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January 2014 Moms
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Holding breath and passing out.

crichter18crichter18 member
in January 2014 Moms
Hello, I'm usually on here in the April '15 group but I also had a baby in Jan '14 and thought I'd check it out. I was curious if anyone else has experience with their LO's holding their breath and passing out when they get mad. The first time it happened she was probably 7 months old. I went to pick her up and my ring scratched her, not very hard because there wasn't even a mark. She started crying and then stopped breathing and she started turning blue and got limp. She quickly came to but was totally out of it for a couple seconds after. It was the scariest thing. Of course I talked to her doctor and they said it's normal and she'll grow out of it. Just make sure she doesn't hit anything if she passes out and blow in her face to make her breath. But now I feel like it's out of control. She does it atleast 2 times a day, on a bad day she'll do it like 5 times. She doesn't always "pass out" but she stops breathing and becomes limp and then she'll catch her breath and be out of it for a few seconds. And it's for the silliest reasons, aka putting her down to change her diaper or just putting her down because you don't want to hold her all day. It never gets easier to hold your limp, not breathing baby in your arms and not know what to do. Anybody go through this? Has your doctor told you anything else?
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Re: Holding breath and passing out.

  • amt0312amt0312 member
    Yikes, this is not a habit I'd be ok with happening. Maybe revisit the doctor and see if you can get referred to someone who can help you teach your LO better coping mechanisms? 
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  • amt0312amt0312 member
    Geesh, I just read up on this behavior and it does seem to be a benign behavior according to many health professionals. I honestly would have never guessed....Anyways, I still think a visit to someone who can help teach you and other caregivers ways to not reinforce the behavior and to promote other coping mechanisms is your best bet. 

    I'm sorry you are going through this. How incredibly frightening!
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  • bee1916bee1916 member
    Very scary! I agree with previous posters- talk to your LO's doctor again. 
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  • bensmommy518bensmommy518 member
    There is a baby that does this now where I work and where my kids go to daycare. It is very scary but really is nothing to worry about. It is just how some baby's handle stress or being upset and they do grow out of it. For piece of mind to make sure it is nothing else next te it happens ask for a referral to a neurologist to rule out any seizures but what you describe above doesn't sound like a seizure. You can also have your LOs iron tested because some think there may be a correlation between low iron and it happening more frequently.




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  • holly142holly142 member
    My sister did this when she was about 1-2 years old. However, it didn't happen that often and she did grow out of it. 
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  • MindyBadger1MindyBadger1 member
    I did this when I was young..... My mom still tells me how horrifying it was. Doctors kept giving lots of reassurance. I think I had an EEG to rule out seizures. I eventually outgrew it around age 3, I think. I like to think I turned out OK. ;) And they say your children are 10x worse. God help me.
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  • nolagal79nolagal79 member
    I did this when I was young, but think I was older than 7 months. I'll have to ask my mom. She reminds me of how terrifying it was, but that I eventually outgrew it and was just fine.

    That being said I'd be a basket case with it happening I'm sure!
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  • LittleMommaBlueHenLittleMommaBlueHen member
    DS1 did this.  His pediatrician said although it is abnormal, it isn't uncommon.  She did say in a small percentage of kids with breath holding spells that it is due to anemia so she had us get his iron levels checked.  She said otherwise kids usually grow out of it by age 5 at the latest. DS1 grew out of his around 2 1/2.  It seems to run in my husbands side of the family.  His sister and father both did it as children.

    A side note: We could often prevent DS from passing out by blowing in his face, because it forced him to breathe.

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  • JJMammaJJMamma member
    Thats something I've never heard of before! Its a very scary habit but its really facinating to me how she realized that it probably works and gets your attention (That is if its not an iron deficiency problem or some kind of health issue she can't control of course). I don't have much experience with this, and you probably should get a second opinion like everyone here suggested.

    The question I have is - do you give her what she wants after she does that? maybe try not to enforce it by doing the opposite? Like maybe not reacting too much. Almost like she fell so you casually help her up or just give her some water or splash her face with some cool water and smile like everythings fine and your not worried? You know what I mean? or always keep some water around where you know she may do it and have it ready.

    Whenever my son does this "fake cry" (I know when he does it) I just put some cool water on his face and he right away feels better and forgets what he was crying about.

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  • somewierd_personsomewierd_person member
    How scary. I would do like everyone suggested and get some follow up since it's increased. If not for her to learn anything new then for you to get some guidance into how to not encourage it (I know you're not). I'm sorry that this is even an issue for you to deal with. I have a lo with an intense reaction to things as well and I sympathize that it's difficult to know what to do.
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  • Rebis58Rebis58 member
    I have a friend whose daughter used to do this, and she did grow out of it. The same friend and her twin sister also used to do it. Her doctor told her that it was a normal phase some kids go through.

    She tried not to react in situations that tended to trigger an episode, as her reaction seemed to escalate things. She paid attention to signs that an episode was coming and would try to distract her and make her catch her breath (blowing in her face, telling her to breathe, calling her name, picking her up and holding her close). Another strategy her doctor gave her that sounds weird but was actually the most effective, was to put cold water or ice/snow on her neck. It shocked her into taking a breath and then she would calm down.

    It was scary for her but her daughter came through it with no ill effects.
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  • TiffanyCMU25TiffanyCMU25 member
    I just looked this up and it sounds like what they refer to as breath holding spells that can last for up to a minute and occur in ages 6months to 6years.

    https://www.m.webmd.com/children/tc/breath-holding-spells-topic-overview

    Check out this link it has more info. I'm so sorry you have to go through this! I would be terrified by this if it happened to my child but I'm so glad I now know what it is and what to look for. Hope this info helps!

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  • crichter18crichter18 member
    TiffanyCMU25 said:

    I just looked this up and it sounds like what they refer to as breath holding spells that can last for up to a minute and occur in ages 6months to 6years.

    https://www.m.webmd.com/children/tc/breath-holding-spells-topic-overview

    Check out this link it has more info. I'm so sorry you have to go through this! I would be terrified by this if it happened to my child but I'm so glad I now know what it is and what to look for. Hope this info helps!

    Thank you!! It is very scary and my fear is lack of oxygen causing long term issues. I will definitely read that info!
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