8 month old with head/shoulder/arm jerking

[mrsbriggs6306]

My 8 month old daughter (born at 39+weeks, 6lb 14 oz, 20+lbs today) had been doing the "bashful" head tilt once or twice a day.. when someone talks to her & it was cute. Then it became somewhat of a jerk or twitch. Thursday after a 2hr+ nap, I was feeding her & she began tilting/twitching uncontrollably. This seemed to upset her and at one point (if you scroll to 1:20 & watch to 1:12) in the video you can see that she "locks" in this position. She has a "look" on her face.. somewhat of a stare, and her right arm looks stuck. Suddenly, little things about her make me wonder if this is more urgent than a mention at her next well check (3 weeks).
-She has made NO attempt to crawl and hates being on her stomach and if she does tolerate it, she does not push up onto her arms often.
-That night, after her afternoon nap, I brought her downstairs to my husband and a visiting friend, and she was letting her tongue hang out (not pushing it out being funny.. almost like her lip didn't work). I was bouncing her and we were all talking to her (daddy always gets a smile) & I was playing by poking at her tongue.. and she could not have cared less. She didn't laugh, smile, pull her tongue in.. no change in expression.
Suddenly I am concerned about many movements she has been having, but with a child her age, it is difficult to differentiate between "exploration/development" & a possible problem
This may all be unrelated and I may be overreacting, but it has continued to happen over the weekend. She has not experienced another "pause" as in the video, but she has continued to experience 'jerks' localized to her upper torso/neck & arms. They are not predictable with regards to specific times of day/her schedule. They seem to come in clusters, but may happen only once or twice. She seems to be able to sense it is coming and will fret prior to the contraction and past that, it is hard to tell if she continues to be upset because of the contraction that just happened or one she feels coming right after. We should be seeing the doctor today, but I'm just not sure how aggressive to be. I feel deep down that "mother's intuition" that something is not right. I would like to have a complete range of blood work done and would like to have a 24 hour EEG, although I don't think it will take that long to see if the 'jerks' are corresponding with any abnormal brain activity. Any help/advice is appreciated!
The video is at
http://s16.photobucket.com/albums/b26/starry_momma/?action=view&current=motwitch.flv

[mililani178]

hi my 10 month old son does the same thing mostly when hes excited and well eating soild food the doctors here does not know what wrong with him yet! there not saying it seizures because his O2 levels is normal. he took blood test and they can back normal the only thing that was off was the white blood count he was 11.1 and normal is 3.8-10.8 but the doctor said she not to worry about that because it not at a level to worry about!
did the doctors find the answer for your baby please write back!

[mrs_nelson]

My daughter is 6 1/2 months old and has been doing the "bashful tilt" quite a bit.  She presses her chin down against her chest and it's always tilted towards the right.  She is usually smiling when she does it and doesn't seem in pain.  She sits up by herself and loves to stand and has good motor skills...except she also hates being on her tummy.  Recently, she started "dropping forward" but I can't quite tell if it's voluntary.  She leans forward and then just falls and buries her face in a blanket or pillow.  Sometimes when she is sitting up she drops her head forward and stares down.  She's completely aware and doesn't stare off.  It looks like her head is too heavy for her neck or something.  Is this like anything your daughter did/does?

[cecipouw]

What did you find out about your daughter? My daughter is exactly the same now without getting stuck yet, but has a bashful tilt to now a swaying head, and at 8 months hates being on her belly. We will follow the above advice asap but would LOve to know your result two years out.

[Caliber2005]

Hi,
How is your child now?
I think the episodes points towards myoclonic seizures or epileptic disorder. I think you need to get it evaluated by a pediatric neurologist. An initial assessment by neurologist followed by EEG (gold standard would be to do Video EEG), MRI scan (to rule out any mass occupying lesion) followed by CSF analysis (to rule out any infective pathology) will be the line of management.
I was unable to see the video.
Does he smile back? How is his feeding and all? Any complications were noted during his birth?
Hope this helps.
Bye.

[pootz620]

all i can say is bring your daughter to a pediatric neurologist and they will perform a series of neurological tests, reflexes and bloodworks.  i'm a physical therapist but i hate to tell you right away.  i'm in no position to diagnose but just take my advice. to do another check, print out a copy of developmental milestones from the internet and compare it with your daughter if she illicits such reflexes like rolling, prone, rooting reflexes, plantar grasps, parachute reflexes..,.  hope this can be a bit of help...good luck.