Breath holding and fainting spells?

Yesterday Cricket got incredibly mad when I took a toy away (she and Piper were fighting over it). She held on to the arm of a chair and started crying. Then she opened her mouth really wide as if she was going to scream but held her breath. She leaned back towards the wall so I grabbed her because I was worried she'd fall over and she basically went limp in my arms. Her eyes rolled back a bit -- but not much -- and she looked dazed and almost like she was going to faint. I yelled her name and shook her and she came to. She was very cuddly for two or three minutes but then seemed to be her normal self again. She was paler than usual for about 20 minutes but no other lasting signs.

I called the doctor and they said this is a fairly typical behavior in older toddlers (not usually as early as 16 months) who hold their breaths as part of a tantrum and that kids may actually faint.

Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do? How often did your child do this? Please tell me this happened to you once and never again - my heart was racing so fast I never want to experience it again!

 

Lily sort of stops breathing when she is screaming but I do not think it is intentional as she is just SOOOO mad. She has never passed out but I do know that I have heard of this before. I am so sorry this happened to you and I hope it never does again!

 

YES! Both boys have done this several times. The very first time it totally freaked me out!! It only happens when they are really angry, or really hurt. But, I have noticed that it is much more common when their bodies are run down (when they have a cold or right after their shots). What I was told by several people, and it does work, is to blow in their faces. They always come to, and are always a little pale and dazed for about 20 min (like you said). Now that you've seen it, you can usually tell when it's going to happen, grab them so they don't fall and get hurt, and blow in her face. The boys just turned 2 (July 31), and it is way less common now. They were doing it every so often (like I said, when they were run down it happened a couple times/day), but very rarely does it happen now. And it's pretty much my sign that they are sick.

I will admit, it scares me still a little each time, but no real harm comes of it. But, I did warn all their caretakers (nursery workers at church, grandma, babysitters) so they were aware if it ever happened around them. It never, ever did, except MIL one time. Maybe that means nobody else makes them as angry as I do?

:hug: Sorry you have to experience it too!

 

Lauren used to do this ALOT. First 10 times I was worried then I stopped. She'd get limp and pass out from temper tantrums. As soon as she passed out she'd breath.

 

My DD did that once after falling. I was afraid she'd passed out due to hitting her head, so we went to the ER. She checked out fine and the doctor said to blow in her face if she did the "breathe hold" again.

It totally freaked me out when it happened, but she hasn't done it again.

 

Ana did that once when she was crying so hard she held her breath and went limp. It scared the CR*P out of me. I picked her up and started yelling her name and then she started breathing again and screaming because now she was upset and scared. I worry everytime she starts crying really hard now, but she hasn't done it since then.

 

My daughter does this and scares me horribly. The first time it happened she fell in public and passed out. They called 911, we went to a hospital they did a cat scan and determined it was either breath holding or a concussion. When she did it a week later at home after falling it was much more evident that it was breath holding because she didn't bump her head and I was a little more prepared... but I never get over the uneasiness. Just this morning I was on the phone with a friend and she fell out of a play chair and I had to put the phone down and talk her through taking a breath. I think my friend was really traumatized having to listen to it! I really hope we don't get to the point where she begins to use it as a weapon for getting what she wants.

I really feel for you, but if it is breath holding you know she'll be okay. The body is a miraculous thing that it just kicks in and you breathe after you pass out!