Toddler tantrums- holding breath

[lo]

I think my 3 year old did this today during a tantrum. She totally lost her shit when I dared to pee alone and closed the door, and started with a standard tantrum in front of my husband. She fell over and then did that silent scream thing, but then she never let out the loud cry. By this time I was out of the bathroom and went over to pick her up because she was still lying on the floor, and she was like looking past me like she didn’t see me and her arms and legs were stiff and she was moving them in an odd way. It freaked me out and I scooped her up and she started crying normally and wasn’t stiff anymore.

I was like, WTF, did she just have a seizure or something?? I did call the doctor and googled when I was waiting for a call back and tread that sometimes it can look like a seizure during episodes of breath holding. The nurse said she might have passed out for a moment, but I don’t think she did. It was probably under a minute from the time she cried and fell over until I was out and picking her up. They said to keep an eye on her overnight but sounds like she is fine.

This was a first for me and I hope the last! Anyone else have experience with this?

[joy]

My niece did this!

They grow out of it - promise!

[jaycee]

Yes this happened to us a handful of times and they were probably the scariest moments of my life. Big brother pulls crayon out of little brother's hand and little one stops breathing. Lays on floor, stiff, turns BLUE, we call 911, husband is just about to start CPR, then he starts breathing. He grew out of it.

These few episodes honest to goodness went into the column of reasons why to not have third child. He is now 10 and I remember them like they were yesterday and always will. I"m sorry that you're dealing with this. One son did this and the other one never did. It probably stopped around age three.

[wanderingback]

Yeah unfortunately some kids do this, but they will grow out of it. Hope it doesn’t happen too much more for you.

[erbear]

My kid used to do this. It scared me at first. She grew out of it.

[expectantsteelerfan]

My daughter did this too. When I was with her when she was in the middle of doing it, blowing air in her face would often get her to stop it and take a breath so that she wouldn't pass out (which she did on occasion). That is my only helpful advice other than hang in there!

[lo]

Thanks, everyone! I knew that toddlers could do this, and apparently my sister in law is pretty famous for holding her breath until she turned purple and passed out.

The eyes wide open but staring at nothing and the seizure-like motions I was not expecting and scared me.

She just turned 3, so fingers crossed she grows out of it soon!!

[countthestars]

My daughter did this too! It seemed to help if we startled her by blowing in her face when it looked like it was going to happen (but of course you aren't always right close). It's scary but normal!

[beerlover]

My DS used to do this too! I'm pretty sure I posted about it here. He grew out of it. I used to do what countthestars posted and blow in his face. It was always a little scary watching his face turn purple and wait for him to breathe, but then he'd finally gasp for air and come out of it. He never passed out or anything though, thankfully.

[janegold]

My kid also passed out once when he was crying after he scraped his knee. Turned gray/blue. It was terrifying.

[meanie]

This sounds like my friends kids, they silent scream/cry and have to be snapped out of it. That must have been scary in the moment though!

[pinkdutchtulips]

I babysat a toddler who did this. His parents were surgeons and warned me ahead of time that he might do that for me one night when I was babysitting. They let him have his tantrum holding his breath. They knew as soon as he passed out, he'd start breathing again on his own. 

If they weren't medical professionals, I would have questioned them. Thankfully, he never did that for me.