Anonymous

2 years

9 months baby head nodding

Hi Doctor,

I would like to seek for some advice. My baby girl is now 9 months old, these few days we noticed she will nod her head a few times (usually about 1-2 times, or 3 times) when we are feeding her solid food on a high chair when she’s watching her TV at the same time. Her eyes didn’t roll back when she was doing it, her eyes will still focus on the TV. She didn’t throw out her hands and legs, or neither she is stiff on muscle. It’s something like a shiver but her head nodded. Outside of that, she don’t do it when she’s playing or crawling on her playmat, she also didn’t do it when she’s lying in bed or sitting up on a flat surface. It didn’t happen when she’s asleep, right after awake or before sleep.

Her development is ok, she knows how to sit up from lying down, call mama, pick things up, throw things down, crawl by herself, trying to stand up by her own, crawl to an object or person that she plan to play with, demand us to feed her by shouting towards us, react to sound, turn to us when we are calling her by her name.

Does it consider a infantile spasm? And when should we needing to be worry?

Greetings,

Thank you for choosing us to get an opinion regarding your baby’s health issues.

Based on your explanations, your baby is showing symptoms of nodding for the past few days. I understand you are worried and want to know if it is infantile spasm. I will do my best to give you informations regarding this condition.

For your information, infantile spasms start suddenly and last a second or two. They often come one after another in a cluster that lasts several minutes. They happen most often just after waking. They’re often mistaken for colic, reflux, or hiccupping.

A baby having a spasm might have:

  • the head bent forward with arms flung out and the knees pulled into the body (described as “jackknife”)
  • the head bent back with the arms and legs straightened
  • small movements in the neck or other parts of the body

However, there are instances in which the behaviours might extend beyond simple nodding. Get an advice from your paediatrician if your baby:

  • doesn’t interact with you or their siblings
  • doesn’t move their eyes normally
  • develops knots or bald spots from head banging
  • movements increases during moments of anxiety
  • seems like they want to hurt themselves
  • fails to reach other developmental milestones outlined by your doctor
  • doesn’t respond to your voice, as well as other sounds
  • continues these behaviours beyond 2 years of age

You need to seek medical advice for an accurate diagnosis and early treatments to prevent any unfavourable situations

I hope the above statement does help you in a way and if you need further assistance and explanations from us, you can talk to our doctor or our specialist online. Thank you.

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Give your little ones the medical attention they need. Speak to a pediatrician to discuss your child’s health problems.

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