toddler trembling/shaking - no fever

[Anonymous]

Hi - We have noticed a number of times that after waking up in the morning or after a nap, our toddler will start shaking/trembling almost as if he is cold but he is not, nor does he have a fever. All of him trembles, and even his teeth sort of chatter. Lasts maybe 5 minutes or so. It usually occurs after he drinks his morning milk, so at first we thought it was from being chilled by the milk, but now our daycare has called us to report seeing it unrelated to drinking - today it happened as they sat down for snack time which is one hour after nap. This has obviously put a new light on things and scared us. We have an appt w/ his pediatrician on Friday, but welcome any insight if anyone has had a similar experience.

[Anonymous]

Could it be low blood sugar? This happened once when my 2 YO took a really long nap after a light lunch.

I hope the pediatrician figures out the problem.

[Anonymous]

My DD does this but I just thought it was her taking a few extra minutes to wake up and get coordinated. Never gave it a second thought.

[Anonymous]

My dd also does this in the middle of the night sometimes she will wake up screaming and shake for a few minutes. It's not associated with naps and always ends after five minutes of waking up - not after being up in a while

[Anonymous]

My son did this for a little while as a toddler. One possibility is that if he is being woken up before his sleep cycle is complete, for an immature nervous system at that age, it can be very discombobulating to the body. Another possibility, as PP suggested, is low blood sugar, which can happen a lot when the child goes through a growth spurt. I would definitely be a little more concerned about the shaking happening a full hour after waking up from nap though – that could mean something else is going on.

[Anonymous]

Try to catch it on video for your doctor! Super helpful!
- pediatrician here (no idea what it is, but would like to see video if you're coming to my office)

Another thing you can try is to see if his eyes go up or down or any way when it happens, call his name - does he respond to you? Look at you? Can you stop the trembling? Aka - can you hold his arm down and feel it stop or is his arm still shaking under your firm grip?

[Anonymous]

My dd who is 2.5 does this after sleeping - always assumed it was nervous system responding to being awoken. An hour after is odd though - how long since his previous meal?

[Anonymous]

HI This happening to my son, did you ever get any answers?

[Anonymous]

Any answers

[Anonymous]

My three year does this too when woken up earlier than usual, like two hours ahead of her normal wake up time.

[Anonymous]

Please record this and send to your doctor. Could be nocturnal seizures that happen upon falling asleep or waking, especially when sleep has been disrupted. Sometimes it “just” looks like facial twitches, not full grand mal seizures.

[Anonymous]

https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/brec.html