Epilepsy in baby, or just new mum paranoia?

[patagonia09]

I recently noticed my 4 mo sometimes "zoning out" completely for a few seconds. I suddenly notice he's stopped moving and is just staring into space, no response when i speak to him or jiggle his arms/legs. Just when I panic and think he's dead, he moves again,totally normal. GP told us to go to A&E, which we did. They did some blood tests for infections and all came back clear. Told me to go home and keep an eye on it.
He did it again this morning but I just can't tell if this is something significant, or is it totally normal behaviour at this age? It must last less than 5 seconds each time, although it feels like ages!
Anyone have experience of this? I wonder if i should ask to see a paediatrician - but I know I'm generally a hypochondriac and will be so embarrassed if the Dr finally witnesses this "episode" and says that's just a baby lying still for a moment!!

Babies do lie still now and again, particularly if they're getting sleepy (the hundred yard stare!) or very full of milk. But I would say to trust your instinct on this one - it can do no harm and they might be able to give you a heads up on whether he's likely to be having absence seizures or petit mal.

Try to video it?

Yes, try to get it on film. It could be an absence seizure (that's what it was in my ds2), but, as others say, it may be nothing. I know exactly the feeling of not being sure but instinctively knowing that something isn't quite right. Not sure how small babies can be for an effective EEG but you should show your GP the film and ask for a referral to a neurologist.

The dr we saw at the hospital asked me to film it but it really is over so quickly that by the time I grab the camera and switch it on it will be all over! I think I'll give it a few days and if it keeps happening will make another appointment and ask for a referral. It doesn't happen just when he's tired - I've seen the thousand yard stare and it's totally different from this. JKKLPU - how old was your baby when you noticed this / got it diagnosed?
thanks all

I know it's very hard to capture. What you can do is make a note each time you think you see it so you have some kind of diary for a few weeks to show the frequency. You could also note any differences, eg longer or shorter, different facial expression. The way I described it was as though ds2 was a clockwork toy that had just wound down and then started up again, like a reset. Sometimes it was when he was very tired or with some kind of change of context, eg running from one room into another and stopping dead.

He wasn't diagnosed until he was 3, partly because of waiting times for referrals and then moving country. He had some febrile convulsions at 1.5 and we were always very vigilant about keeping his temperature down when he was ill. He now takes medication which has eliminated them completely. That said, we can't know whether there is still abnormal activity in his brain, but he's happy and healthy and developing well. We thought long and hard about the medication. For us the clinching argument was that we can't know how many times he might be tuning out in the day and, therefore, how much he might be missing of what's going on around him. At such an important developmental time, we wanted to minimise this and get him used to the meds before he went to school. In fact, this summer will be time to discuss with consultant whether to reduce/wean him off and see how things go.

www.epilepsy.org.uk/ has lots of information and opportunities to join networks of other parents, should you need to do so further down the line. Basically, if there is an issue, the sooner it can be identified the better.

Best of luck. It's very worrying not knowing and seems scary. But there are loads of people all around you with different epileptic conditions and you'd never know.

My grandson had vacant episodes in the first year. He had a traumatic birth though and oxygen starved at birth.

Initially at 6 months he would roll his eyes up and go limp but only for a second or two. Took him to a&e and admitted, did EEG which was normal. He was having them hourly but fine in between. They decided not to medicate. After a couple of months they stopped and a few weeks later restarted but without the limpness. Again not medicated. He was having 60-100 a day but lasting only 1-2 seconds. Which adds up to less than 2minutes in total but was bloody awful anyway! What set them of was sensory stimulation, especially sudden noises. Also tiredness, and touching his feet! Anyway by the age of one they stopped and now at 3.7 he has had no further episodes, but we are constantly on edge still in case they return when they will need medicating.

If you think they look abnormal you are probably correct, I saw the first one and knew instantly it was not right but convinced myself he was just looking up! It does not mean that it will get worse as they are often outgrown, we were told to keep a diary of them too. Good luck and hope it is nothing.