Breath Holding Spells - Casper,WY

That happened to me as a kid (I'm told). I would cry so hard that I couldn't catch my breath, so the body shuts down and relaxes until you can breathe.

I went on to graduate from High School, College, get married and reproduce 3 kids of my own. Scared the living daylights out of a babysitter or two... ;D Hope that helps.

I didn't read all of the other responses, but scanned through a few and it looks like you got a lot of good information already. Hopfully I'm not repeating too much, but do want to stress that some other posts already mentioned: What you described sounds like more of an involentary things, not that she is purposely holding her breath for attention. And to me, the fact that it seems involentary and she seems scared by it worries me a lot more. Talk to your doctor, or a second doctor again - and make sure you tell them she is not just holding her breath, but that she CAN'T get a breath, and mention the seizure like activity. I'm not trying to scare you, and more than likely it is nothing serious that she might just grow out of. But it does seem like something that should at least be looked into.

I am a nurse, but don't work much with kids and don't have specific experience with this. But this is something as a mom and a nurse that I would want to make sure I had ruled out any deeper problems. Hope this helps a little, good luck!
S.

i think it sounds like she is having a seizure....this happened to my brother when he was younger, sounds just the same. seizures can be as small as you just not being able to speak for 3 seconds. if this is what it is you should have her seen by a neuro doctor, they can give her better care right off the bat instead of wasting years on the wrong treatment.....we had doctors of 10 years tell us that my brother didn't have a form of epilepsy, but as an adult and seeing the right doctor we have gotten the right diagnosis that it is a form of epilepsy, and he has gotten better treatment and now you would never know he even had seizures....can be scary, hang in there.

My son had these same spells. He really has a bad temper and would start to cry and then get so worked up. He grew out of it but only after he gave us a heart attack. He was going into one of his little fits and my husband laid him on the bed and the baby's tongue covered his own airway. He started going into what I thought was a seizure. She should grow out of it, but just always make sure she is on a hard surface when she does it. Maybe older kids have better control over things like that but I just wanted to help with some information that I learned the hard way.

I have seen my grandkids do this when they get hurt. At first there is no sound and then the whail comes out. You need to make sure the breathing problem happens afer the bonk, and not be the cause of the fall. In petite seizures, the person sometimes blanks out and goes down. If this is a reaction to falling and perhaps geting the sensation of having the wind knocked out of her, that is a different thing. My daughter had the full range of siezures, so I have seen them all. In either case, laying her on her back may not be helping. Anytime I have had the wind knocked out of me, (because I am involved in horseriding, it has happened more than once), laying on my side helps more than on my back. I also tried to make sure my daughter was on her side, because a seizuring person produces excess fluid in their mouth and throat, this can cause problems if it goes into the lungs. The doctors have to go by the information you give them in cases like this. Make sure you observe carefully what is going on. Good luck.

My son did this but much worse. He did it from the time he was 2 weeks old until about 4. I am surprised that she is still doing it as old as she is. But it sounds like it only happens now after a trauma. My son would turn completely blue and pass out. His back would arch from this and feet would almost touch his head but backwards. He would do it if he met strangers, or in a crowded room, or even the grocery store, or car. Anywhere. We had him checked out by neurology and heart Dr.s. All said he would outrow it and he did. Doesn't mean it is any easier for the parents. We couldn't get anyone to babysit. He is 16 now and fine. One of his "attacks" did lead to a grand mal seizure. It was very scary. But he only did that once. They also would not give him the whooping cough vaccine because he had had a seizure. I don't know what to tell you other than she will out grow it. With us it got farther between episodes. Then finally it was only a trauma in our case that would do it and that didn't last long. There is an end. Email me if you have anymore question. I would be happy to answer them if I can. In our case no breaths in the face or squirting with water helped it just seemed to add to the trauma.

Sounds to me like you need to go back to her doctor. When you talk to him, it might be best not to call it "breath holding" - that implies voluntary control, and what you're describing sounds very involuntary. Be ready to describe everything to you doctor - how often it happens, what seems to trigger it, and any of the seizure-like symptoms that are occuring. Ask him to check her for breathing issues (to set your mind at rest, if nothing else) and see if he can give you any advise on what to do when this happens. It may be nothing - but like I said, it won't hurt to find out for sure.

