Does your baby have unusual movements when sleeping?

Normal baby movements when awake

You can find out about your baby's motor development here. Here are two useful things to know about your baby's movements whilst awake.

• Babies in the first months of life make spontaneous general movements with their limbs and spine while they are awake and sleeping. These spontaneous movements become intentional movements from about three months of age.

• Nearly half of normal newborns have a physiological jitteriness while awake, which is also harmless and normal. This is a rapid shaking in the limbs which might even occur up to a dozen times a day. The tremor can be stopped by touching the tiny arm or leg, or gently bending his joint.

Normal baby movements during asleep

But about one in 10 parents report that their baby makes strange movements in their sleep.

Mostly, these movements in our newborns and babies are 'sleep myoclonus'. This is a normal and harmless jerking or twitching of those little arms and legs. It can start in just one limb, and then spread to others. The jerking movements might start in the first days of life, have generally disappeared by about three months of age, and don't occur after six or seven months of age. The twitching of sleep myoclonus occurs during active sleep, and never occurs when your baby is awake.

It can be helpful to take a video recording to show your GP if you are still worried about your baby's movements in sleep. If you think your baby might be having night terrors, you can find out about this here and here.

References

Hadders-Algra M. Early human motor development: from variation to the ability to vary and adapt. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 2018;90:411-427.

Nagy E, Hollody K. Paroxysmal non-epileptic events in infancy: five cases with typical features. Epileptic Disorders. 2019;21(5):458-462.