infantile spasms......I'm freaking out now.

[ktgrok]

Ok, I was reading the well baby thread and someone mentioned infantile spasms. That sounded a lot like a weird thing my baby has done, so I looked it up. CRAP! It looks almost identical to what she does. Although, now at 16 months I can't remember the last time she did it. But it was always while sitting up. She would extend her legs and arms and almost shudder or shiver because everything was so tight. She would hold it a few seconds then stop. Then do it again a few times. The thing is, she always smiled, and sometimes would laugh afterwards. i described it to my pediatrician and he said it was just an "immature nervous system". To clarify she didn't smile during...during she would open her mouth wide in a startle type face. It often reminded me of the silly face I make while putting on my mascara.

 

 

I'm reading that it is associated with developmental delays, brain damage, etc. Oh my God ...I'm crying. I don't know what to do. The thing is she doesn't do it any more really...or at least not often. So really I guess whatever damage was done is done? can they outgrow infantile spasms? Or is this not that?

 

I can't bring myself to even tell my husband, he will lose his mind. I'm going to go through my videos and see if I have one of her doing it.

 

help!

 

Edited to Add: She is developing normally. She was a bit on the late side to walk, but in the normal range, and now is totally mobile. She seems VERY smart, at least as smart as my son, who has an IQ over 140. She has no other developmental issues, and the stuff I'm reading says these kids stop developing. And that most are mentally retarded.

Edited June 10, 2011 by ktgrok

[abbeyej]

What you describe sounds very much like something my son did as a baby/young toddler. We still laugh about them. He'd stretch his arms out stiff with little fists, grimace horribly, his whole body tight, and shake his head side to side very quickly. It would last a couple of seconds. He did it pretty regularly and always played and laughed immediately after. He almost seemed to have fun doing it. He'll be twelve this summer, is academically accelerated, always been on target in physical development (okay, in retrospect he had some speech issues we could have worked on for a while, though he seems to have outgrown those), is a ballet dancer, just finished a high school honors geometry class, loves to write...

 

I'm going to bet that your doctor knows what he's talking about in this case and that what your child and mine have done are *different* than the "infantile spasms" you've been reading about. And really are just an aspect of a maturing neurological system.

 

ETA: I'm quite confident that what ds was doing was neither stretching nor seizures...

Edited June 10, 2011 by abbeyej

[EKS]

Both of my children did this. I also remember it being mentioned in a book about childcare. It said that it was normal most of the time. There was some sort of easy test for whether it was normal or not.

[Old Dominion Heather]

My son had them as well... They stopped around 8-9 months old. He is fine, except for his vision/glaucoma, but they don't think it was related to the infantile spasms in any way.

 

However, it was the spasms that led us to have him evaluated and it was at the evaluation that they finally caught all his vision problems. I am a big fan of pediatricians, especially the one who did THAT evaluation.

Edited June 10, 2011 by Old Dominion Heather

[SailorMom]

I would still get the baby checked out - just to calm your fears if nothing else -but I think more kids have this than many people realize....

A lot of kids have seizures of some sort (my sister had febrile seizures when she was a yound child), and most do not end up with any permanent damage.

:grouphug:

[calandalsmom]

Sounds like stretching to me.

 

Your dr has examined your child. Your child is healthy. Don't borrow trouble, as my mother used to say.

[deacongirl]

I would try to get it on video and make an appt. with ped. Early diagnosis makes such a difference that I don't think it makes sense to ignore symptoms. My cousin's daughter had very similar symptoms and it turned out to be nothing.

[ktgrok]

Thanks all. I needed you guys to talk me down. The more i looked into the less worried I became, just because if it was Infantile Spasms, the kind that cause major problems, she wouldn't be as normal now as she is.

 

As one person said, it was almost like she found it funny when she did it. She was aware she was doing it. But she couldn't stop it I don't think. But she really doesn't do it anymore. So I guess I shouldn't worry.

 

If she does it again I'll pay closer attention, and try to get it on video.