Febrile Seizures (occure in 1/20 children under 6!)

Febrile seizures are full-body convulsions caused by high fevers (febrile means "feverish"). They affect kids 6 months to 5 years old, and are most common in toddlers 12 to 18 months old. The seizures typically last for a few minutes and are accompaniedby a fever above 102° Fahrenheit (38.9° Celsius).

Although they can be frightening, febrile seizuresusually stop on their own and don't cause any other health problems. Having one doesn't mean that a child will have epilepsy or brain damage.

About Febrile Seizures


During a febrile seizure, a child's whole body may convulse, shake, and twitch, and he or she may moan or become unconscious. This type of seizure is usually over ina few minutes, but in rare cases can last up to 15 minutes.

Febrile seizures stop on their own, while the fever continues until it is treated. In some cases, kids feel sleepy afterwards; in others, there are no lingering effects.

No one knows why febrile seizures occur, although some evidence suggests that they're linked to certain viruses. Febrile seizures are not considered epilepsy, but a child who has had a febrile seizure has a slightlyincreased risk of developing epilepsy, especially ifthere is a family history.


Treating Febrile Seizures


If your child has a febrile seizure, stay calm and:

• Make sure your child is in a safe place and cannot fall down or hit something hard.
• Lay your child on his or her side to prevent choking.
• Watch for signs of breathing difficulty, including any color change in your child's face.
• If the seizure lasts more than 10 minutes, or your child turns blue, it is probably a more serious type of seizure — call 911 right away.
• 
  

It's also important to know what you should not do during a febrile seizure:

• Do not try to hold or restrain your child.
• Do not put anything in your child's mouth.
• Do not try to give your child fever-reducing medicine.
• Do not try to put your child into cool or lukewarm water to cool off.
• 
  

Again, unless the seizure lasts for more than 10 minutes or your child has trouble breathing, there's no need to rush to the ER.

When the seizure is over, call your doctor for an evaluation. Some kids who have a febrile seizure will have another in the future.

The doctor will examine your child and ask you to describe the seizure. In most cases, no additional treatment is necessary. The doctor may recommend the standard treatment for fevers, which is acetaminophen or ibuprofen. But if your child is under 1 year old, looks very ill, or has other symptoms such as diarrhea or vomiting, the doctor may recommend some testing.

Febrile seizures can be scary to witness but remember that they're fairly common, not usually a symptom of serious illness, and in most cases don't lead to other health problems. If you have any questions or concerns, talk with your doctor.
Reviewed by: Kate M. Cronan, MD
Date reviewed: January 2007

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sick/febrile.html


(Can this be stickied so more parents can be aware of this please??)

Excellent post Sheila. I agree it should be a sticky.

Did you PM Mara and ask?

My son had this a few years ago. scariest thing ever.

i had one at 12 months. this is a very good post!!

I think that's a good idea! (sticky)

Quoting ♥ Megan ♥:“ Excellent post Sheila. I agree it should be a sticky. Did you PM Mara and ask?”

Yes i just did that a few moments ago.....i really want more parents to know about this so they possibly wont be as terrified as i was-----i doubt it but at least they will be well aware of what to do and not to do if it does happen to their child =(

Quoting ~*Emily*~Mommyto3!!!:“ My son had this a few years ago. scariest thing ever.”

My oldest had one a few days ago---and i agree it was the most scariest thing ever (so far)

Quoting ♥sheilalynn♥:“ My oldest had one a few days ago---and i agree it was the most scariest thing ever (so far)”

Bad thing was it was his father's weekend to have him. so i get a call from his father asking for his insurance, so i was like for what?? He said Tre is in the hospital. So by this time im driving like a maniac to the hospital, i get there to see my son hooked up to all these tubes. They didnt know what happened, til hours later. they gave him seizure medicine without my consent. it was scary. we had to later go to a childrens hospital. the bad part was his dad left him with some family friends kids that were 12 and 13 to babysit. Thats when he had the seizure. im so glad they knew what to do.


Im sorry you had to experience it. i tell people all the time make sure u keep fever's down.

Quoting ~*Emily*~Mommyto3!!!:“ Bad thing was it was his father's weekend to have him. so i get a call from his father asking for his ... [snip!] ... im so glad they knew what to do. Im sorry you had to experience it. i tell people all the time make sure u keep fever's down.”

