Febrile Seizures and How to Deal with Them

My wife and I always worry any time my son starts running a temperature. This is due to the fact that when he was a few months old he had a febrile seizure. It is well over a year and a half since that time, and he has had no more episodes of febrile seizures, but I know that he is not out of the woods yet. This is a subject that causes me a lot of concern so I have been eager to collect information about these febrile convulsions.

Why do infants and young children have febrile seizures?

The exact causes of febrile seizures are unknown. Apparently it can run in families, but this is not the case with my son as neither my wife nor I have anything like this in our background. It is believed to occur due to a rapid change in temperature. A doctor once explained to me that it wasn't so much the high temperature, but more to do with the speed by which the rise in temperature has occurred. This makes sense as my son's temperature has been above 39 degrees Celsius (102 degrees Fahrenheit) and he has had not had a seizure. Having childhood convulsions does not indicate that a child has infant epilepsy.

Children are most at risk of febrile seizures between the ages of six months and five years of age. If they have had on seizure then they will be at risk of having another one and so need to be monitored every time they have a temperature.

What happens during a febrile seizure?

When my son had his seizure he first went rigid and then began making jerking movements; this lasted less than a couple of minutes, but it seemed to last a lot longer. Apparently this is a common sign of a febrile seizure with some children vomiting, drooling, losing consciousness, and rolling their eyes. The seizure can last as long as fifteen minutes.

What to do if a child has a febrile seizure?

The doctor I spoke to about my son claimed that they are usually not too harmful if they only last for a short time period. If they last for longer than a few minutes though, then the child needs to be taken quickly to hospital. Here are some of the recommendations that are given for a child having a seizure;

- Roll the child on their side so that they won't be at risk of choking if they vomit.

- Don't try and restrain them, just keep them safe

- Move hard objects out of their vicinity in case they bang off them

- Loosen babies clothing so it does not restrict them.

- Do not put anything in their mouth, and remove anything that was in their mouth prior to the seizure.

- Check the exact time and keep track of the time throughout the episode

- If the seizure lasts more than a few minutes you should call the emergency services (all children under six months should be brought to hospital and most will need to see a doctor)

- Don't try and cool the baby down while they are having the seizure.

Will my child always have a problem with febrile seizures?

A lot of children will only ever have one seizure, the risk of having another one falls dramatically after five years of age.