Aa
My 10 month old stops breathing at times...
He is and seems perfectly healthy.
But I think maybe on his 6th month he did this I guess you can call spams
where he would stop breathing gasp try for a few seconds then breath again
it usually happens during the day either when he's sitting or laying on his back.
His pediatric said it can be a fit or reflexes but I wont settle for it .
Has anyone experienced something like this ?
idk where to go from here..
should I get further test done ?
But I think maybe on his 6th month he did this I guess you can call spams
where he would stop breathing gasp try for a few seconds then breath again
it usually happens during the day either when he's sitting or laying on his back.
His pediatric said it can be a fit or reflexes but I wont settle for it .
Has anyone experienced something like this ?
idk where to go from here..
should I get further test done ?
A very old physician once gave me some advice. That advice was: "Mother nature never does nuthin' for nuthin' ".
If you have any doubts about the safety of your baby call 911 immediately!
That being said, let's explore a common reason for a baby to suddenly stop respirations for a short period of time.
I mentioned that there are two sensors in each carotid, each sensor measuring oxygen and carbon dioxide. We all know how important oxygen is, but why carbon dioxide?
Well, the human heart functions best with a certain degree of acidity in the blood, measured by the Ph. And the acidity of the blood is controled, curiously enough, by breathing. With every exhalation we "blow off" carbon dioxide.
Remember, we breath in oxygen (and other gases) and breath out carbon dioxide.
So, if the ph sensor tells the brain that the acid-base status of the body is a problem, in adults, the breathing rate generally slows. In babies, this may result in a few seconds of interupted breathing, while the ph corrects itself. The usual method of checking this in adults is a wrist blood draw for arterial blood gases,
As long as there is no cyanois, meaning oxygen deficit, reflected by blue lips or blue fingernails, and the baby is not excessively agitated, the chances are this is a normal method of mainatining homeostasis.
If you have any doubts about the safety of your baby call 911 immediately!
That being said, let's explore a common reason for a baby to suddenly stop respirations for a short period of time.
I mentioned that there are two sensors in each carotid, each sensor measuring oxygen and carbon dioxide. We all know how important oxygen is, but why carbon dioxide?
Well, the human heart functions best with a certain degree of acidity in the blood, measured by the Ph. And the acidity of the blood is controled, curiously enough, by breathing. With every exhalation we "blow off" carbon dioxide.
Remember, we breath in oxygen (and other gases) and breath out carbon dioxide.
So, if the ph sensor tells the brain that the acid-base status of the body is a problem, in adults, the breathing rate generally slows. In babies, this may result in a few seconds of interupted breathing, while the ph corrects itself. The usual method of checking this in adults is a wrist blood draw for arterial blood gases,
As long as there is no cyanois, meaning oxygen deficit, reflected by blue lips or blue fingernails, and the baby is not excessively agitated, the chances are this is a normal method of mainatining homeostasis.
Let me expand a bit on the airway problem with infants. Over the decades I have handled infants with breathing difficulties on at least sixty ocasions.
The reason for the baby lying flat on it's back is to make it possible to perform CPR, but you are NOT performing CPR. You are not performing chest compressions.
So to differentiate:
FLAT for CPR (cardiac compressions)
Angled for simple difficulty breathing.
A baby's head is large and it cannot be allowed to flex back completely.
The baby should be held on it's back and with the head supported so it does NOT flex back all the way (perhaps twenty degrees), with the spine between 45 and sixty degrees from the vertical. The baby can be comforted in this position.
If the babys heart has stopped and there is no pulse than the position is flat on the back, but this is unlikely to be the situation.
If the baby is placed flat on his/her back on a soft surface the head will bend slightly foward and this will cause the tongue to occlude (block) the airway. If not held the infant will become agitated.
I am in favor of the mother holding the baby during all times of breathing difficulty, rather than placing the baby on it's back in a crib. The baby needs assurance and comfort during these times. The baby can be cradled or cuddled. From my experiences holding and comforting the baby is the most important part of the drill. Use your motherly instincts.
