febrile convulsions, my son had one last night?

Question

please someone, i need to know how to stop it happening again. he is only 20 months old, and stopped breathing. we went to the hospital, but doctors are so clinical. and nurses try but don't exactly comfort when all they say is, its normal.

50% of children have them again.

CAN I JUST SAY THANKS TO EVERY ONE WHO HAS ANSWERED THIS ITS REALLY HELPED ME. THE NURSE GAVE ME A USELESS LEAFLET ABOUT THEM WHICH DIDN'T HEP. WITH THE 50% IN IT. I WISH YOU ALL COULD GET BEST ANSWER. THANK YOU AGAIN I HOPE ALL YOUR KIDS ARE HEALTHY AND WISH NOONE WOULD EVER HAVE TO GO THRU IT. E V E R

Answer 1

what an experience, and one I NEVER want to go through again!
My son was 13 months, and my husband and I went away for a long weekend and left our son with my parents. Monday we were picking our son up and visiting with my parents for a while, and our son spike a fever so fast! we had no idea what to do, being first time parents and he had never had a fever before. So with it being cold we bundled him up, just as we were leaving the house he flipped back in my arms and went into convulsions.... now we were in the country and it took the ambulance a while to get to us, it seemed forever that my son was lying helplessly on the floor convulsing and seizing up. After a couple hours he came around and I cryed and cryed!

Now what I have learned is, there aren't any long term affects from febrile seizures, they are just horrible and scary, and if my son has a slight fever I medicate him, because he does spike quickly.

To answer your question ... a nurse told me to avoid fevers spiking so high to give our son Advil (which is good for 6-8 hours) and then 5 hours later Tylenol (which is good for 4-6 hours) and then 3 hours give Advil.
So Advil at say 12 then at 5 Tylenol then at 8 Advil because they have different meds your child wont overdose, but it will avoid the time frame that your child is most likely to spike. I have mentioned this to a few other medical people and they agreed this is the best way. Trust me when I say this knowledge has been a blessing! OH and strip them down to nothing but their diaper, don't bundle them up like we stupidly did! Another thing we have done is put them in a luke warm bath, it brings the fever down away from danger until the meds can help out. NOT a cold bath.

I do hope this helps you as it has us, its so scary and I still get flashbacks of that afternoon whenever my son gets a fever he is 23 months old now and it hasn't happened again, I'm not sure where you got the stat of 50% of children have then again, but of the medical people I have spoke to no one has ever told me that.

Answer 2

I really feel for you because it is the most frightening thing. My baby had one when she was 5 1/2 months old. She stayed in hospital overnight, but only because she was under 6 months old or I would have been packed off home with a "don't worry, she''l be fine".

Luckily, we haven't had one since then because I have been obsessive about monitoring fevers and her temperature. The hospital told me to never withhold pain or fever relief from a child that has had a febrile fit. The best way of managing high temperatures is to strip baby off and sponge him down with a sponge dipped in tepid (not cold) water. In addition, you can alternate baby paracetamol and baby nurofen (at the correct dose for your child). You give paracetamol first, followed by Nurofen 2 hours later, 2 hours later the next dose of paracetamol, then 2 hours later Nurofen etc until the fever is under control.

I know it is very frightening. Please don't worry - the chances are that your son won't have any more. If you want to take even more control, why don't you do a baby first aid course? The St Johns ambulance run some very good ones and they're cheap to do too. That way you'll feel much more prepared if another situation like this arises in the future.

Answer 3

My daughter had ten total over the years. We used to take her to the hospital but all they say is "We can't do anything but control the fever." That is all you can do. The thing is, it isn't how high the fever gets it is how quickly it gets there. Sometimes the seizure is the first sign of being sick. With her, at the first sign of fever we gave her Motrin. Make sure you alternate Motrin and Tylenol every three hours (even middle of the night) so the fever doesn't have a chance to come back up. I know it is of little comfort, but these seizures rarely do any harm and the do outgrow them. My daughter's fifth birthday was a real blessing - they are almost unheard of after 5- and she hasn't had one for a year. Another thing to note, since the seizure can be the first sign of illness, take extra care that the child isn never left unattended in the bath or anything like that. Good luck and God bless!

Answer 4

I know exactly how you feel my 12 month old had 1 2 weeks ago ended up being in hospital for 5 days with a bad infection He had another in hospital and it is very frightening to see your child like this. They are caused by a spike in temperature so it doesnt have to be a really high temp just a temp that raises quickly i was told to calpol at the first sign of a tempreture then if it doesnt come down give some ibruprofen and keep a close eye. hope this helps

Answer 5

There is no way of stopping a febrile convulsion happening, they are genetically predetermined however as your son becomes older the chances of him having another diminishes. However as long as your son recovers quickly to a normal state of health soon after the seizure there is nothing to worry about and an infection of the central nervous system can be ruled out.

Answer 6

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE consult a homoeopath. I suspect there'll be some thumbs down to this one - there always is where homoeopathy is concerned. But the fact is it's an extremely effective way of dealing with the acute situation should it occur again but also with some constitutional treatment, susceptability can be reduced. If your son does have another attack - keep calm if you can (difficult I know) strip him off & sponge him with some tepid water to reduce his temperature. Yes, they are very common in young children but I treat many kids who have had these & the vast majority do not have them again but those that do, come out of the febrile convulsion really quickly. I was a nurse for 21 years before I became a homoeopath & the therapy that I treat with now is WONDERFUL - gentle & effective. You need to consult a registered practitioner - you'll find them on the Society of Homeopaths website. I guarantee, you'll never look back, as far as our sons health care is concerned. Good luck & I'm sorry you had this experience - but you can prevent it happening again. Best wishes

Answer 7

My daughter had these, she started at 2yrs old. It was really scary and I`m a trained Nursery nurse.
Our doctor was great, and helped us through.
Her temp. would go up for no reason and if not checked she would convulse. We learned to watch for the signs--flushed skin, tired eyes, grizzly. We then used to take her clothes off down to her nappy and gently sponge her with tepid water. if this didn`t work we gave calpol and repeated the sponging making sure she didn`t get a chill. Usually we could avert the convulsion. On the odd occasion when we failed it was a case of turning her on her side to protect her airway and once the convulsion was over lots of love and reassurance.
She is now a lovely young lady with no problems at all.
If you are still worried contact your health visitor who will reassure you.

Answer 8

my son got one at 12 months and never got one ever again he's 18 now.
it was because he got an ear infection and his temperature rose i was 18 living with my parents back then so i'll admit i was clueless but then my mother didn't know any better either calpol or other childrens medicine would've helped keep his temperature down and maybe prevented ,i still hate the fact it happened although he has been ok ever since.
your's sounds way scarey than mine but hopefully he will be ok and make sure the doctors give you all the info you need

Answer 9

I think these convulsions have somethink to do with body tempreture or an infection. You should turn the childs head gently to the side to stop them choking. Visit your doctor for reassurance. A lot of children suffer this.

Answer 10

yeah I had them, notice it makes a person retarded, just look at me. 2 of my boys had them, it's inherited they think and my experience would lead me to believe so. the trick is, don't let a fever get too high, at the daycare, he got a fever one day, they let it go and when it got high enough for someone to notice, he was on the floor kicking, jerking and looking like an epileptic. fever is what induces the seizure. give the child tylenol as soon as the fever comes on, he will outgrow it someday. I think I have, I think that 50% is a little high, maybe 20 %. it sure scared the crap out of the women at the daycare. if the child started to look a little red, they were on the phone to us. which we would go over and make sure he got an anti-pyretic ( fever reducer, any one will do).