Breath Holding Spells

I have not had this problem with either of my girls, but I have a friend who has had this problem with her 1 year old. When she asked her Pediatrician about them, the Dr said to let her hold her breath. And if she faints, she will automatically start breathing again. Hope that helps.

When you say breath holding spell, do you mean she voluntarily held her breath because she was upset or because she was crying so hard her breath halted? Or was she asleep and it seemed like she wasn't breathing?

I am a great grandma now, but when my first was born he did that, scared me outta my mind, i talked to the dr about it, he said , the worse thing that could happen is they would pass out, and then they would catch their breath, this is a temper thing, and was told that my husband did that as a baby also. i didn't worry about it after that. so relax and enjoy ....

M.,
my kids are now 21yrs & 18yrs. Holding their breath while crying was just a sign that they were really upset because they didn't get their way. when they would hold their breath, I would blow into their face and that would make them breathe, then i would let them sit and cry til they were over their little fit.
I would go ahead and check with your ped doc just to make sure nothing else is wrong, and if the doc can't find anything then you will know that your child is just very upset at not getting his or her way.

Good luck.
L.

Please, please, please tell your pediatrican and don't let the doctor dismiss you! We were poopooed at first and then it turned out she has very severe apnea. The doctor can prescribe a monitor if its warranted and you will rest better knowing if this occurs again and you don't happen to see it an alarm will sound. Also the monitor records how often the episodes happen for tracking purposes, most children out grow this as they physically get bigger.

Mam,

I have a 5 and 6 year old. watch to see if the child is only holding breath in sleep b/c it may be sleep apnea. When my first born did it I was a wreck b/c I wouldn't sleep! I'd literally watch her all night to make sure she'd start breathing again. I finally took her to the hospital. They monitored her and sure enough she was diagnosed with the condition. Although it is common in newborns and they usually grow out of it, the condition varies and sometimes must be closely monitored. So please have the doctor diagnose and recommend. My daughter still does it but thank God it isn't severe.

This is common. My baby does it all the time and we learned a trick from a nurse a long time ago. we blow in her face a real hard puff right up close to her face and it will force her to swallow therefore will also make her breathe. this works every time for us. try it...

A. j

Your child may be suffering from Breath-Holding Spells (BHS), also known as Expiratory Apnea. BHS can affect healthy, otherwise normal infants and young children, and often occurs when they cry. We want you, as a parent, to know what this phenomenon is, how frequently it occurs, and how you can handle episodes when they occur.
Breath-Holding Spells are often terrifying for parents. Many believe their child is holding his or her breath on purpose, but these spells are actually involuntarily and reflexive. They occur while your child is awake and engaging in active breathing. Spells usually last from 2 to 20 seconds, but can last as long as a minute or more.

A typical BHS episode involves an event that makes your child upset or distressed, such as pain (falling or getting hurt) or discipline (taking away a toy). This event leads to the child crying, which diminishes to quietness or leads to BHS. If the child has a BHS episode, there can be a change in his or her skin color and the episode can end with the child disoriented and either conscious or unconscious.

In most cases, a doctor will give you information about BHS and reassure you how it is not harmful to your child. We also would add that a BHS diagnosis should not lead to dramatic changes in the way you treat or attend to your child, with two exceptions. First, don’t be overly anxious or concerned about your child, either prior to or following BHS. Second, don’t surrender your authority to the child in an attempt to keep him or her from ever being upset. A doctor may also tell you, if your child is anemic, physician-guided treatment with iron supplements can decrease the frequency of BHS. Although medication is rarely beneficial for children with BHS, children with severe and frequent BHS may benefit from it.

When BHS occur, you should lay your child on his or her back and protect them from head injury and aspiration until recovery occurs. If necessary, you should clear out their mouth and airway to prevent choking. Try to do these things without overreacting and while staying calm.

M., hi I have an almost 8 year old that has had the breath holding spells since he was 4. He seems to get them when he is scared. They happen about once a year. We have had him to a neuroligist and checked out and he was diagnosed as breath holding, I was told he would out grow them by 6. He recently had one while in a lab as he was getting blood drawn. It is a very scary thing for a parent to witness. My son would have what looked like a seizure then go limp for about 20 seconds. He then would come out of it and wonder what happen. I'm really hoping he out grows this soon.

K.

Dear M.:
Do a search on 'apnea'. It is fairly normal, but you may want to read more about it or even consult a doctor. Perhaps www.webmd.com has good info.

Regards,
W.

