Febrile Convulsions - Have your kids ever had one?
By Tanika
@Tanika (632)
Australia
February 23, 2007 8:30am CST
Heya, About 6 months ago my daughter had a febrile convulsion. It was terrifying, she went into a trance, then went blue and limp then started convulsing.
I called an ambulance and was told that febrile convulsions, whilst scary usually do no damage to the child and happen to about 3 percent of the population. They are caused by a sudden rise in body temperature.
Has this ever happened to anyone on here's children?
My daughter has the flu at the moment and she has a high fever. I am making sure she has paracetamol every four hours to keep her fever down even though I really do not like dosing her up with drugs. If a child has a febrile convulsion in the first three years of their life the risk of them having another one is raised significantly with subsequent fevers. If they make it to three without having had one it is extremely unlikely that they will ever have one. Unfortunately for us my daughter had hers about a month before her third birthday.
Please tell me if your kids ever had one of these as I have never met anyone else and its so scary. I'd really appreciate knowing that I am not alone in this. Thanks in advance, Tanika.
2 people like this
11 responses
@ItTakesAllSorts (4096)
•
24 Feb 07
When my son was 8 months old I went to wake him and he was sitting up in his cot but looked really dazed and floppy. I picked him up and he was so limp and vacant.
I didn't know what to do, so I called the doctors. They advised me to get him to hospital and we went straightaway.
He ended up having a lumber puncture to test for meningitus, but luckily he was fine.
They found he had a kidney infection and we spent 4 days in hospital. He was on medication for a few months. It was a very scary experience and I know how you must feel
I was on tenderhooks for months afterwards expecting it to happen again, but touch wood it never did.
If you are really worried you should go to the doctors again but if she has not had another one she should be alright.
I knew a boy who used to have them regulary and he was under the hospital for it. However, he is fine now, so please don't worry, it may have just been because her temperature rose so high.
Giving paracetamol will not harm her if you stick to the correct dose.
Try not to worry although it is easier said than done. My thoughts are with you!!
1 person likes this
@alindahaw (1219)
• Philippines
24 Feb 07
Hello! I don't think its really that bad. My brother suffered from febrile convulsion when he was young and my mom said it never did come back at all. If ever your daughter has high fever, give her plenty of fluids. If her temperature is really high, a sponge bath would be good.
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@caraj444 (1075)
• Canada
23 Feb 07
Wow that would be so scary, i tend to overreact with my kids so that would definetly scare me, ive read about them in my childcare books but have never experienced them firsthand. It sounds like they grow out of them though from reading through others responses. The best thing for you to do is probably read up about the convulsions as much as you can, i always feel better when i have as much information as possible about what im dealing with. Good luck with everything and i hope you dont have to go through the same thing again
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@imsilver (1665)
• Canada
23 Feb 07
Do you mean feveral convulsions? That's what my daughter was prone to when she was younger. She had 2 convulsions at different times because her temperature spiked when she was sick. She's 7 now and has outgrown it. Thankfully. It was probably the scariest thing I've been through.
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@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
24 Feb 07
Yes, it is very scary. But as they told you, they don't usually do any damage. My niece had them. whenever she had a cold, or a small infection her temperature would sky rocket and she had quite a few times where she convulsed. The doctor told my sister that a bath in lukewarm water, or just bathe her with a cloth with lukewarm water would help bring the temperature down until the medication worked. But not cold or hot water, just warm. I remember us putting the cloth over her arms and legs and it would become so hot fast, it was scary, but we think this advice helped prevent more convulsions.
My husband's sister also had convulsions when she was a baby, and I remember my mother in law really scaring me when my kids were babies. Thankfully the never had it.
SO my friend, you are not alone. IT's actually more common that what it looks, specially because babies bodies don't regulate the temperature too well, that's why they talk about the three year mark, when it starts maturing and they have better control of body temperature.
A big hug to you
@Lirio29 (24)
• Philippines
24 Feb 07
You are not alone, my 1st born son had it when he was 1 year old, now his 4 years old and into phenobarbital. From his first fever convulsion Thank God no attack had occured since then, don't worry lets just pray to GOD that our kids will grow up as normal and loving person.
@limosonia1 (1559)
• United States
23 Feb 07
A friend of mines child had them when he was little but it has gotten a lot better and very rarely happens now. He is 10. They did recommend for her to do certain things to prevent them. Like if they ran a fever or slight temp have the child take a luck warm bath to bring it down. Also if they got sick to do the q4 and q6 to insure that the fever never got anywhere. You should ask your pedatrician what he recommends as far as medicine to keep fevers at bay. My prayers are with you and your daughter.
@kathy77 (7486)
• Australia
23 Feb 07
Oh yes I have here of this Tanika, although my children never suffered any of this but to keep your daughters temperature down is to keep bathing her with a cool cloth, every 2-3 hours I did this many times and saved my daugthters life and also from having one of these fits that is what the hospital told me. So I hope that this helps you and your daughter, as it is very scary going through all of this and wondering if our children will be ok.
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@Married2aMarine (1273)
• United States
23 Feb 07
You are not alone. One of the kids on my son's playgroup has it. He's a little over 2 and just had one again not too long ago. Yes, it's very scary and he's been to the hospital a few times in an ambulance because of this. He's ok now but it's just a case or never know if or when he will get another attack.
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@TriciaW (2441)
• United States
23 Feb 07
My niece had them a lot when she was little. My sister really had to watch her with fevers. I believe she stared at 1 year old. She is now in college and doing just fine. She does not get them now that she is an adult. I would ask your doctor for more information and what you need to be doing when she gets a fever. Also make sure to ask when you need to take her to the hospital. I know my niece was taken to ER on a number of occasions after she had them. A peditrician would be the best doctor to have her seeing because they deal directly with children.
@lyzzard (16)
• United States
23 Feb 07
My son had his first one just after his first birthday. Scared the daylights out of me. He had another one about four months later. The doctor told me that this does not usually go past the age of 7. He is now 7 and had only those two episodes when he was a year old. The thing is with the children who have this is that it is very hard to control their temps with childrens tylenol, advil or motrin, or so I was told. His doctor recommended a medicine called Fever All. It worked wonders. His fever would be down in all of 15 minutes. You should ask your doctor about it. Best of luck to you and your littlt one!
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