Mini Seizures in 4 Mo. Old

Updated on October 01, 2009
K.C. asks from Austin, TX
8 answers

The 4 month old son of a friend of mine was nursing normally and suddenly she called to me and said,"look!" and pulled the baby off the breast. His head was shaking and both arms were rigid. Lower extremities didn't seem to be affected. We were both mystified, but if it were a seizure, he needed to be seen. There were only 2 things that were different. She had disinfected the bathroom and there was a strong odor of chlorox and she had been cleaning the kitchen with it. The baby had just been bathed in the chloroxy bathroom and was sitting in front of a window and wind was blowing. Not very cold.
He had no fever, no bluish color. He went back to nurse for a short while and then slept. When she went to the hospital (the ASK a nurse said he had to be seen or else...)they decided that he was cold, or in that sleep/wake stage where they will shake. Having seen seizures, this was a seizure, 15 seconds, but still.
Any of you ever experienced this? The mom is the oldest of 11 and this is her 4th child so she is not exactly a newbie at this.
I am wondering about him breathing in fumes, mom absorbing the chlorox through her skin and it going into breast milk. His older sister has a viral infection but there is nothing else going on.
Have any of you ever seen this?

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L.F.

answers from Killeen on

Good morning -

I feel for this mother.

I am almost 40 yrs old myself with a little lady that is 5. I am a single mother - but - there is a reason to my telling you about myself.

I had my first seizure when I was 8 months old. I do not have gran mal or even petite mal seizures. I have what are called focal seizures.

Seizures do not run in my family - so what caused mine to start - needed to be researched.... It turns out that I have a scar on the back right side of my brain. No idea where it came from. I always teased my parents about dropping me as a baby....

I have dealt with the seizures my whole life. It does not keep me from living my life as normally as possible. they are controled with my medications - that get switched due to building a tolerance.... I still drive, I work full time and my daughter and I miss out on nothing because of them.

Typically I get a "sense" or "aura" before one comes on... so if we are driving somewhere I can pull over and park and my daughter watches her tv and really never knows anything about it. I dont do much more than tighen up on my left side, with a minimal jerky motion and I am slow in speech - but I am awake and alert through the whole thing.

If you truly beleve it to be a seizure - press the issue with the doctors. Ask for CT scans and MRIs and EEGs - there might be an underlying problem....

I lost all developmental skills after my first seizure and had to learn to walk and crawl all over again.... but - I advanced quickly and school was never a challenge for me - as a matter of fact I was in the TAG program and started school a year earlier than everyone else my age.

Please, ask the mother not to stress - the stress affects the child as well. Keep a diary, test the CLOROX theory - see if you get another reaction from the child of any sort.... If that wasnt it - NOTE THAT in the journal. Try other things - any new foods that might have been introduced, juices, cereals, anything.... Write down what is being tested and what the outcome is....

Good luck!

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S.O.

answers from San Antonio on

I saw this with my father not too long ago in the hospital. He was getting his heart checked out and was sleeping. Then, he started shaking violently all over and opened his eyes up wide staring at me. It was just for a few seconds as well. The nurse insisted he was just cold too. My friend has a son that has just begun to have seizures. The difference between the two that I know of is, after the seizure, the body is limp and exhausted. There is little to no mental response for a short while as well. I saw this too with a student. If it were a true seizure, supposedly, there would be a limpness and little mental response for a short while after the convulsions. I wouldn't rule it out, but I wouldn't panic as of right now. I would lighten up on the bleach, but I wouldn't blame it for this unless it shows up as a pattern. Wow! That's a scary sight for a mother.

1 mom found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Waco on

Hi K.,
Thank you for being so observant and concerned about this little one.
Being a mom of a lot ofkids myself I have a horror of clorox and products with chemicals and toxins. It has been proven to have adverse affects on children and could be very dangerous to infants. These chemicals certainly can be absorbed into the skin. I would suggest to this mother that she detox her home with products that are chemical and toxin free. I know of a line that I have used for years and can recommend them to you or her if you PM me. I would strongly urge this mother to investigate this option.
good luck and blessings

1 mom found this helpful
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J.M.

answers from Houston on

My daughter had several seizures as an infant. She saw a pedi nuerologist that did lots of testing including an EEG. Nothing showed up and within a few months she stopped having them. She is now 11 years old and has never had anohter. There is a small percentage of infants that have these types of nondiscript seizures and then just grow out of them without incidence. Hopefully that is all it was.

1 mom found this helpful
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L.U.

answers from Sherman on

my first thoughts are immunization call me if you want tohear more ###-###-####

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M.M.

answers from College Station on

I am sorry to say that I have seen this. My son now 21 had this as a child and still has this as an adult. She should take the child to the doctor and request he be tested for a seizure disorder. Most people think that the only type of seizure is the whole body shaking and total loss of control and that is only one kind. It can be as small as a zone or space out that lasts a very short time to several mintues. Only a physician can tell you. My son started having problems when he was 1 having only 5 major episodes, his were petit mal seziures. He has grown into a young man without major complications. The only was to really know for sure is to be tested.

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A.M.

answers from El Paso on

Unfortunately, the medical community really doesn't delve into environmental toxins when trying to assess triggers for health issues. The chlorox is a toxin and may have had an effect on the baby. Vinegar works just as well and is non toxic. Highly recommend that your friend start looking into what toxins may be present in the home, just to be on the safe side. Start with household cleaners, pesticides, and detergents. Most commercial brands are bad news for babies. Pesticides of all kinds are bad bad bad and anything with an artificial smell is bad. ewg.org if you want to delve into that further...

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E.M.

answers from San Antonio on

K.,
This is my own personal opinion. Your friend should have this baby checked really well. If she used clorox then exposed the baby to such toxic solution, she may want to consider looking up "Kawasaki syndrome." You never use toxic solutions around babies. I'm not saying I'm right but she needs to do something ASAP.

The best of luck,
Elisa M

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