Passing Out

I know this is kinda late but my sister use to do this when she was young and my mom got really worried about it and asked the doctor. He told her it was nothing to worry about and to just ignore it. Since breathing is a reflex once she passes out she will start breathing. Eventually after everyone stopped paying attention to her she stopped doing it.

My daughter does this also (her father did it when he was little). Except it is not only when mad, but also when she is upset, gets hurt, or gets very scared. My mother-in-law told me to blow on her face when she's holding her breath and that will cause her to breathe. It has worked every time. I have also heard of the sprinkling water technique but have never had to use it.

I did this as when I was 1-2 years old and my daughter followed suit. We just blew in her face, forcing her to inhale. It was very scary for us but didn't seem to bother her at all once the episode was over. Our pediatrician said it was probably just extreme frustration not anything serious. She grew out of the phase in less than 1 year.

Hi, I pretty much agree with what everyone else has said, so far. Although I have never had to deal with this, yet (crossing my fingers, I have a 2 yr. old and a 5 yr. old, still), here's a story my mom tells. My brother would hold his breath until he turned blue and passed out, and my aunt advised her to throw some water in his face to break him of the habit. She did it, and it worked. I am in no way endorsing this, but that's what worked for my mom. I don't know if I could do that unless I was desperate, but again I've never been in that situation. Hope this helps in some way. :0)

I have a very good friend who's child did this - it had nothing to do with any neurological disfunction - just a matter of being strong willed. The girl is now a healthy, honor student and star teenage athlete. So, no damage appears to have been done by her preschool drama!

As in any area of concern, you might want to consider a second medical opinion. When calling around, you might want to ask how long the pediatrician has been practicing, and then ask the doctor if he is familiar with this type of behavior.

Your child is lucky to have a parent who is so concerned.

I totally agree with (I think it was) Geneva G when she said that it's totally normal (to a certain extent). My daughter is now 6, but when she was about 4 she had two of these type of episodes. I believe she wanted something and I told her no to it, and of course she threw a fit crying and screaming. The next minute I looked up she was on the floor. Her cry sort of died out too. So I ran to her and her eyes were in the back of her head she was still breathing, but her arms were tight by her side. I held her with my arm under her head and the other one under her back, and called her name out. She then opened her eyes and wasn't crying anymore. (not blacked out for anymore than maybe a minute) I started quizing her, what's your name, colors, etc. just to make sure nothing was seriously wrong with her and she had totally forgot that she was crying in the first place.
The second time we were in Wal-Mart and she was helping me put groceries up to be scanned by the cashier and she accidentally hit her back on the back of the basket. (she was inside the big part leaning over to pick up items in there too) She started to cry and just like before her cry died out and she slowly dropped to the bottom of the basket and passed out. Everyone in the store started freaking out but by the time they were about to call for help (that short of a time) she had come to again. I talked to her doctor about it and she told me it was a normal behavior for small children. The doctor said it's like a safety precaution for them. Either you get so angry you do it to get your way or because you know everyone will pay attention to you. Or like the Wal-Mart episode, you get so scared that you go into your safety zone. (like your happy place)
She has definetely grown out of this but the most important thing to do like Geneva said is to stay near them when they do it (calm), without catering to what they want. The doctor said that they do need to know that you are there so they can feel safe and come to again....It is hard but you have to let it play out when she does it. If there are other symptoms then I would definetely check with her doctor. (check with the doctor anyway) but it sounds very normal. Hope this helps you....

lol...i used to do something similiar to this when i was a child...i would get so upset when my mom was getting on to me that i would hyperventilate to the point where i would pass out from lack of oxygen...my mom became very concerned about it after the 3rd time or so that she mentioned it to my doctor...the doctor told her the next time i did it she should take me by the arm and put me in a cold shower...so, the next time i did this, she grabbed me by the arm and drug me to the shower...she turned it on and chunked me in there with all my clothes on...lemme tell you, i stopped hyperventilating right away from the shock of the cold water and just got down right angry...seemed to work cuz if i remember correctly, i never did that again! lol

good luck...:)

M.

Hi C.,

My son did this when he was younger that 2 yrs old. He would get mad about something and start crying so hard that he didn't take a breath, so he would pass out. It is very scary when it happens! He did grow out of it, and I think it was how he reacted to not being able to communicate with us well enough to tell us what he was upset about.

What we did: when he would start crying and wouldn't take a breath, I would pick him up, turn him over my arm and kind of pop him on the hiney....that would cause him to breath in and take that breath that he needed so that he wouldn't pass out. Worked every time.

Good luck!

H.

Breathholdinig spells are not a form of epilepsy. Basically, some children get mad, hold their breath and pass out. To a parent or observer, these episodes can be pretty scary. Sometimes they will have some seizure like activity, but it is not related to epilepsy.

I just signed up for this site, because a friend of mine saw your 'passing out' request. First I want to say how sorry I am that your niece is going through this. It is extremely scary for the people around her when it happens.

