Rhythmic Movement Disorder

Rhythmic movement disorder is very common in infants and young children. The child may engage in head banging, head rolling, body rolling or body rocking just before falling asleep. Over sixty percent of nine-month-old infants experience it to some degree. By age four, only eighteen percent of children persist in bedtime rhythmic movements.

Rhythmic movement disorder (RMD) is characterized by recurrent episodes of rhythmic motor activity that usually occurs during drowsiness or Stage 1 sleep. Also known as jactatio capitis nocturna, headbanging, headrolling, bodyrocking, bodyrolling, and rythmie du sommeil. Practitioners usually employ the term rythmic movement disorder as a general descriptor because different body areas may be involved in the movement activity.

Although most infants have rhythmic motor activity during drowsiness and light sleep, it usually disappears naturally by age 5. Rhythmic movements persisted for 6% of 5-year-olds in one series and body rocking persisted in 3% of 13-year-olds in another series.

Most children who have rhythmic movement disorder are healthy, although the condition is more common children but may also be seen in association with autism and other developmental disabilities. For most affected children, RMD is a self-limited condition that does not require treatment. For kids who suffer from particularly violent movements, use of protective padding in the crib or bed is often helpful. Controlled sleep restriction has been found to have some benefit. In extreme cases, doctors sometimes use the drugs clonazepam and citalopram.

Sleep Disorders

Dyssomnias

Parsomnias

"It’s been a hard day’s night
I’ve been workin´ like a dog
It’s been a hard day’s night
And I’ll be sleepin´ like a log…. "

(John Lennon and Paul McCartney)