3 Year Old with Shakey Hands

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Keep a journal. Take brief notes as to when you notice his hands are shaking, and when they are *not* shaking. Things to look for:

Food. Hunger, excess of sugar, and some allergies can cause shaking hands. Is there any correlation with what he eats or when he eats?

Temperature. Does he shake if he's doing blocks in a very warm room? He could simply be shivering.

Type of activity. Do his hands shake while he does other small-motor tasks? If so, what kind? Do his hands only shake when he is balancing things? Do his hands shake during large-motor activities? Do his hands shake more on tasks that are intellectually challenging for him? Do his hands shake more on tasks that are new to him?

Focus. Do his hands shake when he is distracted or focused? Do his hands shake when he is watching his hands? How about when he is not watching his hands? If he closes his eyes, do his hands shake more or less?

Severity, duration, and patterns. Are you sure the shaking is new, or have you just noticed it? How severe is it? Is it getting more severe or less severe?

Get four months of really detailed notes and bring them to the doctor. Please make sure you call the doctor in advance and schedule extra time to discuss your data. At that point, the doctor should be able to either give you an opinion or refer you to the appropriate specialist. Or you will have figured it out on your own!

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: If your notes reveal that his hands are getting more and more shaky, do not wait. Call your doctor NOW. If your child's coordination is actually *deteriorating*, he needs to be seen by a pediatric neurologist ASAP. If you notice his coordination deteriorating rapidly go to the emergency room. If your mama intuition is telling you that this is an emergency, act like it's an emergency.

Otherwise, take some good notes and relax. 99% of the reasons for shaky hands are either trivial or chronic, not an emergency. Careful observation now will save you a lot of time and reduce the chances of a misdiagnosis.

my son's hands shake whenever he is doing something detailed. He's 10 now and they haven't found anything wrong. Currently they are saying it is a genetic tremor, his father has the same issue.

Trust your gut and talk to your dr. When my middle son was 14 months old he had a seizure (an absence seizure, not one where there are convulsions.) It was very subtle but I had a feeling that he had a seizure. I brought him to the pediatrician and he said, "Well it's probably nothing," and wrote me a referral to the neurologist. I could tell when I came back to the pediatrician with the EEG showing epilepsy he was surprised. Trust your mama intuition!

It depends on how pronounced the shakiness is, and how long it's been happening. Have you ever tried to stack things really high in a balancing act? And the higher it gets the more of a feat it is? Haven't you ever noticed that when you do that your hand will shake as you set the object down if you're trying not to knock it over? If he's concentrating very hard not to knock his towers over then that could account for the "shaky hands."

That's my way of saying that I wouldn't panic right now. That doesn't mean that I don't think you should mention it to the pediatrician. You always need to listen to your instincts. I would rather be wrong and jump the gun than do nothing and find out I should have done something.

I would call the Dr's office and let them know and they can decide.

My oldest has hand tremors especially early in the morning and we were refered to a neurologist.

I would pursue it and find out. It's always better to be safe rather than sorry in my opinion.

L.

My son started with shakey hands around the same age and he is now 10yr. He sees a nuro dr. and they have no idea what it is. All the test come back fine like MRI CT and it seems to get worse every 6 mo. now. The Dr noticed it is now where his toung and eye lids shake. Good luck just talk to your Dr.