Tilted head and shaking head in 9 month old baby

[tazdaz]

Hello,
My 9 month daughter has had a tilted head intermittently for the past 1 1/2 months.  It has always been to the right and seems to last for a week and then goes back to normal.  She is on her 3rd time of having it tilted.  When she is reaching forward it seems to straighten up but when she is sitting or on her tummy, it is tilted.

She also shakes her head side to side like "no" when she is tired, excited or done eating.  Not always but she would shake it anywhere from a couple times a day to 10ish if really tired.

A month ago to I noticed her dropping her head forward.  I had a video and showed this to the paeditrician and she has booked me in for an EEG.  It is hard to tell if she looks "out of it" after dropping her head.  She doesn't kick her legs out or arms out when this happened so it does not look like an infantile spasm.  I was concentrating more on her shaking head and tilted head so did not notice if this occurred more than the once but I do know it has not occured the past few weeks since I've been watching for it.  

We have been going to physio for the head tilt but she does not see it as a muscular problem.  I just took her in today when it was actually tilted.  She is recommending we see an opthamologist.

Just wondering what these symptoms could be and if they are related?
Thanks for any help
Tammy

[vickipet]

Hello ,
I have been following your progress of your daughter and happy things are working well.  My son who is now 9 mos. old started from 7 months shaking his head side to side (as if saying no) and it can happen while he is trying to stand, while he is sitting even while he is lying down trying to sleep.  I took videos of this and the neurologist prescirbed the eeg to rule out seizures and this was ruled out.  Now the next step is the MRI and i am very worried about the sedation.  Did your daughter have sedation and do you know what kind of barbituates?  I have heard stories of allergic reactions (rare ones) and  a child dying from the sedation.  My neurologist is saying there may be a blockage that the child is trying to shake loose...and has not given me any medical terms for this and I am worried about going through the MRI.  Do you have any recommendations? I appreciate your help so much!

[tazdaz]

Thanks everyone for all the information since I first posted this.  I thought to share the rest of my story and hope it may help some of you parents out there.  
The last post was middle of October.  My daughter went in for her MRI and all results came back normal.  There were also no neurological signs of any problems due to the fact she was premature which was great.  When we went back to the neurologist after all the tests were done and all normal (EEG, MRI, Opthamologist checking for nystagamus) he diagnosed her as having a mild form of spasmus nutans and said it should go away on its own within the next year.  I read that with spasmus nutans the symptom of nystagamus had to be present otherwise spasmus nutans was not possible.  He said that it is mild form of spasmus nutans so nystagamus does not need to be present.  She continued on with head tilts and shaking head side to side.  Then we travelled to Canada for holidays for Christmas around her first birthday.  She had a head tilt when we arrived for about a week that I noticed but others did not.  As the weeks went on, I never really noticed another head tilt.  A very slight tilt sometimes but nothing like it was for the past 5 months.  The shaking head “no” side to side also reduced and she would just do it every so often.  It seemed she would do it only when taking a drink of water and it seemed like a bit of a shake because she had a chill.  She’s now 14.5 months old and I can say she has not had a tilt for almost 2 months and I don’t even notice any head shaking “no” side to side.  So I’m hoping this is it for her and I won’t see it anymore.  Hopefully this gives some of you hope out there.  But looking back I am glad she had all the tests she did have although it put her through a bit so young in life.  But for me and for her it was worth it making sure nothing else was wrong in case we had to start any treatment.  I will keep checking this site every once and a while and update you if my daughter has any changes.  Wishing you and your little ones all the best!!

[SandEsmommy]

I found this post and am very interested.  My 10 month old daughter has been having a "tic" where she places her head on either shoulder and holds it for a few seconds. This happens several times a day, especially when she is tired.
Normal EEG, UGI to test for reflux (inconclusive with one instance of minor reflux), saw the neurologist who said that since her development is normal, he wouldn't worry.
Pediatrician put her on Prilosec to see if it is reflux (Sandifer's Syndrome) but it hasn't gone away. Not sure what to think.
We can schedule an MRI to rule out tumors or other brain abnormalities but Neurologist is confident it will be normal. So is it worth sedating her?  We're not sure.
There are a couple other reflux tests we can do (a one hour UGI or an inpatient 24 hour UGI) which we may do, but if the prilosec isn't working, not sure if it's worth it.
Any ideas?

[seansmommy]

You sound like you are where i was at 4 months ago. My son is now 9 months old.
After months of doctors, blood tests, MRIs - the neurologist finally diagnosed Benign Paroxysmal Torticollis (BPT). Neither my husband nor I have any history of migraines in our families. It used to be when he was littler that he would have the head tilt for up to 2 weeks, a week or so of straight, and then tilted again. Then it reliably began switching sides. Finally when he was around 7 months old (a week after starting daycare) he had what I can only describe as an attack. Only then did we see any of the associated symptoms such as vomiting and pallor. In retrospect there were 2 other occasions we attributed to either colic or stomach virus that might have been milder attacks of BPT.

It is worth noting that my son has also been shaking his head "no" when he's tired. The Neurologist didn't think this was significant. He also has mild hypotonia in his upper body and is at the slower end of the spectrum for reaching gross motor miles stones.I believe that these may be caused by the BPT as well. BPT doesn't seem to have much research done on it. Most websites have cited the same study done over 30 years ago. Anecdotal evidence I've been able to collect suggest that there may be a link between BPT and other sensory/neurological difficulties. While most articles claim children grow out of it by the time they are 5 I know of at least one girl who continued to have syptoms until she was almost ten. It's really quite a mystery.
Good Luck and I sincerely hope that everything works out for you.
-Christina

[crystalhanzelka]

has hydrocephalus been ruled out?

[kkwendt]

I have a 5 month old that does that head bob and jerking when we are working on sitting.  He is super strong everywhere and most of the time in sitting his head is straight up and he looks around, then every once in awhile his head bobs around or tilts to the side.  He smiles when he sees us and get excited.  
When I pull him into sitting there is no head lag.  On his belly he does not like it, (I did not really do tummy time for about 2 month) now he holds his head up but does not push up on his arms.
Is all this normal?
Yes please explain the jerking and bobbing you are refering to.
Kalynn