Definition
Baby twitches are sudden patterns of movement of the arms, legs or the whole body. These twitches are a well-known phenomenon in early childhood and are usually without any significant disease value. They are certain reflexes or quite banal muscle twitches, as they are known to everyone.
Only rarely is there a disease such as epilepsy behind the twitching that requires treatment. Therefore, new parents do not need to worry at all when their baby twitches. It is important to be aware of the twitching and to be aware of its course or possible changes.
Causes
The very first thing to think of when having a child’s twitching is harmless reasons and not to get nervous as parents. In most cases, the baby’s twitching is based on the triggering of the Moro reflex. This is a so-called grasping reflex, in which the baby stretches out its arms and at the same time spreads its fingers, only to bring its arms together again shortly afterwards and clench its hands into a fist.
The Moro reflex can be triggered when the baby is frightened of something or in sleep. It can also be triggered when the baby is in your arms and suddenly drops backwards in a supine position. This reflex can be the most common cause of twitching up to 4 months of age, which is considered a completely harmless cause.
In addition, twitching is part of the development of motor skills. For example, before babies learn to grasp things, twitching of the hands can be observed. Typical for the 5th month of life are benign muscle twitches during sleep, so-called sleep myoclonies.
From the 9th month of life, the phenomenon “Jactatio capitis et corporis nocturna” (rhythmic movement disorder of the head) can also be the cause of the twitching. This phenomenon describes a constant pattern of movement in the sleep of babies, whereby they slightly toss their head back and forth. Sometimes only a slight twitching or moving back and forth can be detected. This topic might also interest you: Reflexes of a baby
All articles in this series:
