Breath holding/passing out

Anyone's little ones hold their breath when crying till they start to go limp and pass out? Dillon does this. Ped. says it is breath holding spells and there isn't anything we can do. My husband just saw it for the first time when we tried to put them to bed, he cried for about 1 1/2 minutes when we said it was nite-nite time, held his breath and started to go limp. Freaked my husband out b/c he hadn't seen it yet. He goes limp, his eyes start to roll and then he comes around. Now I am sitting here knowing he needs to go to bed but letting him play b/c I don't want him to do it again tonight. ..sigh....


Dianna

 

I remember reading about that somewhere. I think when I was looking up stuff on CIO. It said it was normal and everything, but it does sound really scary. Hopefully he'll grow out of it soon. :hug:

 

:hug:'s I'm sure it is a scary sight to see your son do that. My brother used to do that all the time when he was younger. He did out grow it and is fine now. I hope it ends soon for you guys. :hug:

 

Dianna,

Both of my daughters had breath holding spells between about 12 months and 14 months. I think they had three each. It is certainly scary! I called the pediatrician the first time Cricket passed out and was told the same thing you are - it's typical behavior and there's nothing you can do except make sure they don't fall and hurt themselves. I found that afterwards, my girls usually didn't seem to know that anything happened; they would get upset, cry for a minute, hold their breaths (but it didn't seem deliberate), pass out, and then be pretty snuggly for five or ten minutes until everything returned to normal.

Hang in there - hopefully these spells will be as short lived for your family as they were for ours.

Tricia

 

I am sorry that you are going through this, I hope it's a phase that they pass through quickly!

 

Logan does this and has from really early on. It's gotten more intense in the last few months. It happens a few times a week here now, more often if he's sick, hungry or really tired. Also if it happens once, it's more likely to happen again that day. Most of the time it's just like you said he holds his breath, turns blue, passes out and goes limp then starts breathing again. He wakes up scared, crying and tired. One time he had a seizure (best way to explain it, doctor said it wasn't a real seizure though) afterward where he became completely stiff for a few seconds then went limp. Talk about terrifying - scared us to death.

We've talked to our doctor about it at every well child visit and according to him there really isn't anything you can do other than wait them out. He has also stressed that all the experts say to ignore the tantrums so they don't learn that it gets them what they want - he also clarified and said he didn't think he could do that if one of his childs face was turning blue and was passing out. We've been told that they may not outgrow it until 5 years and that the kids that do this are more likely to be the ones pitching a fit in the supermarket aisle We are really at our wits end with this. He has the daycare people scared and he's doing it in his highchair with food in his mouth. We try to avoid causing a tantrum, but are afraid that will cause problems with him getting what he wants all the time. It seems to be a no win situation right now.

DH did this when he was little and his grandmother threw a glass of ice tea in his face and he never did it again. I'm really ready to try it! I'm sorry you are having to deal with this too - it's been one of the harder things to deal with over the last few months. Hopefully Dillon is just going through a phase and it won't be as bad.

 

Wow! That would be scary!

I just read about night terrors this weekend and thought to myself...I hope we don't have to go through those!

What you're experiencing sounds just as bad. Sorry you are experiencing it!

 

QUOTE(Fireweed in AK @ Mar 15 2009, 01:30 AM) [snapback]1228717[/snapback]
Wow! That would be scary!

I just read about night terrors this weekend and thought to myself...I hope we don't have to go through those!

What you're experiencing sounds just as bad. Sorry you are experiencing it!

I hate that anyone else has to deal with this but at the same time nice not being alone. You all know how that is. My brother did for some time, a few years at least. I did hold my breath but never passed out. But I did have seizures, which luckily I outgrew. We actually thought he was having a seizure the other day. It was the first time he started to pass out, he has held his breath since he was born. My mom was here and he passed out and she said it looked like what I use to do sometimes. I had a form of stop-stare seizures, so no convulsions or anything. So of course I am totally paranoid this is going to turn into that.
Yeah his doc said there really isn't anything we can. That we should lay him on the ground so for one he doesn't fall and that will help the blood flow get back to his brain quicker.
It will be interesting to see what all this turns into. My brother who did this was the one throwing the massive temper tantrums in stores. He is the one who for sometime went through MAJOR separation anxiety in regards to my mom.
Last night, he wasn't even crying very hard when it happened. So I totally wasn't expecting it. Guess it doesn't take much.

Oh in regards to night terrors....Lucas has those....but they aren't happening as often as they were. Keeping fingers crossed we continue that way.

Dianna

 

:hug: Yes Ana has done this and its VERY scary. What we've done is lay her on her back and tilt her head back. Both DH and I did this out of reflex because we thought we'd have to do CPR, but it worked on its own to force her airway open and made her take a breath. Now every time she cries really hard I freak out and worry. I've also told everyone who watches her (our sitter, my parents, my sister) what to do if she does it just in case. :hug: :hug: :hug:

 

We'll have to try tilting his head back. Right now we seem to have the best luck with picking him up and holding him close.

 

QUOTE(elara @ Mar 14 2009, 11:36 PM) [snapback]1228628[/snapback]
DH did this when he was little and his grandmother threw a glass of ice tea in his face and he never did it again. I'm really ready to try it! I'm sorry you are having to deal with this too - it's been one of the harder things to deal with over the last few months. Hopefully Dillon is just going through a phase and it won't be as bad.


:rotflmbo: My mom just told me last night when we were talking about DS's tantrums that my older brother did the breath holding/passing out thing until she threw a glass of water in his face one time and he quit doing it. :rotflmbo: My brother is such a belligerent dude it just makes me crack up :laughing: It's good to hear that this is a somewhat natural response and that it got the intended results also. Still :laughing:

 

QUOTE(elara @ Mar 16 2009, 10:01 AM) [snapback]1230295[/snapback]
We'll have to try tilting his head back. Right now we seem to have the best luck with picking him up and holding him close.


Poor mommy I hope that he grows out of it soon. :hug:

 

QUOTE(*Sully* @ Mar 16 2009, 10:15 AM) [snapback]1230322[/snapback]
:rotflmbo: My mom just told me last night when we were talking about DS's tantrums that my older brother did the breath
holding/passing out thing until she threw a glass of water in his face one time and he quit doing it. :rotflmbo: My brother is such a belligerent dude it just makes me crack up :laughing: It's good to hear that this is a somewhat natural response and that it got the intended results also. Still :laughing:


Is it horrible that hearing that it worked for someone else really makes me want to toss ice water in my son's face?

Not sure I can do it on purpose though. Plus, what do you do just keep a glass of ice water sitting around all day until he does it?