When my son was little he used to cry himself out of breath and hold it until he would pass out. Being my first child, I was very concerned and took him to the doctor. The doctor informed me that I should lay him on the ground, make sure he couldn't hurt himself on anything and let him cry it out. He said that he would breath normally after he passed out. He said that it was a way for him to get attention, sometimes for not getting what he wanted. After allowing him to do this a few times (very anxiously sitting next to him) he stopped. Once he realized that it wasn't going to get him the attention he wanted, he quit doing it. Hope that helps. I know how concerning it is. Scared me to death the first time he did it.

Rest assure he will not die from not breathing. He will eventually have to breath. All children at sometime holds their breaths. If he does this when crying this is natural. Good luck.

Both of my children held their breath until they passed out. My daughter started doing it when you would get hurt but then she learned to do it when she got really mad. My son has only done it when he gets hurt or really upset. My daughter actually had a spell in the doctors office when she was 2 yrs old. She was getting her shots and got very upset - held her breath and passed out. The doctor said it was fairly common and that it would not hurt her. Luckily they have both outgrown it.

My son used to do this all the time. He would tense up turn red and not breath. If that wasn't scary enough, the first time, he did it while we were driving. I thought he was choking and swerved all over the road trying to get to the sholder. Then suddenly he stopped and started laughing... He did it off an on for a few months and then stopped. It wasn't related to crying or any emotion that I could see. He would just randomly do this. I have no idea why he did it, but it didn't seem to hurt him in any way. I hope this is somewhat helpful. I understand how scary it can be!

my daughter just did this last week. we took her to the ER because we thought she was having a seizure. They still don't know what was wrong. we now have an appt with a pediatric neurologist. did your baby tense up at all??

My cousin, now in his 30's, used to hold his breath when he got upset or angry when he was a baby. Now, 7 1/2 months seems early to have temper tantrums. His daughter had them when she was a baby as well. I vaguely remember hearing that they thought they might be mini-seizures. However, that being said, neither one was ever on medication, and both have above average intelligence. In fact, my cousin was a state patrolman. Good luck!

My mom says I did this when I was a baby. The doctor at that time said I was just crying to the point of frustration/anger and this was my 'method'. He said to retrain me ....run to the sink and splash cold water in my face. Just a little. The shock of the cold water would make me gasp and quit holding my breath. She says it worked! I quit doing that after they started responding to it in that way.

I agree to check medical issues first, but it may be just a way for her express herself and she may need to learn a better way. ;-)

my son is 2 and he started having them when he was abt 5-6 months old, to the point of where his body would go stiff and his eyes would roll in back of his head and lips and face purpleish blue, I blow in his mouth bounce him up and down and calm him down or until he can catch his breath. I've been told its all normal and he will grow out of it by the dr's they probably will last until he is 5-6 yrs old. but you can also look them up on web md, they usually only happen when the are angry or hurt though.

When our son would do that we just blew in his face really hard and it would cause him to startle and jerk out of it.

Dear friends of ours were in the car and their son did it and she couldn't get out of her buckle and he just reached back and popped him on the cheek lightly - but enough to get his attention. I wouldn't recommend that unless the blowing doesn't work. *laughing* But they were so shocked they didn't know what else to do. hehehehehe

A. <><

M., I was just telling someone about my little sister who used to do that when she cried. Our mother didn't worry because as she said, if she passes out she'll start to breathe again. Which actually happened a couple of times. She would passout and start breathing. I would still ask around but our experience of this similar sounding experience was that she out grew it pretty quickly. E.

Hi M.,

Yes, I have experience with this, and you are right, it is terrifying! My daughter did this several times last year when she was about 6-9 months. It happened about 5 times randomly when she would wake up from a nap or come up out of the water at swim class. It almost seems like she was choking b/c her face turned red and she looked so scared. Of course I took her to the doctor and he couldn't tell me anything. Someone told me to put your cheek up against theirs and just be calm and tell them they're okay and in a few seconds they will start to breathe again. The doctor told me that if they hold their breath long enough to pass out, then they will automatically start breathing again. I hope this is just a passing stage for you like it was for my daughter.

I don't have time to look through all of these right now, but boy do I have some experience with this!!! My son is adopted and came home at 8 months. Within the first few weeks he held his breath a few times (mainly when he would get very frustrated). There was one time that he fell over and bumped his head and held his breath so long he passed out. We did see a dr and everything was fine, I was getting used to the breath holding.

HOWEVER, once I moved home (had been staying with my parents while hubby was deployed), he had a big temper tantrum and this time when he held his breath he turned blue, then passed out and did a few jerks. I was hysterical and called 911.

