Breath Holding Spell

[AMom2010]

I am so worried. My daughter just had what I think is a breath holding spell (I received an email from babycenter a couple of months ago about them). She was frustrated because her dad was preventing her from climbing up on the coffee table, started crying, wouldn't breath and turned blue (fast!) He had to pick her up, turn her over and slap her on the back to get her to breathe. The babycenter article said it could be due to iron deficiency aniemia. Her iron levels were checked at 9 months and again a month ago when her chronic D started, and they were normal.

We had another scary event 3 weeks ago, she was running a fever (102) and had 2 seizures. Dr. at the ER and her pedi assured me they were very common in response to fever in little ones and are not predictive of developing a seizure disorder. Does anyone know if these 2 events may be related? I am worried sick, something is not right... Don't yet have a celiac disease diagnosis...

[Darn210]

Don't know about the breath holding thing, but the seizure thing is not too uncommon.

They're called febrile seizures. They are always associated with a fever. It's not a result of how high a fever goes but how fast it gets there. Kids tend to outgrow them by age 5 or so. My good friend's daughter had them until kindergarten . . . probably once or twice a year. Probably would have been more but she got good at predicting fevers and heading them off with some pre-emptive tylenol. My niece had them . . . maybe only 3 or 4 times total.

[kareng]

I had one of mine have a fever seizure. He's 18 and big and strong and smart.

She sounds like she is a bit young to hold her breathe on purpose? They used to say that the kids who held their breath would pass out and start breathing again. She might not be the same as that. What did the docs say about the turning blue? You did tell them when you had the seizures?

[Jungle]

My middlest used to hold her breath when she was crying. Her lips would turn blue. She always started to breathe on her own. Apparently, even if they pass out it is normal and they will breathe when they pass out and their brain resets.(not that she actually passed out I would freak) It was a bit weird at first but she did it all the time from about 6 months to 3 1/2.

I hadn't heard about an iron deficiency but it is possible, she was my one child who didn't like protein until she was about 4.

[WhenDee]

I can't speak to the seizures, but try not to worry about the breath holding. It is a type of tantrum, and the more attention you give it, the more she will try it. I've seen all kinds of things, from a girl who would gag herself and throw up, to my own daughter wetting her pants on purpose in protest when she was three.

A pediatrician warned us once about breath holding and said they can't harm themselves. The worst that will happen is they pass out, and it isn't an uncommon thing. I'm sure it is scary, though! If you ignore it, I'm sure she'll move on to screaming and banging her fists like other kids in no time. ;-)