Whichever way you hold the baby, hold him/her in a way that you can assess the breathing.
If the lips are blue, don't hesitate to have someone else call 911.
If there is a temporary cessation of breathing long enough for the baby to turn blue, mouth to mouth alone will be sufficient. The baby-ambu bag is a bag that has a mask that can be placed over the baby's mouth to inflate the lungs.
The reason for the baby lying flat on it's back is to make it possible to perform CPR, but you are NOT performing CPR. You are not performing chest compressions.
So to differentiate:
FLAT for CPR (cardiac compressions)
Angled for simple difficulty breathing.
A baby's head is large and it cannot be allowed to flex back completely.
The baby should be held on it's back and with the head supported so it does NOT flex back all the way (perhaps twenty degrees), with the spine between 45 and sixty degrees from the vertical. The baby can be comforted in this position.
If the babys heart has stopped and there is no pulse than the position is flat on the back, but this is unlikely to be the situation.
If the baby is placed flat on his/her back on a soft surface the head will bend slightly foward and this will cause the tongue to occlude (block) the airway. If not held the infant will become agitated.
I am in favor of the mother holding the baby during all times of breathing difficulty, rather than placing the baby on it's back in a crib. The baby needs assurance and comfort during these times. The baby can be cradled or cuddled. From my experiences holding and comforting the baby is the most important part of the drill. Use your motherly instincts.
Whichever way you hold the baby, hold him/her in a way that you can assess the breathing.
If the lips are blue, don't hesitate to have someone else call 911.
If there is a temporary cessation of breathing long enough for the baby to turn blue, mouth to mouth alone will be sufficient. The baby-ambu bag is a bag that has a mask that can be placed over the baby's mouth to inflate the lungs.
I might also add the absolutely wrong thing to do is to "lay the child on it's back" to "protect the child from head injury" (??????????) as recommended by Drsing. This will cause the tongue to oclude the airway and is a recipe for death. It is incorrect advice. This is the sentence that prompted my comment about rhe spaceship.
The infant should be held vertically, and the head held backwards slightly. Be prepared to tilt the infant to clear vomitus from the cheek with your fingers. Do NOT insert your fingers deeply in the mouth unless ABSOLUTELY necessary because you may provoke vomiting that will block the airway.
I would also recommend you attend a CPR course and learn mouth-to-mouth breathing. It is unlikely for you to require this skill, but in this situation it is worthwhile to have.
You also might want to purchase a Laedral infant ambu bag and have your pediatrician show you how to use it.
The infant should be held vertically, and the head held backwards slightly. Be prepared to tilt the infant to clear vomitus from the cheek with your fingers. Do NOT insert your fingers deeply in the mouth unless ABSOLUTELY necessary because you may provoke vomiting that will block the airway.
I would also recommend you attend a CPR course and learn mouth-to-mouth breathing. It is unlikely for you to require this skill, but in this situation it is worthwhile to have.
You also might want to purchase a Laedral infant ambu bag and have your pediatrician show you how to use it.
Thank you Drsing, for your opinion from area fifty-one, strapped in at the controls of the alien spaceship on the holodeck ready to take off on a five-year mission to discover new planets.
The breath holding is very complex, and is not in any way connected with the "child not getting it's own way". Not at that age. I guess that's possible. Berny Madoff was framed, in case you don't know that. That's possible also.
My point is not sarcasm. The child is not doing this to call attention to herself, and the last thing you need at this point is a child psychologist.
Breathing is mediated by two sensors, in the left carotid and the right carotid. Mother nature created two sensors as a back-up for one another. Sort of a redundancy. These sensors measure two gases, carbon dioxide and oxygen. When the sensors register certain values a signal is sent to stop breathing.
The cesation of breathing is often due to malfunctioning signals from these two sensors. It;s a genetic disorder. The problem could be in the sensors or it could be in the part of the brain that does the processing.
