Archive for July, 2010

Scary baby episodes! (Part Two – Febrile Convulsions)

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

Febrile convulsions are, undoubtedly, one of the most frightening events you could experience with your baby.

Like the previous scary episode blog, breathe holding, febrile convulsions are:

  • relatively common
  • ultimately harmless
  • dreadfully frightening for parents

So what is a febrile convulsion? Simply, it is a fit or convulsion while your child has a fever. The convulsion will generally involve sudden twitching of your baby’s limbs, loss of consciousness, eye rolling, unresponsiveness and cyanosis (blueness of the skin). Hence the scariness of it for anyone present! Parents who have witnessed their baby having a febrile convulsion sometimes report they felt their child was going to die. Frightening indeed.

There is extensive, credible information on Febrile Convulsions for to examine here (scroll down to “Febrile Convulsions”), Q & A factsheets and a short section in my Baby Settling and Health Guide however below are the key factors to know.

Febrile convulsions:

  • are fairly common (occurring anywhere from 2 – 5% of children)
  • are related to age (most fits occurring in a child aged 6 months to 5 or 6 years)
  • generally only last 2-3 minutes (although your child may not wake up straight away and may be a little groggy or unbalanced afterwards)
  • do NOT cause long term neurological complications (such as learning difficulties or brain damage)
  • do not require you intervene other than rolling your baby onto their side afterwards (do not hold try to hold your baby still or put anything in their mouth)
  • have a 30% of a reoccurrence (however this figure diminishes as your baby gets older)
  • will look frightening and most likely scare you half to death! (That’s okay! Do your best to stay calm)

 

Even though febrile convulsions are harmless and result in an uncomplicated recovery, I do recommend a medical check afterwards. While the actual convulsion is harmless, finding the underlying cause of the fever is important – more important than both the fever and the febrile convulsion itself.

I also recommend a strong cup of coffee or chocolate injection for parents when everything has settled down. Febrile convulsions do not qualify as one of my top 3 Scary Baby Episodes for no reason!

 

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Scary baby episodes! (Part One – Breath holding)

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

The job of parenting is both wonderful and difficult. Sometimes it’s hilarious and other times it can be downright scary!

Scary? Yes (and I’m not just talking about the contents of those nappies or diapers!). There are three events that you may experience as a parent that, while harmless, may scare the living daylights out of you. They are:

• Breath holding episodes
• Reflux and choking
• Febrile convulsions

In the next 3 blogs I will address each of these frightening occurrences. Firstly… episodes of breath holding.

A provocative stimulus, such as a fright or unexpected pain, may cause your baby to hold their breath. It will generally go like this:

• Your baby will cry vigorously
• They will expel all of the air from their lungs
• Your baby will hold his/her breath and go blue

And if that isn’t scary enough for you…
• They may lose consciousness and have a short seizure

Sounds dreadful doesn’t it? And if you have experienced one of these episodes with your baby then you’ll agree it’s mighty frightening.

Babies and young children (up to about 4 to 6 years of age) may experience an episode of breath holding and if they hold their breath long enough to pass out it will be frightening and worrying for all. The good news is that any loss of consciousness will immediately cause your baby to stop crying and breathe again. (Phew!)

Can I reassure you that episodes of breath holding are, by and large, harmless and will not result in any long term complications. A panic attack for you, yes, but harmful to your baby, no.

As breath holding more commonly occurs in your presence, you will undoubtedly feel compelled to do something (who wouldn’t?). However, apart from maybe rolling them on to their side, you really need take no specific action. One again, there is nothing to worry about as no baby or child is able to consciously hold their breath long enough to cause any harm.
While I hope you never witness a breath holding episode with your baby, can I reassure you that if you do, your baby will be fine. Always seek medical advice if you are unsure or need reassurance (there’s more good information from the Royal Children’s Hospital here) but remember that breath holding is harmless and will cause not complications (other than your jangled nerves!).

Posted in Baby Sleep Problems, Illness, Newborn Sleep, Scary episodes, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »