My Baby Drops His Head Suddenly for No Reason!

Hi R.,
My son is 9 1/2 months old and he used to do a similar thing. While sitting and playing or even while on his belly he would drop and raise his head almost like he was headbanging. He would always smile and be happy while doing it, but I wondered if it was a voluntary movement or a neurological thing. I would distract him from doing it - play with him, bring out another toy, change his position and he would stop. So I figured it was a voluntary thing - something new he was just exploring and having fun with because he learned how to do something new that got our attention. I was more afraid that he could hurt his neck, so I always distracted him from doing it. He doesn't do it anymore. While I wouldn't worry about your son, don't hesitate to talk to his doctor about it. As a mom, you have instinct that you need to listen to. Good luck :-)
~J.

Hi there, babies do some strange things and anything out of the ordinary can be worrisome. My son turns nine months tomorrow. My friend's baby is two weeks older than he is and was doing the same thing with dropping his head for no reason. They decided to err on the side of caution when their pediatrician noticed a change in head growth as well. They had an MRI done and everything is fine. I do think it is important to follow through with this sort if thing, but more than likely he will grow out of it and be just fine. Take care,

Take him to the Dr, to be on the safe side, or call the Dr office and ask them, I'm sure they would ask you to take him and see him. It's better safe tan sorry. I'm sure he's just fine, but I'd take him.

I don't want to sound alarmist, but get him to the doctor NOW! and insist on seeing a neurologist or at the minimum having an eeg. My nephew had Infantile seizures/spasms that looked exactly like that(google it). Head bobbing is indicitive of this. It seemed so small at first that my sister-in-law took notice but didn't think too much about it. Then it kept happening so she video taped it and got her son to the doc right away. The doctor didn't think much of it at first but she was adamant (this was her 3rd child)and showed the video and insisted on seeing a neurologist that day. They did and he was diagnosed w/the seizure disorder. this is most often diagnosed in children between 6 and 12 months of age. the sooner you treat it the better the outcome. the worst case scenario is that it goes untreated,meanwhile the seizures are wrecking havock on the childs brain causing severe and permanent brain damage. Here is a link to a web site about it. I hope I'm wrong, but if not, he's being damaged right now. My nephew fully recovered but the doctor said only because he was treated so early. Most kids aren't diagnosed until it is too late and they get seen because they are starting to lose their development skills, not because of the seizures, simply because they look so small. Good luck!!! and please let me know if this helped.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1464162/

my daughter dose somewhat of the same thing. she will be crawling around havin fun then she'll suddenly drop and flownder with a smile on her face and laugh. it scared me at first but then i realized she was just bein a goof. if he seems fine i wouldnt worry about it. just somethin new he thought was cool.

Anytime you have that instinct that something is NOT right, please consult your pediatrician and don't wait too long. You never know how silly or how serious an illness can be.
I hope everything turns out fine and it is nothing to worry about.

I agree, get him into the dr. You may get further if you take him to the ER as they have access to all the tests and machines. Express your concerns about something not being right request testing. I am not sure where you are located but I know there are wonderful pediatric neurologists in Portland and Eugene. Though the hospitals can do the testing and lead you in the right direction.
Another thing you can do is start writing down the time an date that he does this, also any other unusual jerks or twitches he may do.
Listen to your gut! If they tell you there is no need to worry and your gut is telling you differently, then keep pushing the issue.

i have same problem with my son but this problem mostly happen when he wake up from sleeping and sometimes happen when he sit , any advice