Breath Holding Spells

My daughter used to do the same thing. The best and easiest thing to do is blow air in their face. It makes them take a breath and then you can work on calming them down. I used to do the same thing when I was little and my mom gave me the advice. It works, trust me.

I didn't experience this as a parent, but as a sibling. My little brother would throw a tantrum, start screaming and hold his breath until he passed out. It was scary to watch my brother do this, but my mom (after getting medical advice) would carry him gently into his room and let him get over it. The doctor had told her that he would get over it when he stopped getting attention for it (hence the taking him into his room). He did stop after a few more times.
It didn't affect him, by the way ... he has a full-ride scholarship to one of the top universities in the country and is one of the smartest people I know.

My son (13 months now) has done this for a while, usually when he bonks his head hard. Normally he will cry so hard that it'll take him a few moments to inhale, but a couple of times he has paused and his eyes rolled back in his head. Freaked me out.

We've had to yell at him and blow in his face to try to get a reaction and to startle him into breathing again.

I don't really have any advice, but I just wanted to let you know that you're not alone.

Oh, the first time his eyes rolled back and he didn't cry or breathe it was a really hard bonk, but the second time it wasn't. I've wondered if it's not some kind of super mild concussion or something like that.

My nephew did this sort of thing when he got upset. Mostly when he was crying because he was told No. He would cry and cry and hold his breath and turn blue and pass out. It was scary and annoying. We got him to finally not pass out by blowing into his face when he'd try to hold his breath. That might help. It sort of shocked him into breathing. You could maybe also try a spray bottle with water in it. Not a stream of spray, but a mist of spray. That also would "shock" into breathing. It really doesn't sound like too much to worry about, but I would be concerned about the seizure like movements as a mom myself and seek a second opinion. Those are always good to get anyway! Better safe than sorry.

V.

My son had these when he was around 9 months old. We of course did the same thing with calling 911. He was only having them at daycare and he had other issues going on then too making me quit working to stay home with him. He then had one at home with me. (I remember he was crawling toward the fridge when I was in there and I shut the fridge before he crawled in it....He was very pissed.) He had one which basically was like a temper tantrum.

I believe that this was his way of expressing anger at this point of his life. The minute he was able to speak, it stopped. Try to get your baby to speak to you or use sign language for expressing herself. Good luck and don't worry. K.

Hi B.! My dd did the very same thing! It first started when she was about 9 months old. It is TERRIFYING, I know. Of course we did the same thing, called 911, took her to the hospital, had the CT scans and everything. She finally stopped when she was about 5 years old. Though as she got older the spells came fewer and farther between. A lot of people say it's an attention getter, especially after she says how you freak out. All I can tell you is try to be calm. If you feel that she is not breathing for too long, give her a breath of your own. Just do a quick breath into her mouth and it will help her brain remember to breathe and she will start again. I had to do this a couple of times with my DD.

I know it's scarey, but she will outgrow it and the more attention you give her, the more she will do it...

Good luck!

My daughter who is now 13 months old has been having these spells since she was born. The doctors said the worst that would happen is that she would pass out. And it is ok. Yes it is very scary for a parent to watch their child get so upset that they pass out. My daughter has only passed out one time and it was very scary. When she gets upset that is when she holds her breath, I have found out that if I can get to her and blow in her face she gasps for air and calms down a little quicker. I do this just so she doesn't pass out because I am a new mom and it freaks me out. I have also been told to splash some water in their face. I haven't done that, because just blowing air in her face or mouth has worked for me.
I wish you luck, I am sure it is just a phase and this too shall pass!

