B.E.
Yes, I have been there. My son is now 7 and hasn't had a breath holding spell in a couple of years now but it did last until about 4 ish. His only happened when he was VERY tired (so before nap or before bedtime) AND he got hurt or scared. He never did it intentionally. Even though I am a nurse it was still frightening when it was my own kid! :)
For us I noticed around 8 weeks that if he was really tired and mad/frustrated he would turn blueish when crying. At 9 months he had his first "pass out" and at 11 months he actually had a hypoxic seizure from it. I truly thought he died. After 3 seizure episodes we did do an EEG to rule out anything crazy but they were able to reassure me that he is normal. So, with that said, here are my suggestions.
1)Stay calm. When it happens, and it seemed too about once a month or every few weeks), just hold your child and talk calmly. Reassure a care giver that it is normal and they should stay calm too. After your child passes out they will wake up a few seconds later, although it seems longer.
2)Do not scream at or shake the child. Talk quietly and reassuringly. Encourage the child to relax, say "it's ok, you are ok, I am here with you" etc. This response is just a reflex.
3)If it does go to the point of seizures, my son only had 3 or 4 ever, hold them during the seizure, know that a spiked fever (getting sweaty) just after the seizure is normal, and they will be agitated after they wake up. They do calm down.
4)Carry a form or information about "breath holders" for child care providers or baby sitters. Keep the for at home and in your diaper bag. I even told the church nursery about it. That way you don't have someone calling 911 every time your child does this...that only happened once for me! :)
5)Try to reduce the situations where this might occur. Keep to a regular schedule. Talk to your child about stressful situations and reassure her that moms always come back, we say "that's the rule". We tried not to let my child get over tired but I couldn't always keep him from getting hurt. He got tackled playing football in the back yard at 5 and I could tell when he stood up and had that look on his face what would happen. It's that cry but you don't hear anything coming out! I ran to him and caught him just as he passed out....I held him for a few seconds until he came too and he was ok. It just happens and became normal to me. I went with him at the dentist until he was 6 just in case it would happen there. You know your child. If it's normal to you it won't be a big deal to her either and she WILL out grow it! :)
Best wishes, feel free to email with any other questions! Oh, we have 2 more children now and neither of the others do this so not to worry with future children either! :) B. :)
