My baby has muscle spasms in his foot

I'm wondering if anyone else has come across this before as I'm rather
worried. My son is now 8 weeks old. On several occassions I've noticed one
of his feet twitching very quickly for a number of seconds. When it happens
there is nothing we can do to keep the foot still. I'm not sure if it just
happens when he's cold or when he has been kicking around alot and over
exerting himself. His muscle tone in general is very ahead for his age....
he can sit unaided for a few seconds and can support his own weight
standing, when his arms are supported. But I am concerned about his foot
that twitches rapidly, as if the muscle is spasming. He'll be going for his
8 week check this week, so I'll mention it to the Doctor, but I'm wondering
if any of you have heard of this before? I did a google search and came up
with cerebral palsy, but it wasn't a traumatic birth - labour was 2 - 3
hours and stage 2 was less than 2 minutes - his heartrate didn't do anything
worrying during labour. I'm hoping there is an innocent explanation for
this - maybe he's been exercising and pushing up on his legs too much, or
maybe it's due to cold - we've noticed it a couple of times when we're
dressing him after his bath.

If anyone has any ideas, please reply to this thread, as we're really
concerned about this. I have 5 other children and have never seen this
before.

Regards,

Yvonne

Mum to Jenny (15), Josie (11), Thomas (10), Georgina (9), Louisa (7), and
Stephen (8 weeks)

Yvonne wrote:
I'm wondering if anyone else has come across this before as I'm rather
worried. My son is now 8 weeks old. On several occassions I've noticed one
of his feet twitching very quickly for a number of seconds. When it happens
there is nothing we can do to keep the foot still. I'm not sure if it just
happens when he's cold or when he has been kicking around alot and over
exerting himself. His muscle tone in general is very ahead for his age....
he can sit unaided for a few seconds and can support his own weight
standing, when his arms are supported. But I am concerned about his foot
that twitches rapidly, as if the muscle is spasming. He'll be going for his
8 week check this week, so I'll mention it to the Doctor, but I'm wondering
if any of you have heard of this before?

I've not seen this, but DD1 had, oh, I don't know what to call
them - episodes. She'd kind of startle, a head shake. It didn't
look like a siezure (we caught it on video for the doctor, and
an EEG came out normal). She was about your son's age. She
eventually outgrew it. At first they thought it was a vaccine
reaction but the timing wasn't right for that. In the end, they
attributed it to an immature nervous system. Perhaps its something
like that. If you can, try to get it on video - that's very
helpful for a doctor.

Mary W.

Hi Mary

Thanks for your reply. I telephoned the Health Visitor at my son's GP
Surgery this afternoon and told her about the jerking.

She said she thinks it's nothing to worry about, and that it is fairly
common and that they usually grow out of it by 12 months. She said it's a
sort of reaction thing where they judder and quiver, and that some Mums
notice their babies do it whilst sitting quietly in their high chairs etc.
Also the fact that he can kick his leg and move normally the rest of the
time, both feet are the same temperature, and his muscle tone is generally
good made her less suspicious it's something sinister. Needless to say,
we'll be talking to the Doctor about it on Thursday.

Thank you for your suggestion.

Regards, Yvonne



"Mary W." wrote in message
...
Yvonne wrote:
I'm wondering if anyone else has come across this before as I'm rather
worried. My son is now 8 weeks old. On several occassions I've noticed
one
of his feet twitching very quickly for a number of seconds. When it
happens
there is nothing we can do to keep the foot still. I'm not sure if it
just
happens when he's cold or when he has been kicking around alot and over
exerting himself. His muscle tone in general is very ahead for his
age....
he can sit unaided for a few seconds and can support his own weight
standing, when his arms are supported. But I am concerned about his foot
that twitches rapidly, as if the muscle is spasming. He'll be going for
his
8 week check this week, so I'll mention it to the Doctor, but I'm
wondering
if any of you have heard of this before?

I've not seen this, but DD1 had, oh, I don't know what to call
them - episodes. She'd kind of startle, a head shake. It didn't
look like a siezure (we caught it on video for the doctor, and
an EEG came out normal). She was about your son's age. She
eventually outgrew it. At first they thought it was a vaccine
reaction but the timing wasn't right for that. In the end, they
attributed it to an immature nervous system. Perhaps its something
like that. If you can, try to get it on video - that's very
helpful for a doctor.

Mary W.