My son too went through this. The first time it happened, he passed out and had a seizure and of course we went to the ER because we had no idea what was going on. He was just over a year old and they ran CAT scans, EEGs from a pediatric neurologist, and a million other tests immediately following the seizure. All brain activity was normal and not indicative of any other symptom (epilepsy, etc). The doctors then went through some other questions/tests and determined it was a breath holding spell and gave advice similar to what others have mentioned below. Good news is - it is only temporary. My son is 2 1/2 now and doesn't have them anymore. He's a happy healthy well-adjusted 2 year old and there is no damage from the spells. Regarding what Amy P mentioned below - please do not freak out about what she said regarding loss of brain cells. Moms already worry so much about their children and in this case, the best thing to do if you're worried is to have a doctor run some tests for your peace of mind. If all checks out well - it IS normal and there is NO concern of loss of brain cells. Best of luck to you - my thoughts are with you during this - I know it's a tough thing to see your babies go through!

You will get used to it. The first time it happened to my 4 year old, my husband was the only one home. He's in the medical field, so he saw that she came right to and decided it was no big deal and didn't tell me. The first time I saw it happened, I of course freaked out. It created a fight because he didn't freak out. She usually passes out when she gets her feelings really hurt (she's painfully shy) and she tries not to show that she's crying. I have found that blowing hard in her face when she has held her breath too long and is about to pass out will sometimes make her take a breath. Most of the time, I just lay her quickly on a flat surface with her arms over her head. Our doctor said the same thing, she's fine. He mentioned that he used to not have a whole lot of sympathy for parents who dealt with kids who hold their breath, until a child passed out while he was examining them. He said he understands now that it can be really scary to watch your child pass out and look almost like a seizure, but it really is nothing to worry about. My daughter started at about 10 months. She's now almost 4 and the spells come fewer and farther between. She's usually really pale and her energy is down for the rest of the day if it happens, but otherwise she's fine. Passing out is the body's way of getting oxygen to the brain that is otherwise not getting there. So really, passing out shows she's normal. My 2nd child just turned 1 and has started the same thing. I've noticed that I don't freak out at all, anymore. It's almost normal to me now! She came close to passing out at the doctor's the other day and the nurse was the one panicking. I just blew in her face and she took a breath. It will still be scary for awhile, but you will get used to it! I didn't think I would, but I am!

Our son who is now 15 did this from the time he was a month old! I was told from Drs that there are actually two types of breath holding. Those that turn blue and those that turn red. Our son turned blue. Would arch his back until his feet touched his head, eyes would roll around, turn a nice shade of blue and then the bodies reflexes took over and he would relax and sleep for a bit. He had one grand mal seizure from it but did it for 2 years. Out grew it when he was 2-2 1/2. We took him to all the specialists and he was one of those that just did it. The triggers were always different. But with him mostly it ws being around strangers or people that he did not know. Crowded rooms bothered him or a lot of people around. He would do it in the checkout line at the grocery store. In the car in his car seat. IT IS NOT A TEMPER TANTRUM. Do not throw water on him as some people suggested. Just hold him and love him and let him work thru it. IT WILL GO AWAY! It is hard because no one would babysit for us because of what he would do and they were afraid something would happen. Have faith and take heart. He will be a very well adjusted child and love people and you will never know that he was like this. I was in line at the grocery store and Tyler did his thing and I was praying that no one was calling 911. When the lady behind me came up and explained that her child did the same thing and grew up to be well adjusted and that he outgrew it. It was the first person that I had found who gave me hope. They even have a scale to rate it at the DR. office. Take heart it will stop! Love to talk to you if you would like. It is very scary for the parents. I always told my husband it was a good thing he was the last child because if he was the first I don't know if I would of had more. :)

Hi B.!

Well it looks like this happens more than you think. My daughter also did this, starting at around 9 months. It was very scary. I talked to her ped about it, and they said it was attention getting, but not with my daughter. She would get so MAD, that she would literally run out of breath and faint. I too learned to see it coming and I stayed calm, told her to calm down and held her, and blew little puffs of air in her face. I had always told my husband about it, but he finally got to see it in Sunday School and he flipped out. He wanted to call 911, but I told him just give her a second, and she will breath. I know it's scary when it happens, but hang in there, because my daughter stopped at about age 4.

T

I was babysitting for a child who did a very similar thing. The paramedics wanted to fly the doctor to the city for an immediate MRI or ct scan, I don't remember which. The parents never got a diagnosis, but I know those symptoms, especially if continuous can be indicative of pretty serious conditions. The girl is now about 3 and doing just fine, and the spells have stopped.

