Baby’s Lip Quivers – Causes, Signs, and Treatment

When you become parents, your life revolves around your baby. You immediately want to take him to a doctor if anything happens to him. If you notice your baby’s lip quivering, you will wonder if the action is normal or if it requires a doctor’s attention. While tremors and jitters might raise alarms in your head, it is important to know why they exist in the first place.

Video : Baby Lip Quivering: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

What Does Lip Quivering Mean?

In certain situations, you might notice that your baby’s lower lip trembles or quivers rhythmically. It might seem like he is about to start crying, but that will not be the case. If this tends to repeat over a few days, such a condition is lip quivering in a baby.

Signs and Symptoms of Baby Lip Quivering

The signs and symptoms of newborn lip quiver or lower jaw trembling in a baby will be evident from his behaviour. Those can also be accompanied by a few others at times.

• A slight tremor that exists primarily in the areas of the legs, chin, and lips keeps occurring at a certain rhythm.

• The tremors or quivering continue for a few seconds and then stop.

• Such quivering exists primarily when the surrounding environment has changed its temperature or the baby is hungry or irritated.

Reasons Why an Infant’s Lower Lip Quivers

If your infant’s lower lip has been quivering incessantly, there is a good possibility of a medical reason behind it.

1. Presence of Birth-related Defects

One of the reasons why a child’s lower lip quivers without control is defects that might be present since birth. These usually cause the movements of the child to be jittery as well. These birth complications could range from an improper blood sugar level in the body to a major calcium deficiency. In a few cases, if the supply of oxygen in the baby’s body has been cut off during birth, it could cause this condition to set in, too.

2. A Nervous System That is Yet to Develop Fully

While birth-related defects are a valid reason for the quivering lip, most cases result in the child’s nervous system struggling to catch up with progress. These shakes, jitters and quivers may not stay restricted only to the lip and make their presence all over the body, including the jaws, hands, legs, and so on. All of these result from the nerve signals being sent erratically to various body parts from a nervous system without full capability. Most of the time, these symptoms fade away a few months after birth.

3. Hunger

A newborn may start to quiver when hungry because their stomach is empty. This is one of the most frequent causes of quivering and can be easily fixed. Just give your infant some food, and they should soon stop quivering.

4. Happiness or Excitement

Sometimes when a baby is happy, they will quiver. Babies’ lips occasionally tremble on the side that is experiencing the feelings when they are happy or excited about something. There is a possibility that this kind of enthusiasm is to blame if you detect your baby’s lip is quivering. 

5. Fear

A baby’s lip may tremble if they are terrified or feel threatened. This is frequently accompanied by additional symptoms of panic, including a pounding heart or perspiration.

How Trembling of Lips is Diagnosed in Infants

Doctors usually conduct a bunch of examinations to diagnose babies’ trembling lips. The major step before delving further is to be able to separate a pathological tremor from an actual physical one. This will help in charting a path, depending on the possible cause of the tremor.

1. In most cases, doctors tend to bring in a neurological expert to diagnose the infant, especially if the quivering has existed for more than three months. He can then use various details, including pregnancy complications, labour duration, and many others, to form an opinion.
2. Tremors and quivering are all linked to the functioning of the nervous systems. Therefore, multiple tests can be conducted to determine the state of the brain, including blood tests of a particular kind, electrolyte examination, or cerebrospinal fluid tests, which consider various interdependent factors.
3. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) might be used to determine the brain’s physical structure. Neural sonography can also be opted for.
4. Further diagnosis might require a test of the nutritional presence in the blood vessels in the head. These could be combined with an x-ray of the neck and an EEG to compare neural signals.

Complications of Lip Quivering in Babies

Seeing a baby’s jaw trembling will alarm you, of course. Most doctors will examine the baby right away and diagnose the issue. In most cases, if no anomalies are detected in the child, it is just a matter of time before your baby’s tremors disappear completely.

However, if the quivering is a result of a pathological problem, then there is a risk of further complications existing due to it. A child might suffer from perinatal encephalopathy, resulting in brain malfunctioning. It could even cause hyperglycaemia or cerebral haemorrhage in the worst cases.

Treatment Options for Baby Lip Trembling

While most conditions of a trembling lip in a child tend to fade away a couple of months following the birth, there are some treatment options you can opt for in case it continues even after three months.

1. Replenishing the Deficiencies in the Body

At times, doctors might determine that certain deficiencies might be why the quivers have set in a child’s body. In such a case, supplements might be prescribed for some major elements, such as magnesium, calcium, glucose, etc. These will be infused intravenously for faster response, which helps in quick synthesis within the tissues of the nervous system. Similarly, it allows them to absorb oxygen easily as well.

2. Advanced Medical Techniques

In a few extreme cases, the presence of internal pressure within the cranium might be detected in the child. This can lead to severe seizures later on, as well. Therefore, it becomes necessary to administer certain corticosteroids to correct the problem and carry out punctures in the spinal cord for treatment. Medications meant to counter any convulsions might also be used, along with other drugs that enhance blood flow to the brain and even use physical therapy.

When Does Newborn Lip Trembling Stop?

Lip trembling in a newborn baby tends to disappear after a couple of months or so. By then, the nervous system has matured enough for such symptoms to fully fade.

How to Prevent Lip Quivering in Babies

If a baby’s lower jaw or lip repeatedly shakes, it is best to hold him close to you and calm him down. Massaging and bathing can yield good results as well. Ensure the child’s diet is balanced properly, and there are no deficiencies present.

Points to Remember

Remember to stay calm and keep your baby calm if you notice his lip quivering. Go ahead and touch the area that is trembling, which could temporarily stop it. Talk to other parents and figure out if they encountered something similar, too.

If you are trying to find out why a baby’s bottom lip quivers, you will have to take your baby to a doctor, and after certain medical checkups, he may help you determine why this might be happening. However, you must know that quivering is normal in most babies and will fade away in good time.

FAQs

1. Is Quivering Lower Lip Could Be the Sign of a Birth Defect?

Although highly unusual, a congenital abnormality that causes a quivering lip is theoretically feasible. There are usually additional symptoms if a genetic abnormality is the source of a quivering lip. Their hands, legs, and mouth may tremble or jiggle if caused by a congenital abnormality and other limbs.

2. Why Does My Baby Quiver His Bottom Lip While Crying?

One of the primitive neonatal reflexes induced by an undeveloped nervous system is the quivering of the lower lip. The newborn bottom lip shaking may be due to activities like crying or feeding that cause fast nerve impulses that the developing nervous system cannot fully comprehend.

3. Why Does My Baby Lips Quiver When Feeding?

Breastfeeding involves a complex series of movements involving the tongue, mouth, throat, lips, and face, even though it may seem simple. Due to muscle tiredness, it’s particularly likely in the first few weeks for your baby’s jaw to tremor or quiver.

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