My 1 yr old holds his breath untill he goes stiff and passes out.

[mixinitup]

Well as the title says my nearly 1 year old has been holding his breath, you know how they go to cry but can't get air back into their lungs to let it out? Well he does that untill he arches his back and goes stiff then passes out, goes all limp and quietly comes back awake. He's been doing this since he was about 4 months old, sometimes he does it if he's hurt himself but more so if he does it when he doesn't get what he wants IYKWIM. Just if I take something off of him I think is dangerous or if I put him down to do something and he wants to be held.
Anyway I guess I would like to know if anyone else has had this with any of their kids? If so what did you do about it to help them through it and try to stop it?
My first son also did this but only when he hurt himself and spoke to my GP about it and she seemed to think it was just his brain telling his body to shut down because he couldn't bear the pain, she said he would probably have it for life but he grew out of it about 18 months old. She also said older kids do it as a sort of tantrum but she had never heard about under 12 month old doing it...
I will be taking my youngest in for his 12 month check up next week and be mentioning whats been happening to get his opinion on it but would also like to know anyone elses experience with this sort of thing. It's not nice to watch him go through this and I feel helpless :( I just hold him and talk soothingly to him untill he comes out of it and is feeling better.

[mixinitup]

Bump:)

[Linda01]

My ds doesnt do this til he passes out but I know what you mean and I still worry. My mil suggested blowing in his face to get him to breath and it works for my ds anyway. Good luck :wave:

[mixinitup]

yes blowing in my eldest son's face did work but not for bubs, thanx for your input tho. :)

[Lemmings]

I dont know an awful lot about this but my friends bubba does this. She started about 4 months. apparently according to her doctor is quite common and can range from 4months to 5 years old. they usually grow out of it by about 18 months. the doc told her it wont cause any damage to bub and is usually a sign of frustration. The blowing in the face thing was recommended for her.

Not much help I know but just wanted to let you know its very common apparently

[Skibunny]

My cousin used to do it at 1-2 years old. She'd hold her breath and turn quite blue before sort of swooning and then coming back. We were all worried she had epilepsy. Turns out that it was just attention seeking because her brother has epilepsy and she wanted to imitate him to an extent.

Four months sound awfully young for anything like that though. People do take prolonged gasps of air, but not normally so long as to notice any cyanosis. Paediatrician? Hope he's okay

[mixinitup]

Thanks homestar, I'm hoping that he will grow out of it, but will definetly be mentioning it to his GP next week and yes Skibunny I think a paediatrician is a good idea. My sister seems to think it could be doing damage to his brain by suffering lack of oxygen when he passes out.I'm not too sure about this but it will be good to know either way. She has never seen a baby do it before and was over on the weekend and saw him and is very concerned which has me a bit worried now too. I would hate to think I've been doing damage to my baby all this time assuming that it was a fairly common reaction in some babies.

[iMischa]

how scary for you! my brother did this if anyone other than my mum held him, he stopped at around 18months. he's now a strapping 17 yr old who is still a pain in the bum!

[Lil M]

My friends bub did this & they took him to hospital, here's the link to the info the hospital gave her:

http://www.chw.edu.au/parents/factsheets/breathj.htm

[mixinitup]

thanx iMischa good to know your brother fine now, even if he is still a pain in the bum,lol. That info sheet is great thanx heaps Lil M.

[DanceInTheRain]

My bestie's DS did this, from around the same age (4 months). He's nearly 2 and I'm fairly sure he hasn't done it in a while. Apparently the doctors told her it was 'normal' too- nothing normal to me about your child passing out and going blue in the face, but at least you know it's sort of common.

[trishalishous]

my little sister did this, but didnt start until round 1 years, and stopped by 2