Should I get my baby’s symptoms checked?

“My six month old baby’s leg has a bad twitch it keeps bouncing on its own throughout the day is this something I should bring her to get checked.”

Yes, you should get her checked. Why? For one thing, it’s worrying you. Reason enough.

Why else? Not sure what is going on here with just that little bit of info. Could be anything or even nothing at all. To start, there is alot more information needed before falsely reassuring you or worrying you. All those questions I have right now are best asked by the child’s own doctor. What kind of questions? Well, here’s a sample of type of things that you could note before your appointment to help your doc get to bottom of it faster:

Does it happen your you baby is awake? Asleep? Both?
Does it distress your baby in any way? Does she even seem to notice?
How many times a day? Every day?
Have you noticed anything else with the twitch?
How are all her developmental milestones?
Any recent travel?
Any recent illnesses/fevers?
Anything else changed lately?
Does the twitching seem to be in reaction to anything, like when she is happy/excited or playing? As she is falling asleep/waking up?
Your doc will probably also ask about family history, etc.

What else could you prepare? A list of questions that you would like to have answered about the twitch. GP might not have all of them! But it’s a starting point.

Lastly, when we are talking about movement in children your demonstration/imitation would probably be great, but this is one instance when a short video clip on your phone would be very helpful. Have a short clip handy to show the doc just in case baby doesn’t oblige and have the twitch in the GP surgery.

As a mother and a doctor, I promise you, every child’s symptom always seems to spontaneously vanish in GP/OPD/ED waiting room. 🤦‍♀️ [Yes, I’ve been there on both sides.] I never advocate photos/videos as a substitute for physical, in-person examination. However, it is ideal for things like abnormal movements in an infant that might be difficult to describe or capture in a consultation.