Worried about twitches/startle reflex 7 month old

[Littlelighthouse]

Really sorry for the long post. Just looking for a space to clear my head really as I'm on my own with DH away for the weekend and I can feel my worries spiralling.
DD is 7 months old (will be 8 months next week). She is our second baby, but our first to come home as we sadly lost our first child at 33 weeks of pregnancy.
Neither myself or DH have much experience with babies, so we're very much learning on the go. DD is as far as I know on track with everything developmentally. She's been sitting unaided since 6 months, rolling since around 4 months (though she stopped doing it for a while and just started again). Doing really well with weaning, babbles mamama and dadada etc.
However, the past week or so I've noticed these moments where she seems to suddenly do a little twitch or little jump for a moment whilst she's awake, or she will sit almost stiffly squeeze both hands 3/4 times really hard. I mentioned it to DH, but he wasn't worried and neither was my mum. They tried to reassure me that it will just be something new that she's learnt she can do, so she's doing it on repeat. I've tried to just keep it at the back of my mind, but try not to let it overwhelm me with anxious thoughts as I usually would.
But tonight I've been sat watching her on the baby monitor and whilst asleep she seemed startled and threw her arms and legs into the air twice in a row, all while asleep. I've seen her so this before and not given it a second thought, but because of the twitching I decided to Google what it meant. After a Google, I can see that this is the startle reflex or moro reflex.
I've seen that this should go away by six months and that if it hasn't you should consult your doctor. Other things have said it can be a sign of cerebral palsy if it continues past 6 months. This immediately made my heart sink, as our first child died due to a stroke and seizure in the womb, and we were told if he had lived he would have had cerebral palsy. Following his death, we had genetic testing which revealed that I had passed on a faulty gene that I carry (though it's mosaic in myself), which had caused the strokes and seizures. When I was pregnant with DD we had a CVS done at 12 weeks which confirmed she does not carry the faulty gene, however it only checked for that specific genetic condition.
So I've now got myself into a complete panic. I've always been worried about DD due to losing our son, but seeing the relation to cerebral palsy has completely thrown me.
I know people may not have any experience with this specific thing, but any advice would be welcome. I will be taking her to the doctor's on Monday, just feeling worried and alone in my thoughts at the moment!
Thank you xx

I can feel the anxiety in your post. I’m so sorry to hear about your little boy ❤️ It’s no wonder it’s made you very tuned into your DD. She sound like she’s going wonderfully

If it helps both my sons still had a residual startle reflex at 7 months. I worried about cerebral palsy too but in hindsight given they were both on track with their gross motor there was no need. They are both fine. They also went through phases of stiffening up and sort of grimacing momentarily around this age which almost seemed like a tic.

I used to worry about something called Infantile Spasms (which is vanishingly rare and almost certainly not what’s happening with your DD but might be worth checking out some of the videos online to reassure yourself.) I’m not trying to make you more anxious I promise. I’m sure Google has taken you there already. hope you’re okay.

I am a fully functioning adult with dyslexia, and dyspraxia, neither of which has seriously impeded my life in any way - I still have a moro reflex. My son in his 20s does too, without the dyslexia and dyspraxia - and yes, it sometimes is apparent in his sleep! A bit more serious to anyone sleeping next to him, and his size and weight

My ds who also has dyslexia still had those reflexes at 8 when l took him to a specialist around his dyslexia. He is now 33 and functioning fine. 6 months is only a guideline so don't worry. You are bound to be anxious since you very sadly lost your first baby so mention it to your GP at a check up but meantime rest with the thought that it's very normal.

Hi OP

My second used to twitch her right wrist rhythmically when she was born.

Doctors couldn't understand what I was talking about until I took videos.

If she does anything that concerns you again try to catch it on camera so drs can see exactly what you mean.

Hope everything goes well

Thank you all for your kind responses. I have managed to get a couple of video clips of the things that are concerning me. I do think I'm probably just being an over worrier, but I am going to take her to the GP tomorrow, more to ease my mind than anything else.
Thank you all again.

@Littlelighthouse maybe have a read about “retained reflexes” - there are therapies you can try to help with these. I’m not sure if I find it all a bit woo, but I did this with my DS when he was about 5-7, and I genuinely think it helped him (his Moro reflex definitely reduced - obvs I can’t tell if this would have happened naturally)

If you're worried op, take her to the GP to rule anything out. I know how you feel though, as mums it's in our nature to worry and overthink, and I had similar with dd1. She continued with the startle reflex well past the age they were meant to grow out of it, and if, for example I carried her downstairs without hesitating before each step, or picked her up/put her down too quickly, she would throw her arms up and hold her breath until she went purple. It worried me so so much, but the doctors reassured me she was fine. She also occasionally had absent (petit Mal) seizures, where she'd zone out momentarily and seem unable to communicate or even be aware of her surroundings, which used to scare the life out of me, she'd also seem really scared and confused when she "came back into the room" too, as if she knew something strange had just happened to her. We ended up in hospital numerous times, as the seizures were frightening and unexplained, and sometimes would seem to last ages, or she'd have multiple ones in a day, and I was convinced she had an underlying problem. We ended up getting a private MRI done when she was 8 months, as the gp wasn't worried, and just said that it was something some babies/children have, only once was a seizure determined to be from a high temp as she was getting over a nasty virus, but the multiple others never seemed to have a reason, so I needed that reassurance. Luckily her scans showed she was perfectly normal and healthy, and that was the only thing that fully put my mind at ease, although we still didn't have any answers as to why it was happening, knowing that her brain had been scanned, and there was nothing physically wrong was what I needed to know. She's now 9, she reached all her milestones as a toddler, and is extremely bright, exceeding everything academically, always so wonderfully happy, and extremely healthy. I'll never forget the anxiety she gave me as an infant, the hours I spent in tears googling what could possibly be wrong, and scaring myself even more. I can't remember exactly when the moro reflexes stopped, but obviously they did at some point, and she hasn't had an absent seizure since about 18 months. Obviously, you need this sort of peace of mind for your own child, so I would highly recommend pushing for a professional opinion (and a second if you don't feel convinced) as you need the reassurance, before you can relax and enjoy your baby. It probably is a case of overthinking and anxiety, but when it's your own child, until you know 100%, you can't just "hope" everything will be okay, as that's not enough. Push for a referral, or go private if it's an option to rule anything out. Big hugs x

Just seen this article this morning - certainly rings true with regards to my child:
https://www.additudemag.com/retained-primitive-reflexes-and-adhd-symptoms-treatment/

How did your little one get on at the GP? I have the same worries xxx

Hi @Anxiouscottishoma I don't think I actually ended up taking DD to the GP...the night I wrote this I was struggling mentally and it was a very triggering time of the year for me (around the time we lost our son who had CP), so I was terrified DD had the same.
She doesn't actually do it anymore, and I'm doubting she did it in the first place, again, I think it was my anxiety telling me she was. She doesn't very occasionally 'jump', but I'd say it's like when we have a dream that we're falling off a cliff.
Sorry to not be much help x