My son had a febrile seizure tonight

[dadadadadabatmum]

It has shaken me up so much, it really scared me. We went to hospital and he has tonsillitis which caused his fever. We are home now, and he started to have another one not so long ago even though he had taken neurofen, I had the windows open, and it's v cool in the room and DS felt cool to touch

I feel so worried I will just stay awake next to him now, can't get it out of my head and so terrified it will happen again

I'd stay up and watch him too TBH. It's lonely doing it alone isn't it?

What did they advise you at the hospital about further seizures?

My ds had these until he was 2.5. it made relatively minor illnesses very stressful so I understand your worry. However they are actually harmless and the body's way of dealing with the temperature. Our Dr told us it's about how quickly the temperature rises rather than the high temperature itself. They are not linked to epilepsy or other long term conditions.
I found I could minimise them by alternating ibuprofen and paracetamol during illness but the first dose of both would be at similar times to each other. Also taking ds for a walk in the pushchair to cool him off had the biggest effect (his were generally at night).
Ds had them when he was 1 but they became much less frequent by 2 yrs and his last one was at 2.5 yrs old.

My DD had these from around 10 months to about 3 years old. They are so scary to watch!

The first time it happened, she was taken to hospital. They kept her in for about 5 hours and she was very sleepy for the rest of the day.

She had one at nursery about 2.5 years old. I had warned the nursery she would fit if she got too hot, but I don't think the staff had ever witnessed one before. One minute I had a call asking if they could give her Calpol, the next a panicked call she was fitting and they had called an ambulance.

The first sign of a temperature, I would strip her off and put her in front of a fan, with alternate doses of Calpol and Nurofen. Many nights I sat up with her as her temperature went over 41, sometimes ending up with an early hours trip to A&E.

She out grew them between 3 and 4 years old, and is rarely ill now.

Your DS will also be fine, and they usually outgrown them by 5 years old when they can regulate their temperature better x

I didn't realise how common they were until I did some reading up today, but it doesn't make it any easier to see!

Do you think I should have DS in my bed again tonight or put him in his cot? I'm worried it might happen in the night and me not be there with him if he is in his cot, but also I know it's the coolest place and where he is likely to get most sleep

Sorry to hear about your son. I think I would be tempted to put him in his cot as I would be worried about him being in my bed and me making him too hot. Could you stay in his room with him? I drag my daughters old cot mattress into her room to sleep on the floor when needed (or just a big old pile of cushions and blankets), it’s way too short but is comfortable enough to get to sleep on. Hope you have a better night.

I would have him in bed with me I think, but follow safe co sleeping practices such as his own sheet and no pillow etc. You wear sleeves or a hoodie and just have the quilt over your legs or a blanket as well.

My dd now 14 had a febrile seizure at 2 and then regularly spiked some horrendous temps, 41s for a minor virus etc. She never had another one but it's very worrying when it happens.

And I really don't want to alarm you or worry you unnecessarily but my niece also had febrile seizures from being about 12 months old. Everytime she got ill she would have a seizure. She has since been diagnosed with epilepsy and is currently doing really well on meds. However she did have some very big, serious seizures before they got the diagnosis. So I would always play it too safe with a seizure and ring for an ambulance. Ringing an ambulance for a child having a seizure, even if you are pretty sure its a febrile seizure isn't wasting resources or being 'that' parent. Also take note of the exact time it starts so you know how long it lasts.

I used to give the max dose of ibu and calpol and alternate even if it means waking them up. A fan if they feel warm and maybe a window open on a crack if you can so it keeps the room cool. That way if he does start getting hot you can strip him off and the room is instantly cool.

Hope you have a good night and he feels better soon, and I hope I haven't worried you anymore. But they dismissed my dsis so many times after seizures, then it got pretty serious pretty quickly.

Sorry you and your DS are going through this.

Our DS has v regular febrile convulsions, and can have multiple fits in one episode. As you have been told, they are scary but not medically significant. Do call 111 if he has another as he may need IV ABs if his temp can't be controlled.

Also, the advice now is not to cool them down with fans or cold flannels etc. If they get too cold then it can cause a spike in the temp. Just strip him down to his vest / nappy and as others have said we get good results with both paracetamol and ibuprofen.

Good luck

My 16 month old has had 2 of these, within 2 months!! They are very scary! I'm now always paranoid about her being too hot.
Doctors advised us to give regular Calpol and ibuprofen which works for our daughter.
The days after they've happened you would never have know she'd been in hospital the previous night!!
I hope your little one recovers quickly!!