Hi there my son went through the same thing, but it also happened when he tripped and fell. He was very clumsy and pigeon toed, so therefor it happedned about 2 thimes a day. It is very scary and really nothing you can do about it unfortunately. One thing I did was blow in his face as if I were giving him CPR. It seemed to help a little bit, he would respond alot better than just letting him come to on his own. And it helped me feel more in control than just sitting there and doing nothing. Hope this helped, he grew out of it around the age of two. Best of luck with your little one!!!!!

My oldest daughter had them for about a year starting at 18 months. My pediatrician did give me some litereature about them as well. Same thing they were nothging to worry about, which totally scared my husband and I. She seemed to get them anytime she bumped her head, even if it was just running into the refridgerator door. So anytime she bumped her head we would pick he up and blow in her face. This startles the kids and forces them to take a breath. It didn't prevent every spell but it greatly reduced them. Now out of habit when my second hits her head hard I still do it, just in case. Oh the other thing the Dr's kept telling us is that this is not something your child is doing intentionally, it is something they canot control.

Wow B.,

You have a ton of responses here! My daughter also did this, and I had no idea it was so common. Of course, the first thing to do is get her checked out by the doctor. Barring any medical reason, you can try some other techniques.

Many here are claiming it as a temper tantrum, but here is how our doctor explained it to us. It is NOT a temper tantrum, at least it doesn't start that way. He told us that when our daughter got very scared, angry or hurt, her brain and body were literally bombarded by stress hormones. Because she was so small and inexperienced, her brain didn't know how to handle it and would have these "fits" to basically reboot the system, just like when your computer freezes up! This totally made sense to me. The fits started when she was super young, and they happened whenever she was very hurt or angry. As she got older, they got more and more rare and mostly happened when she was hurt. I think she had her last one when she was about 2-1/2 and she fell and hit her head really hard. She is 3-1/2 now.

He did say that if you give a child excessive attention for it, it can become a learned behavior. How much attention is excessive? Well, that is up to you as you know your child best. I always held my daughter and rocked her for a little bit, then encouraged her to get up and get on with life. (When she was nursing, this was a surefire way to calm her down immediately, as well as provide her with loving care.) I understand the reasoning behind parents who say just ignore it or put them in their room. I personally felt wrong ignoring my child who was hurt just because this "fit" is how her pain/fear manifested itself. If she fell and scraped her elbow and was crying, I wouldn't put her in her room until she was done with her "tantrum." You have to decide how much attention is the right amount for your daughter.

One thing that can help, is to work on giving your daughter positive ways to express her emotions. We started when my daughter was about a year old helping her to name her emotions. We would say something like "You are really MAD at Mommy! You wanted that book and Mommy took it away! You are MAD, MAD, MAD because you can't have the book." That was it - no judgement, no shouting about how she can't be mad, no punishment for showing her emotion. When she calmed down, we would explain that she can't play with Mommy's books, but we could get one of her books to play with. I wanted to acknowlege how she felt, to teach her that there is nothing "bad" about how she felt, but that she needed to express it in a different way. I think this helped her learn to deal with her emotions in another way other than having fits. A great book to read about speaking your kid's language is "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" by Harvey Karp. It helped us a lot.

Best,
S. L.

Hi B.. I have the EXACT situation with my two year old son. The first time he passed out, I called 911 and he was about a year old. It scared me to death. When the doctor told me that there was nothing to worry about and that we just need to lay him down and keep him safe until he breaths again, I found that so hard to do. It was so violent and hard to watch him go through that. As he has gotten older, he now almost 2 and a half, he has slowly grown out of it. He still does it once in awhile but not near as much as he did when he was younger. It still scares me to see him turn blue and pass out but I have been able to lay trust in that he will breath again and that really he is ok. My husband is a nurse and he explained to me that he passes out as a way for his body to protect him and make him breathe again. It will get better!! Good luck.

