Hi all. I'm hoping somebody might be able to help me on this. I have a 14 week old and for the past two months,she has been waking at around 4am and cycling her legs back and forth. It seems that she gets woke up,tries to go back to sleep and can't and the legs start cycling. She then gets more upset as she becomes more awake. To me,it looks like she is tired and has restless legs - I suffer when I'm tired and had it terribly in pregnancy (took magnesium supplements) and my mum also suffers terribly.
I know restless legs can be genetic and I'm wondering if my child has them too. I can't find anything on the internet about this and I'm at the end of my tether. I feel so bad for her,she clearly wants to sleep and can't. I have a video of her doing it from this morning if anyone thinks they might be able to take a look and offer some advice.
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giddyg2001
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First- what is her diet? Are you breastfeeding? If so check your own diet for all the possible triggers. We have alluded to them constantly on this site.
If she is being bottle fed, then check the ingredients of the 'milk'. Each ingredient needs to be checked as a potential trigger.
Google ( "ingredient" and RLS) you may be surprised at what you discover.
Otherwise, you could make up a magnesium oil by mixing equal quantities of Epsom salts and water, and rubbing it on her legs. Only leave it on for not more than 15 mins, and watch for a reaction- it can be irritating to some skins, and if so, wash off immediately. A bath in warm mixture of a cup of Epsom salts in the water may also be effective.
RLS in pregnancy is common and the theory is that low iron/ anaemia cause it. If so, get your serum ferritin checked and start taking ferrous bisglycinate every other night to raise levels. Your baby could also have low ferritin levels as a result & so may be suffering with RLS.
If you’re breastfeeding, you can help your babies’ ferritin levels by taking the ferrous bisglycinate.
(I wish I had been offered an iron infusion after I developed RLS in pregnancy rather than dopamine agonists. I believe they have caused permanent damage to dopamine receptors.)
I also suggest you massage your baby with warm oil after evening bath and, as Madlegsadvises, keep a diary to see if anything you eat/drink is making it worse.
I really hope the above helps as it’s so unfair for a baby to have this.
If she is on formula milk, that could be a cause because it is high in sugar. What's genetic about is is the propensity of sensitivity, not the cause. Take away the cause and the genes aren't expressed.
This might be a good question for Dr. Buchfuhrer (see post above this one). The growth demands of infants and children can cause iron deficiencies, a chief contributor to RLS. Do talk to your doctor about blood tests to diagnose an iron deficiency and a treatment course with supplements or diet changes.
Can I ask, how do you know when your child wakes, and what do you do at this time?
In all my RLS searches over the years, years ago, stumbled on an article about a baby who had it. It made me wonder if I had RLS as a baby, too. (I used to rock and hit my head on my crib and bed. Dr told my mom I was "winding down" and just pad the crib railings and headboard. When I am sick or more tired than normal, my body still wants to rock.. and the sicker I am, the more violently my body wants to rock. When I had shingles, I found myself rocking HARD and hitting my head on the sofa. Not sure why this gave me "relief". ) The mother in this article was up all night trying to soothe her baby . I just looked in my files to see if I could find the original article. Nope. I do remember that the mother massaged her infant's legs with essential oils . I think she used rosemary, but any grounding oils may help. I have several things in my arsenal, and 1 of those is rosemary or cedarwood essential oil. Here is a copy of a quick search: Symptoms of RLS may start as early as the first year of life. Infants may slap their own legs to relieve the discomfort. Older ones may ask their parents to massage their legs to provide relief from the uncomfortable feelings. Symptoms of RLS may be related to low serum ferritin level (a type of blood iron level).
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