11 Month Old HOLDING HIS BREATH

I have no idea what causes this, but my aunt used to do it to her mom (my grandma). She always had a glass of water handy and would literally throw it in her face. It didn't work to dump it over her head, she had to splat the water straight at her face. I'm so sorry... How scary for you. Maybe have a spray bottle with ice water handy? I don't know if it would have the same effect... Good luck.

I've always heard that unless they can't breath, you shouldn't worry. Even if he were to pass out, the brain takes over and tells the lungs to breath.

Seriously, my older son did that once or twice, and my younger son occasionally gets so mad when crying his lips turn purple. If they pass out, they will automtatically take a breath, it is a normal response to do so. They will be fine. I have read this in numerous books. If you make a big deal out of it, that behavior will continue. It will become a power tool for a toddler. Just ignore it, make sure he is safe if it occurs, but don't stress out about it

Have you talked to his doctor about this?
I'm sorry I can't offer any real advice on what to do if he holds his breath, but wanted to at least let you know this: If a child holds their breath too long, the worst thing that will happen is they will pass out and immediately start breathing again. It is a natural response from our bodies, like rebooting a computer, and once conciousness is lost the body will take over and restart breathing. It is absolutely terrifying to see, but if you know it's coming, instead of your child just passing out for no reason, you can prepare yourself and a soft landing, and monitor him to make sure everything restarts normally.

My son does this when he gets upset, honestly it's never bothered me. Usually it's a deep inhale, followed by an eventual wail, when he's made to do something he doesn't want to do. Sometimes I'll say "Breathe" but most of the time I just continue talking to him about whatever it is that we're going to do - ie stop playing so we can put your shoes on. He did it once at his pediatrician's office (didn't want to have his heart and lungs listened to, wanted to play instead) and his pediatrician asked if he'd made himself pass out yet. I said, "Nope, not yet," and he said "Huh, well that might happen."

My son has consistently held his breath to the point of passing out since 3 months old. He turns blue, pupils dilate, he wimpers, then his breath sucks in and he is very calm fo a few minutes while he recovers. I ask my dr everytime we go in if it's normal and he assures me it is. He said it would start to slow down as he got older and sure enough, my son went from doing it 3 or 4 times a week to once a week now that he's almost 3. All you can really do is make sure they don't get hurt. My son likes to do this while standing up, so as soon as I hear the eerie silence, I go running for him to catch him. He has fallen and hit his head before. I have heard that blowing really hard in their mouths and holding them in an inverted position (sorta upside down, but not too far) will get them to catch their breath faster, but that doesn't work on my son. You will get through this! I just hold him close to my body and rub his back really hard until it's over. I can't look at his eyes when they are like that! Once you get used to it, it actually becomes kinda amusing to see family members freak out when they see it for the first time. Then you know what you looked like the first time you saw it! :)

BTW... the blowing in the face is supposed to cause a natural sucking (in air) reflex. It's even one of the tricks recommended when you are trying to get a baby to put their face in the water while learning to swim.

He will resume breathing if he passes out. Your involuntary responses take over and get you breathing again once you have lost consciousness. As far as squirting water in his face-don't think that's a good idea at all. When he does resume breathing he may very well aspirate it into his lungs and then die from that. As a paramedic and RN these things are basic knowledge in treatment of "nonbreathing" children. Good luck!!

One of my twin boys was the same way since he was a tiny baby. When he got upset he'd get himself so worked up he'd hold his breath. My sister-n-law was watching him one day and he got really mad and did it. He actually passed out that time and it scared her to death. Just in case, we took him to the doctor and they said, he was fine and some kids just do that. They said to try and calm him down when he does it, but don't show him too much attention because he may begin to do it on purpose.

It got better and better as he got old and learned to communicate. When I saw him getting upset I'd ask him what's wrong and get him to talk. He stopped completely by age two. Good luck, hope this helps

I did this as a child. My Mom told my caretaker- who was the sweetest, most gentle woman I know even as an adult- to throw water on me if I did it. I remember when I was finally old enough to realize what was going on, she drew a glass of water everyday when I arrived and never drank it. When I asked her what it was for she told me "it is for you, in case you hold your breath". From what they say it was extremely scarey!

My younger brother use to do this when we were younger. I was 8 and remember it. My mom was totally calm about it. She would try to calm him down and get him to take deep breaths. He always did it when he got hurt (never part of a tantrum). I never heard of water in the face or anything like that. Our ped. always told my mom to just let him go, when he passes out he will immediately start breathing again. He did it up until he started T-Ball and Soccer and then slowly stopped/grew out of it. My mom never made a huge deal about it when he was doing it, he always had to go back to doing whatever it was he was doing. Good Luck!

My son use to hold his breath when he was an infant as well, and flicking water in his face always worked for him.

hello i know some infants tend to hold their breath but my infant daughter use to have these weird muscle spasms and her pupils would dilate those were seizures (grand mal) i dont say these things to scare parents just to aware them, the seizures she has now are petit mal where she just zones out or holds her breath turns colors and her pupils get big and small and she looks confused, sometimes shes even moving around normally and having one, it can be scary and alot of parents dont realize their infants are having seizures because when an infant has a seizure, which there are over hundreds of different types of epilepsy, it doesnt always look like a seizure i didnt know when she was spasming that that was a seizure i thought she was "playing around" because thats what it looked like so i just inform parents of this to let them be aware just incase im not at all a doctor or medical expert

My coucins son did this, but his was more of a tantrum (did not start until 10 mon or so) and held breath and turned blue, they freaked out and took him to ER, thinkin somethign wrong with him.........all the tests nothing wrong. Happened 2nd time.....same thing ER tests, and then he did it in ER and the doctor could tell he was doing on purpose was able to make him stop by poking his foot, and he snapped out of it. So my coucin would do something along those lines when he did it, (obviously nothing to hurt him) and then he stopped when he realized it did not have the same effect.

