Convulsions in an infant may appear during feeding, after waking up, when falling asleep or during sleep. Whatever causes your baby's seizures, stay calm and give your baby first aid. After that, you should see a doctor as soon as possible, as even brief, mild seizures can be a symptom of a serious illness. Find out what causes your baby's seizures and what to do if they occur.

Convulsions in an infantare involuntary, rapid, rhythmic muscle contractions. They may be accompanied bysymptoms , such as short-term loss of consciousness, eyeballing, and rapid breathing. Disturbing symptoms may also appear before and after the convulsions have stopped, such as crying, sleepiness or muscle laxity. About 3 percent in infants and children, the seizure is caused by fever (also called febrile seizures). In the remaining , the causes ofseizures are various diseases that usually affect the nervous system. Seizures in an infant must be distinguished from tremors. The tremors begin by three months of age, resolve when held down (as opposed to convulsions), and are characterized by a lack of eye movement (which occurs during seizures).

Infant seizures with fever

Febrile seizures are an incident of seizures that occur in 3-4 percent of children between 6 months and 5 years old. They are accompanied by an increased body temperature and they are not the result of an acute disease of the nervous system.

Simple febrile seizures (typical) are characterized by an attack of generalized seizures, which means that they affect the entire body and are associated with complete loss of consciousness. They last less than 15 minutes, usually 2-3 minutes, and are not repeated within 24 hours of a febrile illness.

Complex febrile seizures proceed without complete loss of consciousness at the beginning of the attack, and only with the disturbance of the child's consciousness (no logical contact with the child, no visual or motor reaction of the child to commands). Convulsions cover one half of the body, sometimes limited to one limb (arms, legs), cheek, corner of the mouth, eyelids. They last 15 minutes and longer. They are repeated within 24 hours during the course of a febrile illness.

Important

Convulsions in an infant - what to do?

First of all, don't panic! Place your baby in a comfortable position and check for breathing problems. Move any objects that could hit it away from him.

Convulsions in infants - other causes

Convulsions in an infant that appear when falling asleep, during sleep, after waking up or during feeding may indicate:

  • perinatal injuries - brain hypoxia, intracranial bleeding
  • epilepsy - this can occur already in infancy, taking the form of the so-called West's team. It most often occurs between 3 and 9 months of age. The seizures can take the form of sudden contractions, in which the baby suddenly bends in two, bringing the baby's legs to the abdomen. Associated symptoms are baby restlessness, screaming, pale or red face, drooling, sweating and retching. The so-called West's syndrome is easily confused with intestinal colic

Convulsions occurring up to the third day after childbirth are in most cases associated with hypoxia and trauma. Convulsions between 3 and 8 days of age are most often associated with metabolic disorders.

  • tumor (primary tumor of the central nervous system or tumor that is metastatic to the central nervous system)
  • meningitis - high fever appears, the temperature can reach 40 degrees Celsius, chills, stiff neck, pain in muscles and joints, headache and neck pain, nausea, vomiting
  • central nervous system injury
  • drug withdrawal syndrome (e.g. heroin, barbiturates), chronic maternal nicotinism
  • congenital metabolic defects, e.g. maple syrup disease
  • Metabolic disorders, e.g.

- hypoglycemia (hypoglycemia) - hypoglycemic convulsions may be associated, among others, with with premature labor, with intrauterine dystrophy, with mother's diabetes, with glucose malabsorption, with infection, with genetically determined metabolic disorders (e.g. galactosemia)

- hypocalcemia (calcium deficiency in the blood) - usually manifests itself around the 3rd day of life in the form of convulsions with apnea intensifying under the influence of external stimuli. This disorder occurs in children of mothers with diabetes, in premature babies, in children with intracranial bleeding and brain hypoxia

- hyponatremia (sodium deficiency) - most often associated with an excessive intake of sodium-deprived fluids with insufficient secretion of vasopressin (ADH), may lead to brain edema and seizures. This situation will happenmaybe in meningitis or intracerebral bleeding

Don't do that

Do not put anything in the child's mouth during a seizure (he may choke). Also, do not give any oral medications or drinks.

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