# Baby shaking head back and forth



## Persephone (Apr 8, 2004)

It doesn't seem like she's doing this voluntarily. I googled it, but I got a lot of shaken baby websites, or developmental milestones, and I don't think that's what this is. Is this a common baby thing I didn't know about, or should I be worried?


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

Does your baby have reflux that you know about? Sometimes babies with reflux have a behavior called Sandifer's Syndrome. I videotaped my baby doing one version of it. You can see it by scrolling down about halfway through the photos.
http://members.cox.net/sukumaran/Ref...lux_photos.htm

Does it seem like she's aware of her surroundings when she does it, or "out of it"?

Sometimes babies just do strange things for no reason at all. It could be that, too.


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## Persephone (Apr 8, 2004)

No, she definitely doesn't have reflux.

And she does seem aware of her surroundings. It's like, we're playing, and she'll shake her head, and I always stop and stare at her, cause it freaks me out, and she'll look at me and smile, and do it again. So it doesn't seem pathological, but it worries me. At first I thought it was the wobbly baby getting her balance thing, but she's beyond that phase now.


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## Thalia the Muse (Jun 22, 2006)

How old is she? My daughter did that ALL THE TIME for a while! Around eight to 10 months, I think. It was very freaky to watch - she'd sit and shake her head back and forth really hard, then smile and laugh and do it again.

She's five now and seems to be OK. ;-) Seriously, I think some kids just really like to experiment with physical sensations. She still loves to be tickled and turned upside down and swung through the air, and she loooooves rollercoasters. She likes to turn around until she's so dizzy she falls down, too.


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## Cherie2 (Sep 27, 2006)

My grandson 10 months old does that all the time, its like a playful communication and sometimes he does it when touching something he knows he is not supposed to. I get the impression he is doing it to be fun or funny.


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## aynaffitq (Jul 5, 2006)

My dd does this to but to me it seems like a cold chill or something, definitely involuntary. It really freaked me out when she started doing it but she seems fine in every other way and we have a pedi appt in a week. I got so scared the first time I thought I had given her brain damage somehow! (first time mom)


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## ArtistMama (Sep 19, 2006)

Dd started doing this for a while, and it became a game. She would mimic anyone who shook their head 'no'...even when the cats shook their heads. Not that they were saying 'no', but they do shake their heads sometimes...

Anyway, I think she just thought it was funny. It makes her smile and laugh when other people do it back to her, but I was also concerned when she seemed to be doing it a LOT. I was thinking she might have tourettes syndrome.

She's almost 11 months now and she doesn't do it as much. Usually she'll do it as part of a conversation. "Baby, are you ready for bath time??" *baby shakes head*







I'm sure she doesn't realize it means 'no' yet, but it makes us laugh.


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## forty's_wifey (Aug 1, 2006)

Just jumping in here... my son is 10 months old and he does this all the time. We talk to him like a person and not all that "goo goo ga ga" stuff and he always does it at the funniest times, and usually when someone who can talks response would have been no. I think its cute. But i dont think there is anything wrong with it.. just learning how to move things. He repeats everything we do... makes kisses, waves his hands, makes noises... so im assuming its just a watched behavior that he probably saw someone do and likes to do it. I wouldnt worry if i was you, but thats JMO.


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## lmkirche (Jun 7, 2006)

When my ds was that age he would shake his head back and forth when he was tired. I always took that as a sleepy sign and put him down for a nap.


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## scoobers (Jun 24, 2005)

My DS did that for a while. Freaked me and my DH both out. But, it turned out it wasn't anything to worry about. I think he just liked experimenting with the sensation of it.


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## calicocj (Oct 27, 2005)

I agree with all the PPs - my DD is 10 mo and she has been doing this for a couple months - shakes head then looks to see if we're looking then she smiles and laughs. I think we must have laughed at it when she did it the first few times and it must have stuck!


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## coloradoalice (Oct 12, 2005)

Ian is doing the same thing all the time right now! It cracks me up. He thinks it's really funny to shake his head. It's like a science experiement or something, I swear he does it to throw his equalibrium off!! He also does it when he's really tired, sometimes while nursing to sleep which is fun!

I remember Gracie doing the same thing. I think it's a normal stage. A new weird feeling they can control! Silly babies!


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## Persephone (Apr 8, 2004)

dd is 8.5 mo old, and it seems like most of the people in this thread have had babies start this between 8 and 10 mo, so I guess it's normal, not to be worried about. Thanks mamas, I knew I could count on you!


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## TexasGirl96 (Sep 6, 2006)

DS is 8 mos old and started to mimic my 9 year old nephew's head shaking at about 6 mos. At first, he also only did it when he was tired, but now he's started doing it more as he interacts with people. He does it a lot in the high chair. I think he likes the sensation (kind of like when little kids spin themsleves around until they fall down), and he definitely likes the reaction he gets from people.


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