My Toddler Had a Breath Holding Spell and It Was Scary AF
There’s numerous on-the-job studying if you’re a mother or father of a toddler. (Or, in my case, two toddlers!)
Over time you discover ways to discover the right sippy cup, purchase garments they’ll truly put on, coerce them to depart the home on time, diffuse tantrums — you realize, regular on a regular basis stuff.
However, as I just lately discovered, you additionally turn into an professional in sure areas you DID NOT SEE COMING.
Take, for instance, a typical Wednesday night with household. We had my dad and mom over for dinner, all the youngsters had been fortunately taking part in, and out of nowhere considered one of my twin daughters had a breath holding spell (which, I knew nothing about and had by no means even heard of), and it freaked us all out.
Since delivery, my daughter has executed what we confer with as a “silent cry.” Mainly, when she will get extraordinarily upset, she’ll begin to cry and no sound will come out for a pair seconds. And, then, she lets that cry rip. It’s one thing we’re used to together with her — and any time she does it, we all know that she’s not simply kinda upset; she’s SUPER upset.
So, on this night, she was taking part in with my older daughter, and, for some purpose (we’re nonetheless not precisely certain what set her off different than simply being a toddler), she started the silent cry. I used to be standing proper subsequent to her, so I reached down to choose her up and luxury her, solely to note that not solely was she nonetheless doing the silent cry, but additionally that her lips had turned blue. Actually, the following second her complete face was blue. One other second later, she had fainted and was limp in my arms.
Not figuring out that breath holding was a factor, I used to be instantly afraid that she was choking or having a seizure. My dad and mom had been actually grabbing their telephones to dial 911 as my husband whacked her on her again, and I swept her mouth and throat for any meals. From that, she began coughing and crying. The entire thing took about 30 seconds, if that.
It was insane. And, scary AF.
She fairly shortly returned to appearing regular, so we ended up not calling 911, and as a substitute instantly took her to pressing care the place her pediatrician identified it as a breath holding spell, which is THANKFULLY a reasonably benign factor, however one thing I had by no means heard of earlier than. (Word: in case your baby does this — particularly the primary time — DEFINITELY go see their pediatrician and have all the things checked out ASAP.)
And, now you higher consider I do know lots about them! Listed below are a couple of of a very powerful issues I’ve discovered about breath holding spells.
1. They will appear like seizures, however they’re not. Learn extra on them right here and discuss to your baby’s physician, however breath holding spells can look lots like a seizure, however they’re truly an involuntary response to a sudden occasion that modifications their respiratory sample, coronary heart price, and blood strain ranges, which makes them faint.
2. They’re very scary within the second, however they don’t damage your baby. Anticipate in extraordinarily uncommon instances, after they faint their physique takes over and so they begin respiratory mechanically.
3. They don’t imply to do it. Once more, it’s an involuntary response to one thing that upsets them like having one thing taken away, being annoyed, being informed they will’t do one thing, and so forth.
4. They’re not unusual. They occur in wholesome youngsters. Some youngsters have them solely every year; others extra usually (even a number of occasions a day).
5. Breath holding expertise are most typical in 2-year-olds. So, most typical in toddlers, who’re essentially the most liable to getting upset over random issues.
6. Determine your baby’s indicators and triggers. For us, we all know that when our daughter begins to “silent cry,” that we have to remind her to breathe and watch her very intently. However, it’s additionally useful to concentrate to conditions when your kiddo is probably to turn into upset — AKA, after they’re hungry, drained, or just need to do one thing they will’t do (for us, ours needs to look at the Disney Brief “Lava” a LOT — and when she will’t … remember!).
5. Have methods in place. Remind them to breathe — and provides them prompts like blowing bubbles or blowing out birthday candles. In the event that they don’t reply to that, blow of their face. Generally this could shake them out of it. In the event that they do faint, make certain the world is obvious, have your telephone readily available, and lie them on their aspect to maximise blood movement. If a breath holding spell lasts greater than a minute, name 911. If it lasts greater than three minutes, begin CPR. (And, if you happen to don’t know easy methods to do CPR on slightly one, get CPR licensed.)
6. Inform your caregivers ASAP. Describe the incident in writing, together with any related particulars for care together with what triggered the spell, how they acted, and what caregivers ought to do.
7. Rule all the things else out. Your pediatrician ought to discuss to you about different doable underlying circumstances like a household historical past of seizures, cardiac points, and so forth. Ensure to get all the things checked out, simply in case.
8. Youngsters outgrow them. That is one of the best information of all! By the ages of 6 or 7, most youngsters develop out of breath holding spells. Whew!
Learn extra about breath holding spells on WebMD right here.
I’m sharing this with the intention to assist some other dad and mom who’ve a baby who does this — and, I’m additionally seeking to hear your experiences with it. That first time is SO scary, and it’s loopy to assume that one thing that’s truly fairly benign may be so traumatizing if you happen to don’t know what it’s. In case your kiddo has executed this, how usually have they got spells? When did they develop out of it? Would love to listen to the way it has affected you and your loved ones! –Jenn
