7 month old baby stops breathing

[muncaster]

My 7 month old baby stopped breathing the other day when she was crying, I thought it was a one off but she did it again at nursery and when we were out for a meal and she had hurt herself. I know of children who do it deliberatley for attention and dont want to create this kind of behaviour but also I cant leave her, has anyone any advice? (I know to blow in her face so should i not pick her up when doing this?). Any advice greatly appreciated. Thank you

She is 7 months old - she does nothing 'deliberately' or for effect: she just does!
And this is not 'stopping breathing'; it's a prolonged inbreath followed after an unfeasibly long time by a loud wail - my DS4 14 months can stay silent for longer than I find comfortable before he starts screaming.

There is nothing you can do that I know of. Deliberate breath holding in toddlers is entirely different and frankly best ignored: as soon as they pass out they start breathing again. V v scary for bystanders, but not dangerous and a phase that passes.

Thanks for that, it just worried me as she hasn't done this before. Know she's not doing it deliberately at this age but worry that if she continues to do it and I keep picking her up she will learn that is a method of getting attention when she is older!!!!

Can you get an Angel monitor for her cot, just for your peace of mind?

They have a motion sensor mat that goes under the mattress, and sound an alarm if there's no movement for 15 seconds (? might be slightly longer, but you get the idea).

They are fairly expensive but mightn't be too bad on eBay.

I think pacificdogwood is right, its probably the prolonged intake of breath in order to be able to bellow again. My DS does it and it does feel like an inordinately long time goes by without a breath, but without fail he has always carried on breathing afterwards.
Carry on picking her up. At 7 months old when she is crying she needs to be comforted. You won't instill a desire to breath hold by comforting her. I wouldn't blow in her face. She isn't going to do herself any damage by this pause, and blowing on her will just upset her further.

Agree with PacificDogwood, I think they just do this because of the shock, I imagine pain is a fairly shocking experience when you are a baby. You have been cuddled and snuggled and then suddenly you can move and bash your head on stuff, it's literally the worst thing that has ever happened to you, it will pass, the silent scream does seem to go on for a long time though.

Thanks everyone, am hopeful this is a phase she is going through but its so stressful. She did it again at nursery last week and her tongue went back in her throat, nursery phoned me to take her to the doctors who sent me to the hospital, think she may be having fits as her eyes roll back before this happens and shes tired afterwards......waiting for brain wave scan now. But I still think it could be her having intake of breath......hope so anyway

I have one of those too. And it can be a breathhold (not necessarily just a prolonged intake) and it can lead to something called an anoxic seizure, where everything stops for a couple of seconds. Sounds very scary and is very scary when it happens, but actually is harmless. DS2 has always done it and had an anoxic seizure at 8 months (a week before I went back to work which was...um...nice of him!) - he is now nearly 2. He does it in a minor way whenever he gets really really upset or gives himself a big shock. We sometimes have breathholds of 10 seconds or more and blue lips but the seizure has only happened once. It is not a deliberate breathhold in the way that older toddlers do - although I have a funny feeling he'll develop that too, because he certainly gets attention when he does it, it's practically impossible to ignore it.

Anyway, key thing is that it's harmless (as a very nice doctor explained after we rushed to A&E after the seizure!), they'll grow out of it eventually and you should try not to make a fuss about it. But I know from experience that that is easier said than done!

Thanks for that IssyBoo. Sounds exactly like what she is having. We have an appointment through to see the consultant in a couple of weeks so will ask about the anoxic seizure. The joys of parenthood!!!

Was reading this thread as my baby, who's also 7mo, also holds in his breath.
Although I don't think he does it when he's crying, he can do it anytime but I've noticed it's mostly when he's particularly excited! I think it's a bit odd. It can happen at mealtimes when he's in his highchair. Often when he's drinking water quite fast from his beaker (we use one with a valve so he shouldn't be getting huge amounts of water). Also when I'm wiping his face after the meal. I always blow on his face and we get a big sigh from him and then a bit of a giggle (of relief?!). It's quite bizarre. He used to do the funny crowing noise in his sleep (related to the floppy valve in the throat perhaps? he used to be a little bit refluxy when really small) and would sometimes stop breathing briefly in his sleep as well, we only really noticed this at night.

I don't know if all this is normal - what do people think?
TIA x

I would definately get that checked out. I found that just talking to people put my mind at ease.