At 9-months old, my little girl fell and bumped her chin, she made one cry, held her breath and passed out. That time and the next few times, she passed out and immediately 'came to' and finished her crying. This pattern continued everytime she hurt herself (more than a little bump, but nothing that needed medical attention). When she was two and a half, her 'pass out' lasted just a little longer and she seized. Her arms become tense, her hands are clamped sht, her eyes are rolled back, she began jerking her whole body... Again, it lasted just a minute or two, but it felt like a lifetime. When she came to, she could tell you exactly what happened, who was the first one to pick her up, etc. she has done this twice since then. I have asked every doctor I know about this and have been reassured that it is something that happens sometimes, and, although not typical, is normal for her. I think it was called hypoxia. anyway, It was suggested to me, to lie her on her side when this happens and to wait it out. We are to be alarmed if the episode lasts more than just a few minutes and is not associated with crying spells. We are also hyperaware of her when she falls which isn't probably helpful at all. I don't know all there is to know, but I sure was relieved to hear of someone else whos little one does it. I am grateful that we don't experience more severe seizures, they are scary! I stongly feel that my little one does not do this as attention seeking and blowing in her face NEVER worked.

i have a 19 month old who started out with same thing as your daughter about 3 month ago had ear infection pink eye high fevers starting seizure from the fevers doctor said they were feveral seizure that went on for about a month couple times a week now the fever is gone and infection is cleared up now is havin seizure with vomiting and passing out very tired when he comes out of the seizures had blood work done normal urine checked normal eeg normal still no answers to why they are getting stronger and lasting longer its very scary i dont mean to scare you most of the little ones like the other have said out grow the breath holding my oldest held breath and turned red in the face he out grew it when he was 2 in a half my daughter held her breath and turn purple stopped when she was 2 but my little one just keeps getting different everytime he has a seizure like some of the others on here have said get her checked to make sure it is nothing serious

I have a now 12 yr old and a 10 year old who both held their breath when they got hurt and mad. I also called 911 on my son and they took him to the hospital. It is very scary but the good thing is it stops. My kids havent done it in probably 5 years. I learned to just hold them until they came to. Try to stay calm. Someone told me to blow in their face it makes them breathe. I hope that helps a little.

My son did this. He's nearly 3 and hasn't had an episode for about 4 months. It usually happens when something makes him really upset.

If I'm close enough, I'll catch him in my arms and blow on his face. Usually there's a bit of time before the actual passing out. The pediatrician said not to worry - that it's really common. I usually hold him in my lap and give him hugs when he wakes up. I try to make sure he doesn't hurt himself or choke while he's flailing. If he hits his head, I watch him closely for the rest of the day.

My daughter used to do it, too, but only when she'd get her immunization shots. Blowing on her face kept her from passing out.

Remember: If she's out for 5-10 minutes, it's a medical emergency and you need to call the doctor. (My kids have never been out for even close to that long.)

Hi B.! My brother did this when he was young and it scared my mom to death everytime he did it. Finally one day during one of these spells, my mom poured her glass of water on him. It shocked him so much he took a big breath as a reflex. My amazed mother of course asked the pediatrician if she was doing any harm, he said no while chuckling, and said that he will be the cleanest little boy in town while he is growing out of this phase. Of course the water dries quickly, no harm done, and he did grow out of it. Good Luck!

Hello B.,

When people, including children, hold their breath, it can literally be a refusal to or fear of taking in life and then letting go. Getting to know what is going on in your daughter's experience of her world can be very helpful in supporting her. I recommend reading, "How to Talk so Kids will Listen and Listen so Kids will Talk," by Faber and Mazlish.

I send warmth and joy to you and your family. ~T.

Hello,
I know exactly what you are going through. My children have not done this but my little sister who is 12 years younger did this. I was 13 years old and i was watching my little sister who got upset about something and decided to scream and cry and hold her breath. Well she turned blue and passed out. It really scared me so of course I called 911. My parents were contacted at work and they headed home. She started shaking uncontrolably as if she was having a seizure. When the paramedics arrived she was consious and being a stinker. Come to find out my sister when she got angry she had a temper tantrum as normal kids do, the only difference was she held her breath The shaking is do to oxygen going back into the body. But if your worried about it go and see the doctor. She too was one at the time. She ended up growing out of it at about 3. She is now almost 18 and still a stinker.