Hi C.. My daughter did this exact same thing and yes, it is totally terrifying. She also held her breath after she hurt herself. (Usually falling.) She actually did finally outgrow it, right around age 5. In the mean time, a nurse told me to give her rescue breaths if it gets too bad. Just do a short quick forceful breath into her mouth and it reminds her brain to breathe. I tried it a few times and it did work. It helped to relieve my stress, too. I'm sorry that she does this, she will outgrow it. Good luck!

My best friends daughter does this. She is 1 yr old and the first time she did it we were scared to death and in a panic cause we didn't know what was going on but once she past out she started breathing. Well she has started doing this more frequently but last week she went into a fit and turned purple and then started seizing for five minutes. They took her to the hospital and said that its rare for them to go into a seize but it happens and can last up to ten minutes which blows my mine. We have been told that she could do this up til she turns 6 years old. So hopefully your almost done with this phase. It is so scarry to watch a child do this and the only thing that we have found out that you can do is just lay them down and walk away. Easier said than done but generally they are doing it for attention and the seizing part is sometimes a side effect.
Keep your fingers crossed that she will be done with this at 6 years old and we still have 5 years to go with my friends daughter.
Good luck to you,
A.

Breath-holding spells are pretty common and not much to worry about as long as the kid does start breathing again. My husband and I freaked out the first couple of times it happened with our first (now 2). We would blow in his face to kind of shock him out of it. We found out after that this is the recommended way to deal with it. It sounds weird, but it's effective and gentle at the same time.

But yeah, his is only trauma-related. He goes all limp, his eyes roll back in his head, and he stops breathing. It's not like he's holding his breath as much as it's almost like he can't breathe. Terrible.

Just know that it will get better, but don't feel bad about mentioning it to your doctor. Don't ignore your gut feelings.

How does your doctor know that she will outgrow it? Does he even know what is causing it? I would get a second opinion and quickly. This sounds like a very real problem that need more attention than your doctor is giving it.

Have you thought of recording one of the episodes. I know that it is stressful when you are going through it, so maybe you or your husband could have the camera and the other be the one to try to provide comfort. So many of us go to the doctor with our "worries", and they may not understand the seriousness of this.

I know how scary it is when they hold their breath my oldest, now 10 used to do it and it scared me but she did out grow it so there is hope. She started holding her breath when she fell off a bed at about nine months old she would almost turn blue and then pass out and be out for a few seconds but seemed like longer then come too. It would happen when she hurt herself or if she got so upset she just cried so hard until she do it. The first time ended us in the emergency room where they couldn't find anything after that I'd just watch her and since she acted normal after she came to I didn't go to that extent again but it terrified me everytime it happened. I think it lasted until she was 18 months I really can't remember when the last time she did it was but she doesn't do it now.
I know when it happened I'd watch her so close for the rest of the day because I was so nervous today she is a happy healthy 10 year old.
I don't know if this helps but they do out grow it even though while you deal with it it is terrifying. You might want to keep track of when it happens and how long so you'll have the data if you go back to the doctor. Good luck and hang in there.

She will grow out of it. Make sure there is always nothing hard around to hit her head. The seizure that she looked like she had was a more than likly a vaso vago response to passing out. I am now 31 years old and use to do that when I was young as a response to pain. I would not breath well and by the time it is realized you can not catch you breath. The body response to not breathing is to pass out and start the breath process again. I as an adult have scared many doctors to this day. I tend to still hold my breath when I anticipate something going to hurt or when it does hurt. I have passed out after shots, biopsys, and at the eye doctor just resently. As scary as it looks it is the bodies way to start breathing again. I hope it helps.

Wow!! That has to be so hard to deal with!! Sounds like you have some great advice. If you are still worried after talking to your doctor, seek a second opinion. Just don't forget to mention how it seems involuntary, and how she seems to be having a seizure. I wish you the best of luck!

Well, I agree with the other moms that you should get a second opinion or even third, especially if she wants to take a breath and can't. That doesn't seem normal to me. Many kids do hold their breath to get attention, or throw tantrums and yes they do grow out of it. One thing that seems to work, if you don't want her to pass out is to get a little spray bottle and fill it with cold water, keep it handy in the fridge, and then spray her in the face with the cold water. Natural reflexes will make her take a breath. It doesn't hurt her and it may help her learn that it is not ok to hold her breath in the first place. If that still doesn't work then I would talk to you doctor about it. good luck!