Baby Seizures

I didn't think that I was going to post about this, but it occurred to me that it's possible that someone might read this and be able to benefit from our experiences. (Not that I get a lot of readers, but anyway.)

Two weeks ago, in a twenty-four hour period, Baby Girl had two seizures. Apparently, seizures in babies can be quite common. Sometimes babies her age (6-12 months old) have seizures for no apparent reason and then never have them again. This is comforting to know after the fact, but during the seizure itself, I was almost paralyzed with fear. So, if your baby has a seizure, this is what you should know:

• Lay your baby on her side on the floor where she has space to seize.
• Do not put anything in her mouth... this is an old wives tale.
  
• If at any time during the seizure she has difficulty breathing or her heartbeat becomes irregular, call 911.
  
• Time the seizure... if it lasts longer than 5 minutes, call 911. (Technically, they consider any seizure under 20 minutes to be a short seizure, but you want to have enough time to get her to the hospital.)
  
• Try to get a video recording of the seizure. This part is really hard, but it can be invaluable. Describing an incident to a doctor can be very difficult and you want to make sure that they don't just blow you off since you're an upset parent.
• Of course, notify your child's doctor after the seizure.
• It's not uncommon for children to go into a deep sleep after they seize.
  

You know your child best. When the EMTs arrived after my daughter's first seizure, they told me that it was probably just a choking incident since she was nursing just prior. I wanted to believe them, but I know my child. She's gotten choked up before when she was nursing and that wasn't how she behaved.

For now, we have appointments for an EEG and with a children's neurologist for next month. God willing, these events will not repeat themselves.

Back to knitting content soon...

Take care of your babies!