This is what I was told by the ER staff and his pediatrician: His body will force him to breath. He will pass out. He will be okay. My concern was that he'd had a seizure. I was told that even those who do have seizures with these episodes they are fine. Unless the seizure last for longer than 3 minutes, they don't do anything differently.

So, hopefully you got similar news at the doc!

My son used to do this all the time. Once he figured out that it didn't work, he quit. It's a power play. If she passes out, she'll start breathing again. It won't hurt her, just make sure she won't get hurt if she falls.

My 3 year hold has breath holding spells. He has had one so bad that he did pass out from it. When I took him to the doctor about it the doctor said that it was normal and nothing to be really concerned about. After he passed out he came to in a matter of seconds. ( I was not home when this happened...it was with my husband). My 3 year old still has them...he will hold his breath until he turns blue in the face....the doctor did tell us to blow in his face...b/c this will kind of I guess give them a shock and help them snap back into reality....sometimes it works sometimes it does not work. Since he is 3 now we just blow into his face once and tell him to breath and calm down, and he will come around. I know how scary it is, but it is something that can be dealt with and managed. He does not have them as often as he did when he was younger. I don't know how much this helps you, but good luck!

My nephew was doing that, and it turned out he had acid reflux. they put him on a monitor that would alarm if he stopped breathing, but he was fine. he would tense his whole body up, stick out his tongue and hold his breath till he was almost blue! she call 911 twice...then they figured out it was just acid bothering him.

We had the same experiences begin when my middle daughter was about six months. Later the doctors said that she was having mild seizures. Very scary, but she had all the tests my the neurologist and was checked out by a cardiologist (found a heart murmur) but said she would probably grow out of it. She is now six and a half and has not had one in almost two years. Just be sure you follow through with your gut feelings...

one of my sons did this and actually apassed out the doc said it wouldn't hurt as he would breathe when he became unconscious i didn't agree and the next time he did it I grabed he up and went to the sink and threw cold water in his face works like a charm the surprise of the cold water make him take a breathe and he is breathing again.

At 6 mths my baby had what I called sleep apnea one night. The dr was not horribly alarmed but we were moving in 2 days out of state and so she told us to go to the hospital to have it monitored. It turned out to be a symptom of acid reflux and when I raised her crib, she was fine. She grew out of it in 2 months

Hi M., my daughter use to do the same thing when she was an infant. She would cry so hard her lips would turn blueish purple!! The first time she did it it scared the mess out of me too. The only thing you can do is maybe blow in her face and she will catch her breath. But it doesn't stop them from doing it. In my experience it passed with age. The worst thing I was told that could happen is she will pass out. My daughter never let it go that far but I have heard of it happening. My best advice would be: don't be too scared to let your baby cry, it is just the bast way she knows of "testing" you. Hope this helps, good luck!!

My son did this as well. He probably started when he was a couple of months old and lasted until he was about 5. He'd hold it so long he'd turn purple, go limp, and his eyes would roll to the back of his head. But yes, when they do pass out they start breathing again. Blowing in his face never worked for me. Every single time he did it, it scared the life out of me. In some instances, I wasn't sure if he had something in his mouth before he started his fit so I have, on a couple of occasions, performed the Heimlich on him. That actually caused him to gasp for a breath of air. Good Luck!

It is not uncommon at all for babies to have irregular breating patterns, specially in there sleep. If they last longer than 30 seconds worry, otherwise 10 seconds is completely normal. Our baby sleeps in our room and I can tell you that several times a night he will take a deep breath and hold it for a little (I always sit an listen to make sure it is not too long) and then let it go. In all actuality it is not uncommon for most people to have that happen during the night either, we just aren't aware of it because we are sleeping. Like I said earlier any longer than 30 second would be a problem otherwise, it is normal.

You might ask your peditrician about sleep apnea. My daughter had sleep apnea when she was an infant and in her early toddler years. She has a very small jaw and couldn't get enought air past her tonsils and anoids. A formal sleep study ordered by our pediatrician diagnosed the apnea with as much as 88 seconds of non-breathing time during her sleep. She always had difficutly falling asleep, but once the apnea was resolved by removing her tonsils and adnoids she fell asleep more naturally and sleeps better all night.

Hope this helps!

J. S.

My 4 year old did this all his life, but has grown out of it more recently. He even fell and passed out by hitting concrete and tile numerous times. One time we had to take him to the ER because he did not wake up, but it was just a mild concussion. We saw a neurologist numerous times and they said it is pretty common. We are all good now... I cannot remember the last spell. Hang in there... :)

Blow in her face and usually that will help, if not keep a spray bottle handy and that will do the trick....info from my friend's dr.
Good luck!

You may want to contact Michael White at breathing.com