Hey B.,
My sister did this when we were kids. The doc told my mom that it was pure temper so she should just lay her down in her crib (or any safe place) and leave the room. He said that if she passed out, then she would start to breath again. After just a few times, my sister stopped holding her breath because it wasn't getting her the attention she wanted. She's now a mother of 3 herself, a teacher and hasn't had any medical problems - - BUT she sure can stay under water longer than anyone else I know! :-)

Hi B.-

I did this as a child too. Check out the article about breath holding in the New York Times. It's called "Saving a Child, Scaring a Parent: A Fainting Reflex"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/health/10case.html?fta=y

So scary! Hang in there!

HI B.,
wow there are alot of responses here! I didn't think this was that common but I guess it is! My second child, now 6yrs, had her first spell when she was 9mos old. She was climbing into her bouncy seat and it flipped on her and she screamed until she was out of breath, siezed, passed out, and half a second later came to and screamed some more. We rushed her to the ER and was told it was a breath holding spell and she would be fine. We visited the ER 3 more times in 1 week because she would have her spells everytime she got hurt big or small. But the fact that it was harmless finally sunk in and we learned to just deal with it. We would hold her during them and after she would calm down we would do a check on her to make sure she really was ok and she always was. The spells finally stopped when she was about 4 years old and she hasn't had one since so that's a relief. So don't worry you're not alone and it will stop eventually. Hang in there!

C. C.

Oh! I know how you're feeling. My almost 4 year old boy started doing it since he was only two days old. I was breastfeeding him and I guess I didn't have more milk coming out, because he, of course started crying turning purple and then passing out. I thought my baby was dead. We took him to the hospital and they said it was weird that he would do that since he was so little. After about 2 years he grew out of it, but it was bad while it lasted. We took him a couple of times to the ER and called the paramedics. You might want to get all the tests done. My son had an EKG, and other different tests as well. He was always fine. Make sure you don't give in to her desires though. That's a way of kids trying to control their parents. I learned a lot about breath holding spells during that period. Even my Dr. said that what he was going through, you know the weird movements, and the roling eyes, wasn't properly a "seizure". It was a stage to where the brain goes to protect itself because it doesn't have enough oxygen. It was very hard to understand for me that my son wasn't going to have any type of problems after the so called "seizure". Well, B. hopefully this will help you. My son is a very happy boy now and has learned how (well, not a 100% of course) to manage his temper. Good luck!

I too have had experience with breath holding. The first time my son had one it scared me to death. We took him to the doctor and learned more about it. Then when my next son started having them, we were more prepared, although none less scared. Here's what our ped said.
Breath holding is the way some children react to being very angry or upset. It does them no harm and there is no way to stop the episodes. When they pass out it makes them breathe. He said that blowing in their face doesn't really even help. You just have to let them get over it. He said make sure they are safe, talk to them reassuringly, and let them get over it. You have to be careful because if you make a big deal out of it, it can become a learned behavior to get attention . When our son holds his breath (or any time he gets upset) we calmly talk to him to get his mind off of the incident and make him calm down. My son is nearly 4 and it rarely happens anymore. I know it is very scary to watch your child not breath and pass out, but he will outgrow it eventually. Just try to stay calm and try to calm your daughter down without giving too much attention to it. Good luck!!

Hi B.,
I also have a child that does the breath holding spells. She's now 15 months old and does it when she's mad at me. I didn't know what is was but it got worse and we ended up taking her to a doctor. They said that 10% of kids get this and to be careful that you don't cater to them and give them what they wanted or you will be starting a habit that would be hard to break. When they turn 2 or 3 years of age, they can start holding their breath on purpose and pass out so they can get what they want. It is very scary for me to watch each time she did that. It is nice to know that she doesn't have a seizure disorder, just having a seizure in response to lack of oxygen to the brain. One thing that we did that stopped them from happening so often to the point where they really don't happen anymore was taking her to a chiropractor. The other thing the doctor said was that if she continues to breath and come out of it on her own, she will probably continue to do so, but as a precaution, take a CPR class just in case. I would be happy to talk to you more about it.