My daughter is 15 months old and she does the same thing. She usually does it when she is mad, stressed or in an environment that is unusual to her. She has only done it a few times, My doctor did mention epilepsy, but feels that this type of diagnosis usually includes one or more of the following symptoms (but not excluded to): body stiffening up, shakes, blocked airway with the tongue, convulsions, and not breathing after passing out. On the other hand he told me that some children do this because when they are mad they tend to take deep breaths in and out causing them to hyperventilate in turn their body thinks that they do not need any more oxygen. This makes them hold their breath. Sometimes a swat on the bottom will cause the child to release the air and start breathing. It kind of brings the body back into reality. In most cases this works and she will start breathing, however there has been times that it does not work and her lips will turn blue, her eyes will cross and she will pass out. Once she passes out she begins breathing normal immediately. My doctor said that he was not concerned about it at this time, because she only does it when she is mad and she starts breathing as soon as she passes out. He feels that she will grow out of it. He also mentioned that ear infections, and colds can cause a child to hold his/her breath when they are very upset because of the congestion that could be going on. His suggestion was to watch her close when it is happening. Do not hover over her and try to stay as calm as possible (what ever that is...because if your like me this totally scares you when it happens). You don't want her to feel that her actions of holding her breath is getting her attention. This can be extremely hard, because it is scary. However if holding her breath is a reaction to get what she wants then avoiding the normal motherly reaction, which is to pick her up and hold her close and love all over her is only going to enforce her thought that this is how she gets this type of attention. Of course you don’t want to ignore her but you have to show her that this isn’t an expectable way to communicate, because at this age she doesn’t know any other way until you show her.

My daughter use to do this a lot when she was between 9 months and 11 months. My doctor suggested that we swat her on the diaper to make her body react, in turn make her release her breath and start breathing. So I would do that, and for the most part it did work. If that didn’t work I would lay her on the floor or hold her (so that she wouldn’t hurt herself) while stroking her hair (so that she knew I was there) I would then watch her to make sure she did start breathing. As soon as she would pass out, I would let her lie there, because she must be dizzy from the lack of oxygen. When she would start crying again I would hug her and tell her everything was ok. I would then down and touch her on the end of the nose and look directly in her eyes and tell her (in a serious voice with some authority)” When your upset you do not need to hold your breath. Holding your breath scares momma. You need to learn to use your words” I would then set her next to any wall as if she were in time out and I would let her cry it out. **Trust me I know this sounds harsh, and OMG was it hard. I would have to go in the other room and cry it out myself** However, after doing that two times, she stopped doing it for several months. She is now 15 months old and she just had another episode.

This last episode does have me concerned. About a month ago, she did it again. It started when we had her in time out because she was hitting at us, when we wouldn’t let her in a cabinet. She cried and cried and because we didn’t allow her to take our attention with her crying she held her breath. I saw that she was holding her breath. I picked her up and swatted her several times on the diaper and she didn’t start breathing, so I set her back down, and set in front of her. She then passed out, but she didn’t start breathing again. So I picked her up and was talking to her (all while remaining calm.. I still don’t know how I did it) She then took one breath and then held it again. Her body stiffened up and she was turning very pale. I started yelling for my husband. (Thank God he is a nurse and he was there). I laid her on the floor and she had this stare in her eyes, which I will never forget. Her arm then went above her head straight out and my husband began giving her small taps on her chest. She then started breathing again. He then blew in her mouth one time, just to make sure that she was ok. My husband said that the arm going above the head is a normal reaction because she wasn’t getting any oxygen to the brain. Although, the vision in my head will remain forever. After that I held her cried and rocked her for a few minutes. I then set her down and touch her on the nose and told her in a serious voice, “You do not act like that, it scares mommy, we love you and don’t want you to hurt yourself.” I then told her to stay in time out, so that she learns that she cannot act that way. Of course I was still crying, and when I set her in time out, I stayed very close to her to make sure she was ok. She then continued her fit, by crying and kicking on the floor, until she finally gave up and became quite. I then picked her up and loved on her, and told her how proud I was that she was so good and how much we loved her. She hasn’t had another episode since then. Although I will be seeing her doctor on the 20th of this month and I plan to let him know what happened.

To end this.. I’m not telling you that your niece is simply having fits. However, if she is holding her breath only when she is mad then this could be the cause. I would recommend that you find your own way to make sure she knows that this is an unacceptable form of communication for her. If your efforts do not work, and she continues to hold her breath or develops other symptoms then I would look into other possible causes. My little girl scared me so bad with her last episode that I will be asking her doctor about it, just to make sure that there isn’t another cause. I will post another response to your questions once I see the doctor. I also suggest that you do a web search on epilepsy and seizures so that you are fully informed about the causes and symptoms. I always say you can never have enough information.

Here are some websites that I have looked at. If clicking on them doesn't work, then copy and paste the link in your address bar.
http://www.drgreene.com/21_557.html
http://www.epilepsy.com/

Barbara is right. Kids do all kinds of wierd things when they get upset. My neice would make herself throw-up (before she was a year old). My friend's baby sister would rock back on her heals and slam her head onto the hardwood floor (before the age of 2). With these two girls, they had found away to get "good attention" from a negative behavior. Not sure that's what your neice is doing, but it does not sound like anything is wrong with her.

When you notice her doing this, I would try to calm her down by speaking in very calm low tones and model deep breathing for her. Also discussing ways of dealing with anger can help her to avoid holding her breath. Best of luck to you and God bless.

I did the same thing as a child and so did my father (thanks for the dirt gramma) it's no big deal, she'll breathe and she'll grow out of it.

Barbara nailed it... It is anger, not epilepsy. My daughter did it when she was 1 and the doc said it was because she had a temper and he was correct. She did have seizures twice from holding her breath and it is scary but they get more scared than you. The more attention you give her, the more she will do it. We got her to stop by talking her through it and spritzing water in her face. She did it till she was about 2 and i could tell her that she was going to fall and she would catch herself by grabbing the wall or something. Basically they get to a point of no return and they can no longer control it when they hold their breath and you can tell they are going to pass out because their lips will turn blue right before.

Good luck.