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<span style="font-weight: bold">Breath-holding spells are perhaps the most frightening of the common, benign behaviors of childhood</span>. Desperate parents often want to splash cold water on the child's face, start mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, or even begin CPR. Thankfully, breath-holding spells resolve spontaneously soon after the child passes out, and unless the fall hurts the child, she will be fine afterwards. The spell usually resolves within 30 to 60 seconds, with the child catching her breath and starting to cry or scream. Sometimes children will have real seizures as part of breath-holding spells, but these brief seizures are not harmful, and there is no increased risk of the child's developing a seizure disorder.<span style="font-weight: bold"> Breath-holding spells occur in about 0.1 to 5% of children, usually between ages 6 months to 6 years old</span>.
These spells are provoked by the child's not getting her own way. While they are triggered by a child being angry or surprised, they are thought to be reflexive, not intentional behaviors. <span style="font-weight: bold">Breath-holding is quite rare before 6 months of age. It peaks as children enter the twos, and disappears finally by about age five</span>. The spells occur sporadically, but when they do occur, it is not uncommon for there to be several spells within a single day. Once parents have witnessed one breath-holding spell, they can often predict when another one is about to happen.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The first time a spell occurs, the parents should have the child examined by a doctor.</span> Because breath-holding spells do share several features in common with seizure disorders, the two are often confused. In epileptic seizures, a child may turn blue, but it will be during or after the seizure, not before. Rarely, other medical conditions may look like breath-holding spells and a visit to the doctor's will help clarify the situation.
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These spells are provoked by the child's not getting her own way. While they are triggered by a child being angry or surprised, they are thought to be reflexive, not intentional behaviors. <span style="font-weight: bold">Breath-holding is quite rare before 6 months of age. It peaks as children enter the twos, and disappears finally by about age five</span>. The spells occur sporadically, but when they do occur, it is not uncommon for there to be several spells within a single day. Once parents have witnessed one breath-holding spell, they can often predict when another one is about to happen.
<span style="font-weight: bold">The first time a spell occurs, the parents should have the child examined by a doctor.</span> Because breath-holding spells do share several features in common with seizure disorders, the two are often confused. In epileptic seizures, a child may turn blue, but it will be during or after the seizure, not before. Rarely, other medical conditions may look like breath-holding spells and a visit to the doctor's will help clarify the situation.
Source and More Information from Dr Greene dot com
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