Startle Reflex???

[FlutterbyRia]

Hi all, I’m after some advice please (I did just post this in AIBU but realised it was probably the wrong place, so reposting here!). I was changing my baby last night, she was on the changing mat, and did what looked like the startle reflex. However, it went on for ages and she seemed to be frantically moving on the changing mat and was rigid, she had a funny look on her face, she looked terrified and panicked.

I sat her upright and her stomach made a really loud growling sound. I changed her and put her in her cot and the exact same thing happened again but without the sound from her stomach.

It scared the living daylights out of me, she looked as though she was choking or something, but there was nothing to choke on? Shes 10 weeks, she hadn’t had a feed for 4 hours. I was changing her ready for her bottle. I took her temperature and it was fine.

Has anyone experienced this before? Or know what it might be? I’m not sure if I should contact the doctor as she was fine a minute later, and has been since?

I'm really not sure. It's probably nothing but I would ask a doctor about it just in case it was some sort of seizure. Hopefully they can put your mind at risk.

That does sound very scary for you. We had something similar with our baby when she was about 3 months old. We started googling and scared ourselves that it was a seizure. It happened a few times when she was lying down and we were told to try and capture a video to show the GP. They were incredibly helpful and we ended up getting advice from a paediatrician at the local hospital. They thought it was very likely to be reflux and it completely settled after a few months. I think it’s always best to ask your GP if you’re worried at all.

It does sound like reflux.

My DD used to have a very strong Morro reflex. I believe that's why she could never be put down to sleep as she'd just wake herself immediately and it went on for months!

My DS did this a few times as a baby and I got so worried about infantile spasms but was digestive related in the end I think. Maybe try and video it if it happens again and seek medical advice. Babies do a lot of weird things though!