My second son Aidan started breath holding at about 10 months. He would start to cry and I always knew when he was going to do it because there would never be a second cry. He would hold his mouth open and then his body would stiffen & arch, eyes roll back and pass out. He would wake up shortly and be sweaty and dazed. He did it regularly, sometimes more than once a day and we got used to it, just layed him on his side. Then he had a seizure during a breath holding spell and we rushed him to the ER. We had talked to our Dr about it before but the seizure freaked me out, after a second seizure we had all the tests run. They did an EEG while he was sleeping and an echo on his heart and found nothing abnormal. He continued breath holding until he was about 3, although less and less, and eventually just stopped. He's turning 5 this week and his happy and healthy. If she's having seizure like movements most or all the time when she passes out I would definitely have them run some tests, for your peace of mind. It is scary and I had never heard of it until mine started doing it. Hope this helps! Let me know if you want to talk.
J.
PS We tried water and blowing and it didn't work for us. May work for some but not our strong-willed child. :)

One of my daughters would do that when she got mad. She was about 2 and it really freaked me out. Her lips would turn purple and I thought she couldn't breath. Her doc told me that I shouldn't be worried that the worst thing that could happen was she would pass out. She never did but we kept a good eye on her so she didn't get hurt if she did.

Hope this helps calm the nerves.

YES!! It is a very scary thing!! I have two of my five kids that have done this. I have found that started to recognize when a spell was coming on. Usually it was when they were most tired, or when they would get hurt or were extremely upset. Sometimes I would just hold them, and then when they would gasp at the end of the episode, I would just hold and comfort them. The doctors tried to tell me that it was an attention seeking manipulation, but I never did believe it, and every time was scary.

The good news is that they have out grown it (about 4). If I could sense it coming on, or I could see them start to go gray in the face and not breathe, I would gently puff breaths of air into their face, and about half the time, they would gasp, and wouldn't pass out on me.

I don't know if this helped at all, but I just made sure that I let any care given know what happens, so they don't panic, and tell them what to expect. Also I would just try to difuse the situation if I could see it coming on by holding the child, talking to them, and puffing air in their face if they weren't responding.

Good luck. Enjoy those little ones, they grow too fast. (Mom of 5 kids-- ages 11-1)

Hi B.,

My daughter also started to have Breath Holding Spells around the age of one. Her face would turn blue, eyes roll back and she would pass out. Within a few moments she would come too and be a bit dazed, but recover shortly there after. She probably had a total of 10 during that year. The only time it could have been serious was once when she passed out and hit her head on the floor. All other times it happened while I was holding her.

All this to say that she is now five years old and has completely outgrown them. In fact, I don't think she had any after the age of about two.

I know it is EXTREMELY scary at first, but just do your best to be calm and comforting when your child experiences one. I remember my doctor being so casual about it, but in the end he was right and she did outgrow them

I hope that helps!

I know nothing about this condition. But I would be seriously concerned about the passing out and seizures. This is not normal behavior and I would be worried about the loss of brain cells. You need to get a second opinion and take your child to a specialist.

I do not have first hand experience with this, but I'm not sure that breath holding includes seizure. My understanding is that when breath holding, a child passes out, but then recovers. Maybe need to investigate whether she is actually experiencing a seizure disporder that initiates the breath holding. I may not be on the right track, but it is better to look into it now and know what you may be dealing with.

Hey B.!

My son started doing that right before he turned one. The first time is quite scary with the trip to the hospital and then the trip to his doctor the next day, so I can relate. He did this a couple of times over the next few months. I started to see that he only did it when he was really tired and would do anything to make him cry really hard (ie, getting scared or hurt or both). I guess he eventually grew out of it though, he hasn't had a spell in over a year. So good luck!