So these sensors may be improperly calibrated. You can't do much about that. As soon as values to the brain signal there is a potential life-threatening issue, regular breathing starts again.
During the ages to two years, there appears to be a large number of children whose sensors appear to be slightly out of order, the problem resolving itself as they age.
It is most certainly not a siezure. Do not even mention the word siezure to your pediatrician.
In young children, these sensors may malfunction, and some physicians believe this is the reason for SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome.
There is some good news. Many infants have this problem, and it goes away as mysteriously as it comes as they grow older.
There is another possible reason. Momentary reflux of stomach acid up the esophagus into the trachea. This produces what is called a "larangospasm", which closes the airway for several seconds until it releases. Many drowning victims due without water in their lungs. Mother nature developed a system to seal the trachea whener there is danger of drowning. Even saliva going down the trachea could produce this response.
Fortunately, as muscles develop, this problem tends to go away as the infant grows.
You are going to have to keep a close watch on the child - a little bit closer watch that is usual.
Momtofourboys deserves two hugs and a kiss for her suggestion to videotape the child, which I didn't think of. This file can be sent almost anywhere via the internet for a second opinion. The problem with physicians is they get an overabundance of questions from paranoid moms and dads and it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The important thing is to closely observe the infants fingernails and lips. If they are not turning pale or bluish, you are not having a serious problem. There are devices called pulse oximeters, and there are infant models, ised in pediatric wards. Purchase a pediatric model. As long at the P02 does not drop significantly during these episodes, you don't have much to worry about.
You should get a permanent bound notebook and document these problems., as to time, date and duration. I would suggest a seried of days where the infant is closely watched by a rotating gand of people. It could be over the weekend, for example, with everyone taking a two hour shift. Sort of like a kind of continuous monitering. Have a video camera at hand.
That being said, a pulmonologist is a good idea. The problem with tots is they cannot cooperate with meaningful tests.
To cut to the chase. I have been in an emergency room a large numbers of times when children were brought in by ambulance by frightened parents. In almost one hundred percent of the cases the infant is held for observation, nothing develops and the infant is sent home and lives happily ever after.
I am emotionally torn between telling you "not to worry" and then having something happen, and telling you to "go to general quarters", but in the absence of evidence of hypoxia (lack of oxygen) reflected by blue cheeks, lips and fingernails, I would not worry.
The breath holding is very complex, and is not in any way connected with the "child not getting it's own way". Not at that age. I guess that's possible. Berny Madoff was framed, in case you don't know that. That's possible also.
My point is not sarcasm. The child is not doing this to call attention to herself, and the last thing you need at this point is a child psychologist.
Breathing is mediated by two sensors, in the left carotid and the right carotid. Mother nature created two sensors as a back-up for one another. Sort of a redundancy. These sensors measure two gases, carbon dioxide and oxygen. When the sensors register certain values a signal is sent to stop breathing.
The cesation of breathing is often due to malfunctioning signals from these two sensors. It;s a genetic disorder. The problem could be in the sensors or it could be in the part of the brain that does the processing.
So these sensors may be improperly calibrated. You can't do much about that. As soon as values to the brain signal there is a potential life-threatening issue, regular breathing starts again.
During the ages to two years, there appears to be a large number of children whose sensors appear to be slightly out of order, the problem resolving itself as they age.
It is most certainly not a siezure. Do not even mention the word siezure to your pediatrician.
In young children, these sensors may malfunction, and some physicians believe this is the reason for SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome.
There is some good news. Many infants have this problem, and it goes away as mysteriously as it comes as they grow older.
There is another possible reason. Momentary reflux of stomach acid up the esophagus into the trachea. This produces what is called a "larangospasm", which closes the airway for several seconds until it releases. Many drowning victims due without water in their lungs. Mother nature developed a system to seal the trachea whener there is danger of drowning. Even saliva going down the trachea could produce this response.
Fortunately, as muscles develop, this problem tends to go away as the infant grows.
