How do I stop my child from holding her breath?

Question

My baby girl is 13 months, and holds her breath when she cries, sometimes through temper

Answer 1

Blow gently in her face..... she will gasp and let go, worked every time with my little boy x

Answer 2

As awful as this is going to sound- don't do anything. She can't hold her breath for long before she will have to breathe. The brain will reach a point it will override all else and she'll suck in air. Worse case scenario, some children can hold it until they pass out- still not a problem. As soon as she starts to get fuzzy, she will automatically breath. When she comes back around, usually a moment or so- she will have one whopper of a headache. This kind of behavior is common with small children, and fortunately the cure doesn't require you to do anything. If you don't get excited, and don't react, she will discover it doesn't work and she won't like the headache it causes. She'll stop all by herself. I've raised 6 children, the oldest is 23 and the youngest just turned six. I think all of them did the bit with holding their breath when they got mad- and when it didn't get a reaction from me it stopped pretty quickly. If you really feel you need to do something, suck in a breath yourself, puff out your cheeks and look at her cross-eyed. If she laughs, she'll breathe. If she decides to hollar- she'll still have to breath. And if she chooses to still hold her breath, at least your mind is somewhere else.

Answer 3

My son did this as well as my younger sister. My Mom and I were both given the same advice by different Doctors, let them do it and ignore them. They can not do anyharm to themselves by holding their breath, in the worse case they would pass out and then their body takes over and starts breathing again. My son is now 3 and has not done it since he was about 18 months old

Answer 4

A child holding their breath in a temper is not unusual. Ignore it and she will likely stop doing it when it no longer gets any attention. She will not do any damage to herself. The worse she can do is pass out from lack of oxygen. But, guess what happens when you pass out? You start breathing again and are fine. You won't be able to control this in her, but you can stop her from controlling your reaction.

Answer 5

My son too holds his breath. He is unfortunately one of the worst cases my Peds has ever seen. He has bad asthma which complicates it and the fact that he was a preemie and has CLD. He holds his breath out of anger, or pain, or sometimes for no reason at all, it just happens. He will expell all of his air and turn gray/blue/purple, and eventually will pass out, and sometimes will have a seizure. Most of the time, he will breath on his own, but sometimes I have to rub his sternum to "remind" him to take another breath after the first initial one. It freaks me out everytime and he has done hundreds of them! I hope it stops for you soon. Tomorrow isn't soon enough for me. This has been happening for 14 months now! All I can do is lay him down (while he is thrashing for air) and try to keep the blood flowing to his brain. NOTHING ELSE WORKS for him!
Carrie

Answer 6

My best friends sister did this when she got mad (granted she was older) but the doctor told her mother to make sure she wouldn't hurt herself and let her hold her breath. The worst that would happen is she would pass out and the body would naturally kick in and she would start breathing again. (This was back in the late 70's or early 80's) The last time she did it she passed out in the living room and when she woke up she was on her bed, it freaked her out so bad she never did it again. Pinch her nose lightly and she'll open her mouth to breathe.

Answer 7

I had this with my eldest child and it really scared me at the time she used to do it at least 5 times a week i went to the doctor and they just said let her do it and ignore her because i was panicking every time she did it but then 1 day she did it and passed out for a few seconds i just screamed her name and she came round and never did it again children are very intelligent when they seek attention from the most important person in their world and will go to these lengths to get it because they get a reaction my best advice is make sure the environment she is in is safe don't speak to her when she does it and let it pass she will soon learn she is not going to get a reaction from you and go on to do something else. Don't worry she will out grow this good luck

Answer 8

you cant she holds it 4 attention (they can never have enough ) ive seen my niece do it till she was blue (almost) I FREAKED , my 1st boy held his breath too pedia. said" he is not gonna die or pass out he" even though it seems like we are ,right? so ignore ignore the best cure ! remember shes loving ur reaction , the worst stage 4 me was when my son would stick his finger down his throat untill he gagged all the time eventually puke n once again ignore never givem a reaction after they have repeated themselves cause kids luv momma attention even if they do something bad or negative .they rather hear you scold or astonished ,then not at all she will getover it also if she does it when you leave her site it could be separation anxiety ,each time u walk away from her tell her in a soft voice "I will be back ,or im going 2 the store " she will not only be comforted by your voice but she will like the attention & soon understand what your saying & realize yeah "mom said Something 2 me ,left & now shes back " good luck momma p.s. barneys a gem "who knew? "

Answer 9

Might seem a bit mean but id ignore it (obviously while checking shes ok!) this is a classic attention seeking vice for children my daughter used to go blue but the health visitor said that no child will harm themselves!!! they are too animalistic at that age they go on human instinct so she wont choke, just stop reacting when she does it thats what shes looking foe good luck xxx

Answer 10

Don't do anything. It's harmless. She can't hurt herself by holding her breath. If you're really worried, then distract with something like a loud pop, clap of hands, or blow on her face.

Answer 11

lay her on her back somewhere familiar and cosy don't try handling her - she may not want to be handled. Then distract her with a multitude of fascinating toys and objects - ticking stop watches - fluffy toys -mirrors - squeakers etc. be imaginative and only you know how to make her happy and which objects she is best going to be distracted by- this works for some children but may make others more distressed - play it by ear. I find that my little boy would rather be layed on the floor on his back than be handled when he gets in that mood and he does calm down - but I've tried it with other babies and they don't like it.