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Premature birth

Twitching or jerky movement in newborn

4 replies

Thechick · 30/10/2012 20:06

Hello all

Just wondering if anyone had experienced jerking or twitching movements in their newborn. My LO was born 3 weeks ago at 34 weeks and recently has been having episodes where his whole body twitches rhythmically. It happens when LO is sleeping and before it was just the one but today it lasted for about 15 minutes and it didn't stop when I held him. We came to A&E on Friday because of it and kept overnight for observation and discharged the next day because it didn't happen again but are here again for observation and going to have a EEG tomorrow to check brain activity. The drs are saying its either nothing and just his immature nervous system and he'll grow out of it or it will turn into epilepsy. Anyone experienced this with their newborns?

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HairyMaclary · 30/10/2012 20:12

No experience of this particularly but I do have experience of preemies, DS was one. If it happens again, video it, on your phone is fine. It's much easier for dr's if they can see it. It may not happen when his hooked up to the EEG and so you might not get any data, a video is a good start. Good luck though.

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JoEW · 31/10/2012 11:41

Hi chick, I do recall that twitchy/jerky movements were quite common in prems and we definitely did have something similar though I think ours was more sporadic that you describe. I really hope that all is well and that it is just something that your LO grows out of.

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bytheseaside · 31/10/2012 14:17

Hi chick, my LO (born 33w) did this same thing on and off for a week or so when we first came home (35-7 ish weeks so similar stage to your LO), but hasn't done it for the last week. It seemed to calm if I held her limbs quite tightly. I mentioned it to HV who seemed to think it wasn't a big deal, but said I should just call dr if I was worried (I hate it when they say this - I never know if I should be worried - I want their advice!!) anyway it calmed down so I left it, I also remembered nicu nurses saying jerky, flailing movements common for prems when she did it in her incubator, although it seemed more 'fluttery' at this earlier stage, perhaps as she wasn't so strong then. Let me know how you get on - perhaps I should have persued it?

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Thechick · 01/11/2012 14:24

My LO had the EEG and its all normal thank goodness. They wanted to rule out epilepsy and there wasn't any sign of it. They think its something that he will grow out of. It's called benign sleep myoclonus. Thank you all for your advce and experience.

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