My Baby’s Lips Quivers: Is That Normal?

Do you pay a lot of attention to how your baby moves and cries? Don’t worry: it’s not just you.

 

Moms are keen on changes in their baby’s bodies. Many mothers quickly spot small details, whether it’s physical or behavioral. One thing moms might notice is their babies’ lips quivering.

 

Lip quivering in babies is similar to how adults do it. It’s when the lips flap rapidly and involuntarily. Your baby can have quivering lips while crying, but it also happens while they’re happy or in a neutral mood.

 

There are plenty of reasons why your kid’s lips are quivering. Some reasons are more obvious than others. Let’s find out what causes shivering lips and chins in infants and how you can help them out.

 

What Causes Shivering Lips in Infants?

There are different potential reasons why your baby’s lips quiver. Some reasons listed here range from unalarming to eyebrow-raising. Tracking the root cause, though, can help curb your worries. Here are some reasons why you might notice lip quivering in your infants:

 

Your Baby is Cold

This is an apparent reason, but cold weather can make your child shiver. Your baby’s lips will be quivering because their surroundings are too chilly for them. You might also notice other symptoms, like blue lips and fingers and lethargy.

 

Babies can’t regulate their body temperature as well as older children and adults. Even a tiny drop in temperature can make a baby feel uncomfortable. Prolonged exposure to low temperatures can affect a baby’s metabolism and breathing.

 

Crank up the heat when your baby’s room is getting too cold. You can also wrap your baby in thicker clothes to keep them warm. During cold weather, make sure a heater is available in your home.

 

Your Baby’s Nervous System is Still Developing

You might notice quivering even on a hot day. In which case, it’s not the weather that’s making your baby tremble. It can also be their brain. More specifically, it might be their underdeveloped central nervous system that is making them shiver.

 

Children who are two years and below have immature and underdeveloped reflexes. Those reflexes can be overactive and cause trembling and quivering with no cause.

 

Asides from quivering lips and chin, infants can also have jittering limbs that happen many times throughout the day. Thankfully, these jitters usually go away months after birth.

 

Your Baby Needs to Go

Some parents claim to have seen their baby’s lips quivering while doing their business. Although, this claim is less scientific and more anecdotal. Either way, if your baby shivers because of satisfaction from peeing, there’s nothing to worry about it. (Just make sure you have an extra diaper nearby.)

 

Your Baby Needs to Pass Wind

Here’s another not-so-serious reason why your infant’s lips are quivering. Your baby might be struggling to let some gas out. Lip twitching might be a response to the difficulty in using their muscles to pass wind.

 

You can help your baby out by rubbing their belly or making them do bicycle kicks. This quick, informative (and adorable) video can help you out.

 

Your Baby Might Have a Birth Defect

Finally, a rarer case of lip quivering might come from a birth defect. Lip quivering in babies can be a symptom of a birth defect (and often accompanied by other more critical symptoms).

 

Birth defects that affect blood sugar and the nervous system might have lip shivering as a sign. Calcium deficiency might also be something worth looking into. Jitters and tremors might be chronic when dealing with birth defects.

 

Early signs of birth defects are usually spotted early at birth. But frequent and erratic jitters will need immediate medical attention.

 

How to Lessen Quivering Lips in Babies

Based on the reasons above, lip quivering can last either minutes or a long time. It heavily depends on what’s the cause behind the tremor. Being able to tell what is causing the jitters is step one to helping your kid out.

 

Let’s say, though, that you’ve found out why your kid has shivering lips. What can you do to help them out? Here are some tips to help you out:

 

• Make your baby warm if they’re shivering from the cold. Bundling them up, turning on a heater, or moving them to a warmer room can help out immensely.
• Hold your infant close to you and help them calm down. Touching their lips can gently lessen any tremors. A facial massage can also relax their jaws and chin.
• Give your baby a balanced diet, especially if they have a deficiency. The best way to pass nutrients is through eating healthy food to help boost your breastmilk. Having a healthy diet can also prevent defects and malnutrition.
• Your doctor might recommend treatment depending on the severity of the birth defect. Any medical issues are manageable if detected early.

 

In some instances, your child’s lip is quivering while they’re crying. In which case, you should go ahead and help them stop crying. They might need their next meal, need a new diaper, or need a bit of attention.

 

Frequent and erratic lip shivering, accompanied by bodily jitters, calls for a doctor’s visit. Your pediatrician will run tests to rule out certain conditions, like seizures.

 

Conclusion

Your baby’s lips can quiver for a multitude of reasons, be it from cold weather or changes in the nervous system. In uncommon cases, birth defects can also be a cause. (In which case, medical intervention is a must.)

 

Trembling lips and chin can go away on their own, but you can help your kid out by calming them down and massaging their lips. In some instances, a change in diet can improve quivering lips. Medical intervention is a final option for some babies, but that’s reserved for urgent cases.

 

Lip quivering in babies is an overlookable detail for tons of people. But it’s hard not to observe this, especially if you’re a mom. The good news is that, for the most part, lip quivering is nothing more than a development quirk. So relax, and don’t let any weird lip movement from your baby turn your world upside-down.