Sir.—We would like to report an additional case of benign neonatal sleep myoclonus1 recently seen when the patient was 5 days of age. On day 3 the child developed the typical features of jerking when asleep; this lasted a few seconds with no associated features. Results of examination that included electroencephalogram when the patient was awake were normal, and no abnormality appeared on biochemical, hematologic, or infection screens.
Of interest was the presence of pronounced stimulus-induced myoclonus when the patient was asleep. He was being nursed in a clear cot; when the cot was tapped, several myoclonic jerks were evident in the arms. These did not disappear with holding of the limbs.
Recent pediatric neurology textbooks2,3 have referred to this condition as benign neonatal myoclonus, but the paucity of information in these sources demonstrates the difficulty of keeping up with the broad expanse of knowledge in our