On another Web site, I saw this quote when someone was writing about apnea... "the sudden start, jerk and snort that occurs in sleep apnoea"....I just wanted to ask about this because Mason does that quite often, but I have never noticed him not breathing. He will be falling asleep in my arms and will suddenly do this huge startle-type thing. He won't open his eyes but he jerks and his hands suddenly flail up, then he does a little snort and settles back down. He will do it about 3-5 times per episode. I've always thought (and still do) that it is just part of him falling alseep. I;ve never really noticed him not breathing prior to it. But thought I would ask about this just in case.

Mason's 4 weeks old, right? At that age, those jerky movements are normal, since they have this startle reflex that makes them jerk and snort a little occasionally. My older dd, nonrefluxer, jerked and snorted a lot. DH thought something was wrong with her, but after a while as she matured, she stopped doing that. You can always ask the ped., but I do think it's a normal part of being a newborn.

3 1/2 weeks. I assume the startle thing is normal. I just saw that post and got curious.

The startle reflex is totally normal, until about 6 months I think.

Okay great, I honestly didn't think anything of it until I saw that post and thought I would ask. :) TY!

I would assume what you are describing to be normal also. I think it is cute when they are young and do that. I always thought they were dreaming?

My boyfriend has sleep apnea. It is kind of scary and noisy. If you saw it, the difference would be obvious to you.

My husband has sleep apnea and it's pretty scary. He has a device he sleeps with called a CPAP to keep air flowing through his nose.

Your little one doesn't sound like the same symptoms but you might want to ask the Ped just to be on the safe side!

Ditto to what the other ladies have said.. this is normal behaviour for such a small infant. It is actually quite cute.....
Enjoy that little bundle.. they grow so quickly!

Thanks again. Like I said I never even thought about it till I saw that. I watched him today and saw no indication of him not breathing so I'm sure it's totally normal. :)

This is very normal at that age. You would be looking for the movement in the middle of the night and generally won't include movt of the arms. But in saying that I was at the ped asking about it when Parker was 6 weeks and she told me this was normal. Well he has since been diagnosed sleep apnea- so just keep an eye on it!

I think it is so cute when babies do that! I always think it looks like he thinks he is falling with the sudden throwing the arms up.