefully that will help us to our son. He has made so much progress from age 2 to 3 years old, but we still have so far to go, and I want so much for him to be able to go to school and be happy and participate in activities he seems to already show an interest for.

Thank you for taking the time and reaching out- it means so much. I hope and wish you all the best with your own children.

All the best-
Natalie

[mommystanley]

OMG......you have given me such a peace of mind...thank you so much
Today while on my way to church my 20 month old son started jump/twitching during his nap(first time this has ever happened). He took a 20 min nap in the car and jumped/twitched about 10-13 time!!!!!!

When he woke up he was FINE.....I wasnt sure what to do so tonight when he went to bed i laid with him and sure enough it started happening again...so to the phone i ran spoke with a nurse she said it might be signs of a siezure...so of course i went stright to WEB MD....THANK GOD he doesnt have any signs that fit a siezure.....i was determinded to find out what was wrong so i could sleep with a lil peace:) i ran across your question and i ended up reading all the comments.

Every thing that is on here is him......so tomorrow he will see his doctor
But i just wanted to thank you for posting your ? you never no how much a complete stanger can help you:)