by Anne Stone

Created on: June 11, 2009   Last Updated: June 20, 2009

It was a lovely sunny day and I'd been playing with the girls in the garden, my youngest daughter, 22 months, had been a little poorly with an upset stomach, but it wasn't causing her too much trouble and we had still had a fun day. It was getting late and time for a bath before bed. I was helping my 3 year old undress when I turned to look at my little girl and she was just standing there turning blue around the mouth.

I called to my husband that she was not breathing and he came straight away, I'd picked her up but she was stiff. Our first instincts were that she was choking and her dad tipped her up and slapped her back. Suddenly she went limp and floppy and we both really feared that she was no longer alive. I held her, willing her to breath while my husband called an ambulance. It seemed like a lifetime but in reality it had all happened in just a few minutes. Suddenly she let out a little moan and I realised that she was still alive.

I had no idea what was happening or what to do, so I just held her and prayed that she would be ok. The quick response ambulance man was at the house within a few minutes, one of the benefits of living close to a hospital, and he quickly put on an oxygen mask. He then took her temperature, took some blood and put on a heart monitor. He assured us that he thought she was fine, that she was breathing ok but had a slightly high temperature.

We took her to hospital in the ambulance and during the journey she woke up. She was still unresponsive for a while but eventually she was back to normal. Within an hour she it was as if nothing had happened.

She was given further tests at the hospital and her sats were taken regularly. Eventually it was explained to us that she had experienced a febrile convulsion and was now perfectly well again.

Febrile convulsions are very common and mostly harmless. They occur during illness, or when a child has a high temperature. Febrile means concerning temperature. Once a child has experienced a convulsion there is a 1 in 4 chance that it may happen again. Some children will experience fitting, shaking and foaming at the mouth. This is not necessarily related to epilepsy, although it may be if there is a history of family epilepsy.

My daughter did not fit, she just went completely stiff until she fell unconscious. Once unconscious the child is breathing again, although it is usually so shallow it will appear as though they are not breathing. Febrile convulsions are not dangerous unless they occur frequently or last for longer than 5 minutes. The first time your child has a febrile convulsion they will be usually be taken to hospital. If it happens again it is wise to consult your GP so they can investigate whether there is an underlying illness causing frequent convulsions.

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