Baby's hands shaking while sleeping

Many parents have discovered that their children's hands shake when they are sleeping. Of course, under normal circumstances, parents do not need to worry too much when this symptom occurs, as it is a normal physiological phenomenon for the baby. However, if this phenomenon persists for a long time, or the baby's shaking is abnormal, you need to go to the hospital for examination and treatment.

It is normal for babies to have unconscious shaking hands and feet, especially when they are crying and stretching their limbs. This is mainly because the baby's nervous system function is not yet fully developed and the nerves' control over the muscles is incomplete. If the baby has this condition frequently and the movements are regular and unilateral, it may be a cramp. It is recommended that the mother take the baby to a neurologist for a check-up.

Newborn babies are generally more excited and agitated, and they are easily startled. These may be physiological phenomena. When the mother undresses the baby, the baby will shake a few times, and the shaking may occur repeatedly. If the mother holds the baby's hands or puts her hands on the baby's belly to comfort him, the shaking will disappear immediately. This is normal tremor of the newborn.

Sleep myoclonus is caused by the high level of neurotransmitters in the baby's excitatory nerves, relatively good development, and poor inhibition. After the baby falls asleep, the excitement of the cerebral cortex is further reduced. Since the higher nervous system has an inhibitory effect on the neurons at the next level, the inhibitory effect will be even lower after the baby falls asleep. Therefore, the baby will have small movements after falling asleep, and these movements may even occur repeatedly. However, the baby has never experienced such a situation when waking up. This is called "sleep myoclonus" and is generally benign and not a big problem. Very few babies have myoclonus that does not occur during sleep. For such babies, it is necessary to pay attention to whether they have such symptoms when they wake up besides sleeping. It is also necessary to consider whether the baby's overall development is normal. If necessary, the mother should take the baby to the hospital for examination.