Has your LO ever passed out from holding their breath??

[phillmolly]

My son is 18 months old and ever since he was born, when he is crying when he is angry he will hold his breath, you know that silent cry thing that babies do. Anyways he will sometimes hold his breath long enough that he will start to turn blue! I asked the Dr. about it and he said that not to worry about it, if he does pass out, he will start breathing again! I have five younger brotheres and sisters, the youngest is 17 yrs younger than me, several nieces and nephews and my son is the only child I know of that does this! The madder he is, the longer he will hold his breath. So I am just wondering if anyone else has a child that does this and any advice? TIA!

 

[MichelleVW]

Blow in his face...it will make him breathe. I work in the infant room at a daycare and that's what we do!

 

[My5Mouseketeers]

My son is 18 months old and ever since he was born, when he is crying when he is angry he will hold his breath, you know that silent cry thing that babies do. Anyways he will sometimes hold his breath long enough that he will start to turn blue! I asked the Dr. about it and he said that not to worry about it, if he does pass out, he will start breathing again! I have five younger brotheres and sisters, the youngest is 17 yrs younger than me, several nieces and nephews and my son is the only child I know of that does this! The madder he is, the longer he will hold his breath. So I am just wondering if anyone else has a child that does this and any advice? TIA!

Mom of 5 here. Every one of my kids has acted out, reacted to things differently. I have heard that they can not hurt themselves by holding their breath. Are you giving him a reaction when he does this? trying to get him to stop? I would just totally ignore the fact that he is holding his breath. Once it is ignored he will probably stop doing it.

He can't hurt himself by doing this.

 

[disneydreamerbelle]

My neighbors LO does the same thing. Their Dr. said while it is not the norm there are many kids that do this.

 

[barnaby1]

It is a common power play method from children. Ignore him and walk away when he does it (make sure he knows you are not remotely bothered by his little episode which is of course easier said than done!). If he passes out he will start breathing. Giving him no attention and the tactic will stop fairly quickly.

 

[KY*Figment]

Blow in his face...it will make him breathe. I work in the infant room at a daycare and that's what we do!

That's what my pediatrician recommended to a friend of mine that had not one, not two, not three but four kids that did it.

 

[babystar]

My DD did this from a very young age. I was reassured that they cannot do any harm to themselves!

I was told that when they come round (my daughter was completely floppy, eyes rolling etc) to give her a big cuddle and reassure her. I can imagine it is quite scary for them aswell at that stage!

That worked a treat for us! I did not like blowing on her face as it really seemed to distress her even more.

Please dont worry, I spent at least the first 10 times she did it in tears thinking she was just not going to start breathing again - pretty much as soon as I had got myself and the situation in control she slowly stopped doing it.

 

[kellyg403]

Ugh..my db used to do this to my mom. It was scarey!!! But, she got the same advice, if he did pass out he would start to breath on his own again. It was hard to let it happen, but once she did, he stopped doing it!

Good Luck!

 

[lovetoscrap]

I was in a playgroup when my oldest was young and one of the boys was "breath-holder". As others have said, they start breathing when they pass out. I never heard that it was a power thing, but just a different physical response to the stress that was causing them to cry. I don't think they have any control over it.

BUT, it can be dangerous if they are in an unsafe place when they pass out. For instance we were at a park one day and her son was climbing up the ladder to a slide (the old fashioned kind-- tall slide with a ladder straight up) and there were other children behind him. He got about half way up and got scared and upset and started crying. His Mom took off running as soon as she noticed and was able to catch him just in time as he passed out. So you do need to be vigilant that they are not in an unsafe position, like sitting on a bar stool over a tile floor, or climbing up on something, near water etc...

 

[Fiona248]

Check out the website related to STARS.org.uk (I can't put in the whole link....just a newbie!) This site is dedicated to a syndrome called Reflex Anoxic Seizures which our daughter suffered from 8months to 3 years. Sometimes children become floppy and have seizures because they have had a sudden shock or pain and their heart rate drops but then comes back very quickly. It is very common and makes life a lot easier to have this diagnosis if it is the case. Good luck

 

[gulf breeze]

I had a cousin that would do this and the Dr. told his mom the same thing, ignore him! Which she didn't/couldn't, she'd freak out big time ! He did this for a while ...then one day I overheard him tell his brother "if you don't give me that I'm going to hold my breath!" Well when I told his mom that...the next time he did it she was able to ignore him and down he went. I think that was the last time he did it. Course he moved on to some other drama I'm sure

 

[Cibahwewah]

It's called "breath-holding spells."

 

[phillmolly]

Thanks for all your replies!! and great advice.

 

[2binak]

I'm not recommending anyone do this...

I had a nephew who held his breath quite a bit as a child. My mother got so freaked out one day that when she realized screaming "Breathe, breathe, breathe" wasn't working, she grabbed her glass of water and tossed it in my nephew's face. It was the last time he ever held his breath like that.

 

[pwnort64]

My son did this to me when he was younger.

The doctor told me that he could not harm himself (as long as he had a safe place to fall). She also noted that the more attention I gave to the behavior, the more likely it was to continue. She recommended that I try and stay very neutral. (Much easier said than done.)

Usually, I was already holding him when this happened. I usually did speak softly to him and many times blew in his face. But I got to the point that I could just hold him until it passed. Usually, whenever he "woke up", he was totally over whatever had upset him in the first place. And I NEVER gave in to whatever it was he wanted as that would have taught him that this behavior was effective.

I will say that while I learned to deal with it, it freaked me out EVERY time it happened. The trick was not to let him see how freaked out I was.

 

[Srackangast]

I use to keep my nephew when he was a baby. He did this all the time for a while. I would just hold him so he wouldn't get hurt. He grew out of it quickly. I think partly he could not help it once his tantrum got good and going. Now, the tantrum part he could help and eventually did. He is a great kid but can still get really mad