Holding breath when crying

[PaulineCampbellJones]

Hoping someone will tell me this is normal. My 8 month old DD has started holding her breath when she's crying to such an extent she goes crimson. The breath intake I know is usual in babies before a big yell but it's got to the point where I'm worried she is going to choke herself. Any tips?

My son used to do this, he'd hold his breath to the point of passing out, so yes some babies do , do it. The way I used to make him take a breath was to blow hard onto his face, not nice I know but it did stop him doing it, it didn't last long thankfully, usually when he couldn't get his own way.

DS started doing this (apnoea) at about 6 months, still does it very very occasionally at the age of 3 but he is defintely growing out of it. It never gets any easier when you see the grey face, blue lips and they collapse :( Blowing on their face definitely helps, as well as just holding them gently so they don't hurt themselves when they fall. They will breathe again, you will spend ten mins worrying about brain damage then they will be back to normal.

I would take her to the GP just to make sure there is nothing else going on, then once you're convinced it's behavioural, just try to stay calm - once they have passed out their natural reflexes kick in and they have to breathe, as in they can no longer consciously hold their breath.

And if you blow on their face and it doesn't seem to help, blow into their mouth, like the kiss of life. That's never failed for me.

Thanks SPB, I will try those and also book a docs appt. Always happens when she is really tired so I'm hoping it's just behavioural!

oh and thanks Studious Sal too!