Body rocking in sleep common in kids
11 October 2002
Head banging and rhythmic body rocking during sleep are common behaviours in young children, and most will grow out of them, a sleep paediatrician says.
But epilepsy still needed to be ruled out, said Dr Margot Davey who runs children's sleep clinics at the Royal Children's and Epworth hospitals and Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne.
Some children would need to undergo further investigation and referral, and treatment could be required, for example, if behaviour caused major sleep disruption to the child or family, she said.
Some 60-70 per cent of children undertook rhythmic behaviour to settle themselves at some stage, Dr Davey said. And head rolling or banging, or rolling or rocking the body, sometimes on all fours, was a regular occurrence for probably 20 per cent of children, with onset usually at 9 to 12 months of age.
'Head banging and body rocking are common developmental behaviours seen in normal young children that are generally outgrown,' she said.
'Doctors have to ensure that is what they're dealing with and that sleep disruptions or jerking are not epileptic fits.'
The behaviour could persist even in normal children up to 10 years, and occasionally into adulthood, she said.
If it persisted beyond 4 years, however, investigation was needed to determine if there was an underlying medical problem such as epilepsy, a psychological problem such as anxiety, or autism or developmental delay.
A doctor can sometimes achieve a successful diagnosis from a medical history, or a video taken by the parents, but sometimes a sleep study was needed — for example, in children with very frequent behaviour, if the behaviour disturbed child or family sleep, if the child ground teeth and moaned all night, or if the behaviour was violent, leading to bumps and bruises.
Dr Davey will speak at the Australasian Sleep Association and Australasian Sleep Technologists Association's 15th annual scientific meeting in Hobart this week.
Last Reviewed: 11 October 2002
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