21 Mo. Old--went Limp/unresponsive for a Few minutes--Anyone Else?

Did he have any vaccinations within several days of either episode? If so, he could be having a reaction to the vaccination. See a doctor.

Did you recently vaccinate your baby? A good website to check into is thinktwice.com. Look under "studies; neurological" and this will tell you about seizures that have been associated with vaccines and why. It is also a concern that this is not the first time he has done this, but also at 12 mo. Was he recently vaccinated then? Please check into this possibility, even just to rule it out if that be the case. Your baby depends on you to be informed so that you can take care of him in the best possible way.

My cousin had the same thing happen when she between 1-2. She was running a fever and when my aunt went to pick her up she was limp and unresponsive. She called 911 and they told her that a fever can cause siezures... they never did figure out what caused it for sure and it never happened again. I also know a girl and her daughter has siezures when she is running a fever...

My daughter did the same thing at 6 months--In her case, it was a seizure. She went through all sorts of tests and nothing came of it, but I would watch carefully. Once she went limp and then recovered (the hospital first thought it was a staff infection), she would have little bouts lasting only seconds long when she would be sitting there still and non-responsive. Those were petit mal seizures. It took the doctors about a week before actually diagnosing them. Her heartrate also rose drastically when she went through these little seizures, but I didn't know that until I was actually holding her during one and could feel her body's reaction. Watch and see if your child does any of the same things. It may be a one time thing and it may go on for a while. I would keep a very close eye on him and if he does have little moments where he doesn't respond and just looks like he is staring off, just for a few seconds, I would take him in right away and have him tested for seizures.

Hi Jennifer,

I would agree with the other mom's that this was probably a type of fever seizure. If you have any family history of fever seizures, you might be able to find out at what temps they had seizures. My mother for example would seize at 100 degrees. Children in general have a much lower tolerance for temperature change. My daughter's pediatrician told me to be careful not to make extreme changes to my daughter's temperature, because a fast spike, or quick cool down will cause the seizures as well. So when my daughter Reeanna is sick, I rotate the tylenol and motrin every (3) hours to keep her temperature stable.

My advice would be to make sure you know why your son is running a fever from this point out. I get my daughter checked for UTI's when she is running a fever, because that was the cause for her high temps. Found out that she has bladder reflux, and now has to take maintenance antibiotics. So make sure that your son is not having ear infections that go undiagnosed.

Kindest Regards,
TRUDI

I still clearly remember the only time that happened to my daughter, and when it did it was because a fever had spiked very high. She was about the same age as your son, and she had tonsillitis. I also clearly remember my panic when it happened, and she is now 25. We had been to the pediatrician's office just a bit earlier, so I knew what was wrong with her. I ran to turn on the shower, ran back and picked her up, not bothering to undress either of us, and stood and held her in the tepid shower to get her fever down fast. I was afraid to let her wait until I could run a bathtub and afraid she was too limp and unresponsive to be in the tub. Certainly the incident did no damage to her.

Hi Jennifer,
I would have him checked out for a cardiac or neurological condition. Follow up with your doctor and get your mind put at ease.

Yes. Have his throat and lymph nodes thoroughly checked. My little one got a pretty bad fever and went limp about 2 months ago. I was a little scared but I went home and gave her some tylenol. The next morning she was better but still a little fever and whiney all that day. The next week she wasn't up to par so I called my mother and she said that almost always a rapid onset of fever and limpness is a sore throat infection like tonsilitis or strep so I took her to my holisitc physician and sure enough she was fighting a bad sore throat and ear infection from teething. We gave her some herbal treatments and vitamins and she snapped right out of it within 2 days. Usually if a baby gets a fast onset of fever and goes limp, their bodies are usually fighting some kind of infection. Rose :o)

When that happened to my little sister, they called it a pettite -mal seizure, they are not like the usual seizure with the shaking and stuff, but more like a phase out. She would look really blank and go limp then snap out of it within a few seconds. I have also heard that kids can have this when they have a fever. Call the doc and find out what it could be.
Good luck,
N.
PS she has grown out of it since then and everything is normal

I noticed the number of moms that suggested febrile seizures. I wondered about that as well. My son's father was epileptic and I'm wondering if there is any history of this in the family? I would absolutely follow up with his pediatrician. Good Luck.

yes-my little guy was a year and a half and had a fever spike and he had a febrile seizure. You did the right thing by taking him in. Did they any tests? It could have been from a fever or an inner ear problem if he has an ear infection. Good luck!

Could it have been a seizure? I know that there are different kinds. Look at webmd.com, If this is the second time he has done it, that tells me that it isn't nothing, but I'm not in the medical field or anything. I would advise you to start writing things down, keep a journal, that way you can tell the doctor and start narrowing things down.

If he had a fever both times, do they think it might have been a febrile seizure, just without the shaking? That's pretty hard to track down, I think. We were babysitting when that happened, but the family was never able to get a definite diagnosis. If that's the cause, it's thought to be harmless. The girl is now about 4 and has outgrown it. Hers was more serious. She quit breathing and her lips turned blue, etc.

My sisters nephew got Bocholism, which caused Floppy Baby Syndrome.

But this is a pretty severe case. I just thought of it as I read your question.

Just ran across your request, and my daughter did the same thing when she was about 9 months. I thought she was dying in my arms - so scary! Rushed her to the ER and they determined it was a febrile seizure - nothing to be too concerned about. It happens when a fever comes on or spikes too quickly. It doesn't cause long-term damage and only happens when they are real young. If you haven't already, you could research this topic for some peace of mind.

Please ask your doctor to check for seizures. i don't want to scare you, but I have a daughter who used to do that when she was younger and it ended up being seizures. Now, it could be febrile, because he was sick, which could mean it is only situational.

Jennifer,

Yes, and they found it was a mild seizure, due to asthma.
Next doctor visit have them check him for that. Also make them check his heart.
Don't panic, sometimes when they are teething and not feeling well, they have a slight pause in the heart beat.
And and ear infection can cause all kinds of weird things to happen when they are babies.
Good luck and god bless your little family.
M.

It sounds like he is having Seizures, ans don't expect any old ER doctor (or PA or RN) to be well versed in Pediatrics. Take your child to a good pediatrician to evaluate him.

I know 2 people who have kiddos who do this - both from crying too hard. One does it if she is hurt and crying. They can't pick her up to soothe her. It is heartbreaking. Both docs said it is something they will outgrow.

I read your post and immediately thought it could be a seizure. I realize a lot of people have already commented on this, but I also realize that it can be scary to read that and not know what it's about or how it can feel to your little one. I am writing to add add that I have petite mal seizures and they do not hurt. If anything I'm tired and groggy afterward.

The boy I babysit does this-they determined it was from seizures. They are taking him to a couple of nurologists so I am unsure what the out come will be but they are hoping he will outgrow them.

My dd used to pass out when she was having a tantrum, or she wanted attention.We were always told to blow in there face to revive them.We were also told that when ever anyone passes out the first thing that happens is that they will breathe. If it happens and there lips turn blue then theres an issue. If the hard blow in the face doesn't work then I would talk to you peds about it.