Well the weird part was that he didn't have a fever until after it happend...i mean----he was fine one minute and the next he was having a seizure!

Has your son every had one since then?? I'm so scared i dont ever want to see this again =(

Quoting ♥sheilalynn♥:“ Well the weird part was that he didn't have a fever until after it happend...i mean----he was fine one ... [snip!] ... the next he was having a seizure! Has your son every had one since then?? I'm so scared i dont ever want to see this again =(”

Nope he sure hasnt. i was so freaked out and the doctors were like oh this is normal. im like since when???


Crazy im not for sure if my son had fever before it happened. he was fine when he left with his dad.

Caidence would be one of the children to have one (well actually two in one day)! Sorry for the long post but I shared my story...

...and the day before she was fine, it was June and we were all swimming and having a good time. She sleeps in bed with me and we went to bed like a normal night and about 3 I woke up and she felt alittle hot (but it was EXTREMELY HOT in the house). I took off her pjs and turned on the fan and we went back to sleep. We got up at 8 the next morning and she was really hot, took her temp and it was 101.3. I gave her Tylenol, a popsicle and a cold bath and an hour later it was 103.2. Nothing seemed to work so I called the doctor. He told me to bring her in right away so we did (it was a 45 minute drive). By the time we got there she was wheezing, but was running around acting fine. The minute the doctor saw her he said, I think she's got pneumonia (I was thinking yeah right...in the middle of the summer?). He ordered a chest xray and sure enough - she had chemical pneumonia (not sure what caused it either). He wrote her antibiotics for 10 days and checked her temp - it was 101.4. He gave her more Tylenol and we left. The pharmacy is in the same building so I took Caidence out to put her in the car while Bill, her dad/my husband went to get her antibiotics. My brother, Ryan, was with me and we JUST put her into her carseat and Ryan started to panic. He was sitting up front and looking back at Caidence in theback seat and was like, "Brandi - look at Caidence!". I look at her and her eyes were rolled back and it was the scariest think I have ever seen. I jumped out of the car and grabbed her (which at this time she was crying) and ran back into the building. Bill was coming out with her antibiotics and asked me what was wrong, I told him and we ran down to the doctors office. I took her right to the bathroom to get a cold towel because she was on fire and Bill went to get the doctor. The doctor came right out and took her from me. We went into a room and had about 6 nurses in there with us. Then it happened again when they layed her down on the table and the doctor was yelling to get ice because she was having a seizure! They checked her temp and it was 105.2. (Yeah - in 15 minutes and with another dose of Tylenol it sky rocketed!). She came back to and started crying and one of the nurses moved away from her so I can be with her. They started an iv with ICE COLD saline and called the hospital. They admitted her and the next day she was fine again. She was running the halls and playing with all the toys.

To this day she hasn't had another one. However whenever she's sick Im a nervous reck! I have to get her Tylenol if her temp reaches 99.0 and I have to take her straight to the hospital if it goes above 101.1 since her temp can sky rocket so fast.

Thanks for letting me share! Hopefully NO one of you will have to go through what I had to!

Quoting ~*~Caidence and Gavin's M:“ Caidence would be one of the children to have one (well actually two in one day)! Sorry for the long ... [snip!] ... her temp can sky rocket so fast. Thanks for letting me share! Hopefully NO one of you will have to go through what I had to!”

Wow---thank god you were at the doctors office already! I will be the same way as you are anytime one of my boys feels even a little hot =(
I honestly wanted at least ONE more child but idk anymore because i can't handle this happening =(

This should totally be a sticky! One of my friend's babies has had three of them, he's only ten-months-old! And both times Aiden has had bronchitis his fevers have reached up to 103.9 degrees, it's very scary.   Thank god he hasn't had one though, and I hope he never does.

sticky please!

Sticky please!

My nephew had one on Mother's Day 1998! He was only 9 months old. And it was the scariest thing ever!! He's 11 years old now and it has never happened again, thank God. I was 13 at the time so I don't remember much but I saw the whole thing. He was perfectly fine that day, but he felt hot all of the sudden so we thought it was just a bit of a temperature, but it rose from 101 to 105 in no time. His eyes rolled back, there was drool coming out of his mouth and his face was purple, he could not breath. My mom took him immediately and knew what to do, we then rushed to the hospital there was no time to wait for an ambulance. But by the time we got there he was ok.

Now, every time that my daughter gets a bit of a temperature I go crazy!