Febrile Convulsions

[Chanelno5]

I was quite surprised looking through the Health topics (as you can see I have been doing if you look at my other postings this morning!) that these have not been previously mentioned (as far as I can see anyway). My ds (aged 5 yrs) still has them from time to time although now I know what I'm looking for I am able to control his temperatures alot better. What I was wondering was, at what age do children grow out of having these as everyone gives me a different answer?

My son who has just turned three suffered a febrile convulsion a week ago. Although I had heard of them I wasn't prepared to see my son have one. I called the emergency services and he was kept in hospital overnight. I was told that they are very common and about one in thirty children under three have them. If they are so common, then I feel other mothers need to be made aware of them and what to do if one occurs. I was told they would only last a couple of minutes. Turn the child onto their side, remove clothing and when convulsion has stopped, wipe child down with a flannel soaked in tepid water. Contact a doctor or dial 999 for an ambulance. I was very frightened and thought my child was not breathing. I have been assured that a child will be breathing throughout a convulsion, which I think will reassure other mothers. Hope this information helps anyone whose child suffers a convulsion.

Thanks for that Fizz. My daughter had febrile convulsions at nearly 2 and they are absolutely terrifying. But they do grow out of them. It's just because they cannot yet regulate their body temperature - I'm sure you know this already. Hope your son is fine now.

My ds also had one when he was 2. He had a virus and his temperature was v. high. We were told it is caused by the rapid rise in temperature. He has not had one since. We were told that 5 is the age at which they generally stop. I agree it is terrifying to witness, I felt helpless but we managed to phone paramedics and got excellent support on the phone and on way to hospital. I believe it is quite common.