Best of luck to you momma!

My baby always use to hold his breath too than he was small i use to put his back on the floor no shirt on or just put snow on his bum or cold water i once told never to blow in there face cause if we do they can start bleeding by there mouth thats no good.

Talk to your doctor. Make sure there is not a medical reason for this. Assuming that there is not, then try to give smaller reactions to the triggers that bring this on. (in other words... if him hurting himself tends to make him hold his breath, then react in a "less big" way when he hurts himself). I know how scary it is.
When my daughter was 6 DAYS old, she spit up a stomach full of milk in her crib when I laid her down (in the dark of course). When I scooped her up to clean her up it was all over her face/nose, etc and she was turning bright red, then purple, starting to go blue... she passed out. Opened her eyes screaming... then bright red, turning to purple going blue, passed out.. repeat... And this was at 2:00 a.m. (I began suctioning her with the bulb syringe, etc... my mom got my husband who called 911.... she ended up fine). What I was told by the doctors was that with very young babies it is a reflex to hold their breath like that if they are obstructed in any way... probably why people can do that thing where they "teach their babies to 'swim'" (?)... Anyway... I was completely freaked out. But she was FINE.
Perhaps with your son it began as a fear reaction and has become the way he knows to elicit the most attention from you... so the less you overreact (and calmly reassure) in frightening circumstances, the less he will react this way? He obviously knows at this point, that this behavior elicits a reaction from you. Which is what he is probably after... he is hurt.. so he automatically does what gets the most attention from you. He has learned that what that is is holding his breath.
May I ask why your initial reaction to him biting his tongue was blowing in his face? The only time I blew in my babies' faces was to startle them while playing....they liked it. Were you trying to distract him? What about just picking him up and using soothing words? He is 11 months.. he can understand your words when you talk to him. The BIG reaction is what you want to try to avoid.

before having my own kids, I used to be a preschool teacher. There was a little girl in my class that did this. Her mom brought a squirt bottle with water in it and told me if she ever holds her breath then to squirt her in the face (on the mist) and she will stop. Thankfully I never had to do that though

My daughter did that a couple of times. I sympathize with you!!!!! Pick him up firmly / snugly against your shoulder, support his head / neck, then quickly BEND OVER so he is upside down. Do it a few times. The "falling" reflex will kick in. Just be sure you support the head / neck so you do not create any injury. When you have him upside down, he does not need to be tightly against you. Just keep him supported. I was almost at the "dunk into hot water then cold water" stage - my neighbor was getting ready to fill her sink to do this. Fortunately we did not need to go that far. Warn any caregivers!! Tell them what to look for and what to do. My daughter cried all her air out and forgot to breathe in one time. (She was overtired.) Scared me to death! GOOD LUCK!!!!

My son started holding his breath at around 15 months, and it was the scariest moment in my life. For him is was very close after lunch so we were not sure that he maybe got ahold of another piece of food that got lodged when he tripped and fell, because with him he acted like he was trying to take a breath but could not. He was panicking as well. It was a small cry followed by the silence that is usually followed by the really loud wail. Only the wail did not come. He turned blue, acted panicked, then his eyes rolled back in his head and went limp in my arms. I, like you, tried blowing in his face, jiggling him, and even giving him a bear hug to push air out to get him to inhale which seemed to work. We took him to the ER and he checked out fine. Two days later he did it again and back to the doctor. We were told that it was probably breath holding spells but we had to rule everything else out before we knew that is what it was for certain. There are only 3 things that could cause these episodes and that is heart, seizures, or breath holding spells. You obviously want the spells to the other options. What usually causes him to hold his breath? Is he hurt, scared, mad, or no reason at all? Is it more likely to occur when he is tired? With my son it seems like when he has one he will have several for a couple weeks and none for several months and more often when he is sleep schedule has been messed up. I guess I am telling you my story to say you need to have him seen by his doctor and rule out any other causes that may need addressed before just assuming it is these spells. In the mean time, some things I have found to help are to try to change his mindset. Once you realize he may be going into it try to stay calm (yeah right) and try to change his mindset before he goes full blown into it. Ask him to hold the remote, your phone, a toy, or ask him if he wants a drink or a piece of candy, if available spraying him in the face may help, anything to make him think of something besides why he is getting upset. Try not to react to the episode so not to encourage the behavior as your doctor will tell you to ignore, it but instead, try to prevent it. Most of all follow your instincts and do what feels right for you. If you have any questions feel free to email me. I know how scary it is.

heard of water ..the cold squirt of water makes them suck in air .but if he is not doing it himself should speak to a doctor see if there could be a reason for it..and to ease your mind.

Since he has been doind this for so long, I hope you have discussed it with your family doctor or pediatrician to find a solution or at least to set your mind at ease.

Both my younger sister & my daughter would do this. My younger sister did it often enough that there was almost always a squirt bottle or a glass of water around to use to snap her out of it before passing out. My daughter only did it a handfull of times and thankfully the first was in front of the doctor where she passed out in my arms. I would strongly encourage you to talk to the doctor about it and learn why this happening and - if it is the same cause as so many posts on here - why you don't need to stress over it. Believe it or not, my younger sister did it often enough that after a bit it was no big deal (though that didn't stop me from freaking out about it in front of the doctor when it was my own child doing this!!).

I've never dealt with this, but "tickling" comes to mind. Before he has one of these episodes, could you find the most ticklish place on his body and when he starts to hold his breath, try that route? Just seems to me like it would be distracting, as well as 'jumpstart' his body into exhaling/inhaling. Best wishes!