Breath holding spells anyone?

[Bebita]

Has anyone experienced their child getting upset and crying so much that they loose their breath, turn blue, their eyes roll up and they go unconscious? It happens to my 15month old, I would say once a week on the average. It usually happens after he gets upset because he's not getting what he wants or after a spank or after he bumps his hear a bit harder and sometimes it's hard to say why it happened... The first time it happened (just before his 1st birthday) I was terrified to see him like that, he was blue and lifeless in my arms. Now we splash water in his face and he comes to in a few seconds acting like nothing happened.
From looking it up in different books and online, it's being referred to as 'breath holding spells'. They pretty much say that it doesn't do any harm to the kid and that you actually shouldn't do anything to 'wake them up', as that's exactly what they want - attention. But my child has plenty of attention and I couldn't just let him be when he goes unconscious.
Does anyone have any experience with anything like this? Any advice? Is it really harmless and it disappears with age?
Thanks for help!

[patreiche]

It sounds awful, I wish you the best in dealing with this. I can imagine how painful it would be to watch your child do this. You just have to be strong and not give in. As far as an medical complications I have no idea. It sounds like a child where a structured list of rules, consistency, and loving environment are critical.

[Stellajo]

Hi Bebita

My little girl did it from 3 months old until about 1 1/2.  I talked to a lot of people (clinic sisters, doctors, friends, etc) and all say that you should just hold them when they start to cry and "pass out" like that; and when they "pass out" everything will get back to normal, the body relaxes and then they breathe again and come to.  They also said that there's no side effects to this - ie getting brain damage from no air, because it's only for a few seconds that they don't breathe - ALTHOUGH it feels like an eternity!! 

It's still upsetting, I cried every time it happened although I knew nothing bad is happening. 

All the best to you and your little one.  It does go away after a while! 

By the way, I don't think a child can make themselves hold their breath until they pass out to get your attention.  It just happens to some babies.  My sister did the same thing when she was a baby.

Cheers,
Stellajo

[hypatia]

My daughter fell backyard and hurt the back of her head on the concrete, at 12m... She was in so much pain she could not scream, her mouth was opened for a few seconds without a sound coming out, her eyes rolled backwards and she fainted in my arms. Terrifying.

It's the only time it happened. Amazing babies can faint out of screaming? is there a way of stoping the screaming before it gets too bad?

[rixu]

ya it badly give pain when a loved one is getting into such a situation. pls find some other alternative to him before he get to this stage. if he wants something that you cant gives to him and if he started crying you can give something elsmae instead or show some thing he may get interest. my sister do this very much this to E. she may point to sky and may tell E that a cloud is coming or birds are fly or can you find a spider this way.

that really works for us. we can make something instead of her going for what we cant give. 

[km276]

My son has held his breath since he was a baby (apparently just like his father).  He would stop crying and just go blue.  My mother-in-law, who is a GP, advised me to just blow sharply in his face.  It works everytime.

[Stellajo]

I tried the "blow sharply in the face", I even held my girl upside down for a second or two, but nothing helped. 

What I did do is when I see an episode coming on, I will grab her and tell in a VERY EXCITED voice that I've got something to show her, and then I walk to something I know she likes and show it to her, all the while I calmly look into her eyes and tell her to "just breathe".  I think it takes her mind off whatever it is that has upset her (getting hurt or not getting what she wants). That is what worked for my precious girl, every child is different, you should try different things. 

[waterdreamer]

I can understand why this would be scary, but everyone is right from everything I heard they will just start breathing once they pass out. The best thing to do is make sure their safe then hopefully if they don't get a reaction out of you they will realize this technique does not work. Telling the child in a calm or firm voice to "Just Breath" sound good too.
I hope this gets better for you. The things kids put us parent through...

[Bebita]

Thank you all for your replies! So far, once the fit starts there's nothing I can do to stop it, but next time it happens, I'll try Stellajo's advice to distract him with something he likes. We'll see. I guess you all seem to think that these fits are harmless, so do the books, so that would be a relief. And that it will go away eventually, that's a relief too. Thanks!

[waterdreamer]

I'd be careful giving him anything he likes to stop the fit, because then you might be giving him a ticket to get what he wants. He may connect him having a fit with getting what he wants. I understand you need this just to stop, but watch out and make sure it doesn't actually increase
Best of luck

[Krista G]

My nephew did the exact same thing.  The first time they actually called 911.  He would do that if he got hurt or upset.  He outgrew it around 3 years old.  They were very careful not to let him get upset because it frightened them so much to see him pass out.

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