Infant Convulsions

'Infant Convulsions', sounds frightening doesn't it? For those that have ever gone through it I can only imagine how terrifying it must be. Touch wood, neither of my boys have ever had one but I do have close friends that have gone through it. One friend in particular has given me permission to share her story with you today. 


Firstly a little background, what are infant convulsions, or as they are also known, febrile convulsions? These are epileptic type seizures in children usually between the age of 6 months and 6 years. They are caused by high temperatures usually due to viral illness. Often the illness may be something like a cold, throat or urinary tract infection. The good thing about these convulsions is that they are rarely dangerous if first aid management is quickly started. They are not harmful to the child and do not cause brain damage. The Royal Childrens' Hospital state that these type of convulsions occur in 3% of healthy children.


How to recognise an infant convulsion:
- hot and sweaty skin
- lips become blue as may skin
- stiffness to body
- head and back may become arched
- frothing of saliva from the mouth
- eyes may roll
- little one may hold breath
- development of projectile vomiting


What to do:
- protect from danger by removing objects and laying little one on the ground
- turn on side to keep their airway open
- try not to panic
- minimal clothing, only nappy or light layer
- lightly cover with sheet
- seek medical advice


The advice is that if convulsion lasts longer than 5 minutes or one quickly follows another then ring 000 as soon as possible. More information can be found at the Royal Children's Hospital website.

My lovely friend Manda had them as a child and she recalls stories of how scared her Mum had been going through them with her. Amanda now has her own little tribe and has gone through 4 convulsion episodes with her oldest and 2 with her middle little man. She says the first one with her oldest was probably the scariest. Manda is a fellow first aid educator and can recognise the signs and knows the management for infant convulsions. Even with this training and knowledge she still says as a parent convulsions are horrible to watch and very distressing. She says she was a mess after each and every episode. 


When Manda's first born was 10 months old he was suffering from a bad cold. Both her and hubby were up all night with a feverish bub that they had been treating with paracetamol.  Hubby was cuddling the little man on the couch when he screamed to Manda that bub was 'fitting'...the eyes rolled back, there were jerky movements in all of his limbs and he had gone quite grey in colour, and he was also boiling hot to touch. They immediately called 000 and Manda figured he was probably having a febrile convulsion given that he had a temperature. 


Manda says there wasn't really a warning to the convulsion and the doctors told her they are caused by the sudden spike in temperature and not just a high temperature. This little man had 3 other convulsions at 18 months, 20 months and 2 years. Manda didn't go to emergency with the middle two as they only lasted about 30 secs but took him to the doctor the next day (all happened at night). The last one lasted for almost 4 mins though and he was quite blue around the lips by the end of it so they called 000 again. He hasn't had one since, not even with the high temperatures he had when he had pneumonia, so she thinks he might have grown out of them.

Manda's second bub had convulsions but they did not last for as long and the signs were a little different. There wasn't as much jerking of the limbs, but he instead he would go very floppy and unresponsive with his eyes rolling back. Again though, it co-incided with high temperatures. Because of the unresponsiveness they took him to hospital both times.

Acting on instinct Manda placed her little man onto his side in the recovery position while he was convulsing, holding him gently until he stopped. Afterwards he was very agitated and stressed, crying and screaming for about 30 mins before he could be settled. Her second little man would seem to 'come out of it' after a convulsion but then wouldn't respond to his name or touch, which to Manda was a lot scarier.


These experiences have definitely given Manda a certain perspective on life and she feels so very lucky to have three gorgeous little munchkins to keep her entertained! 

What strength Manda and her hubby have shown to deal with these situations, and to positively move forward always thinking it could happen again. Once again makes me realise that everyone has their own stories and problems they are having to deal with in life. I can not thank Manda enough for sharing her experiences. Brings me to tears every time I read her story and amazes me how tough we become as parents. Sometimes we need to trust our instincts, and most importantly remain strong and calm for our little ones. Toughest job I've ever had that's for sure!

~V~