You are going to have to keep a close watch on the child - a little bit closer watch that is usual.
Momtofourboys deserves two hugs and a kiss for her suggestion to videotape the child, which I didn't think of. This file can be sent almost anywhere via the internet for a second opinion. The problem with physicians is they get an overabundance of questions from paranoid moms and dads and it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.
The important thing is to closely observe the infants fingernails and lips. If they are not turning pale or bluish, you are not having a serious problem. There are devices called pulse oximeters, and there are infant models, ised in pediatric wards. Purchase a pediatric model. As long at the P02 does not drop significantly during these episodes, you don't have much to worry about.
You should get a permanent bound notebook and document these problems., as to time, date and duration. I would suggest a seried of days where the infant is closely watched by a rotating gand of people. It could be over the weekend, for example, with everyone taking a two hour shift. Sort of like a kind of continuous monitering. Have a video camera at hand.
That being said, a pulmonologist is a good idea. The problem with tots is they cannot cooperate with meaningful tests.
To cut to the chase. I have been in an emergency room a large numbers of times when children were brought in by ambulance by frightened parents. In almost one hundred percent of the cases the infant is held for observation, nothing develops and the infant is sent home and lives happily ever after.
I am emotionally torn between telling you "not to worry" and then having something happen, and telling you to "go to general quarters", but in the absence of evidence of hypoxia (lack of oxygen) reflected by blue cheeks, lips and fingernails, I would not worry.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello,
This cessation of holding breath is called breath holding spell. It is quite common in children between the ages of six months and two years. These spells are provoked by the child's not getting her own way.Anemia can be a component of breath holding spells and the child should be evaluated for this.
When it occurs, you should lay your child on his or her back and protect them from head injury and aspiration until recovery occurs. If necessary, you should clear out their mouth and airway to prevent choking.
However, the first spell should definitely be followed by a visit to the pediatrician. Although a breath holding spell doesn’t increase a child’s chance for developing a seizure disorder, epilepsy can sometimes be mistaken for a breath holding spell.
Hope it helps.Take care and regards.
This cessation of holding breath is called breath holding spell. It is quite common in children between the ages of six months and two years. These spells are provoked by the child's not getting her own way.Anemia can be a component of breath holding spells and the child should be evaluated for this.
When it occurs, you should lay your child on his or her back and protect them from head injury and aspiration until recovery occurs. If necessary, you should clear out their mouth and airway to prevent choking.
However, the first spell should definitely be followed by a visit to the pediatrician. Although a breath holding spell doesn’t increase a child’s chance for developing a seizure disorder, epilepsy can sometimes be mistaken for a breath holding spell.
Hope it helps.Take care and regards.
you also might want to post this under the respiratory area if you haven't done so already
michelle
michelle
first of all this is scary when you wee one doesn't breath. I feel he should see a pulmonologist, sine they specialize with breathing issues. IF he doesn't do it all the time TRY to document when he does it I know you say sitting, but how long after a meal first thing in the am only during winter months (i know he 10 months) if you can keep a video camera handy and try that. If he does do it all the time, then they SHOULD see it (trust me not all doctors see what we ant them to see even if it is happening under their noses. Sorry to the doctors out there but I have one doctor that things have happened right underhis nose and he still denies it until now 4 /12 years later)
also if your little man goes to a daycare or is in the care of another peron while this is also happening, have them write something about what they saw the more people to "see it happening" maybe you will get some where.
good luck
michelle
also if your little man goes to a daycare or is in the care of another peron while this is also happening, have them write something about what they saw the more people to "see it happening" maybe you will get some where.
good luck
michelle
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Undiagnosed Symptoms Community
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
In this unique and fascinating report from Missouri Medicine, world-renowned expert Dr. Raymond Moody examines what really happens when we almost die.
Think a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss? Here are five warning signs to watch for.
When it comes to your health, timing is everything
We’ve got a crash course on metabolism basics.
Learn what you can do to avoid ski injury and other common winter sports injury.
