Some More Advice - Baby Had Seizure

by Amanda
(Pa)

Thursday at 4:30 pm my 10 month old baby boy awoke from a 2 1/2 nap. When I picked him up he was extremely sluggish. He was acting as though he were on sleeping medication. Breathing steady but lightly, very very hard to wake up, and when he did wake up it was only to let out a second long whine and roll his eyes back up into his head to go back to sleep. His body was so light (dead weight) and limp... I honestly felt like he was slipping away from life, he was so weak...

I rushed him to the ER. (when they hooked him up to the monitor it said his heart rate was a little low around 95-100) and they basically said - after blood, urine, spinal tap, and eye test - he had a seizure due to an ear infection.

He wound up sleeping for 19 hours Thursday and woke up (in the hospital) his normal hyper self Friday morning at 10 am.

Two days prior he had cold symptoms (watery eyes, runny nose, sneezing). He did have a little fever, just by touching him, he felt a little warm so I gave him a little infant Motrin. But not a high fever that would cause a seizure.

I don't know if it means anything but about 2 months ago my son had a fever of 104.5 and absolutely no signs or symptoms of a cold. ONLY a fever.

The doctor said that it was just what it was which was a fever... Gave him Tylenol and that was it.

Now he has a tiny fever and has a seizure... I'm so confused and scared.

Baby Help Line:

Fever And Seizures In Babies

It is frightening when something happens to your baby like that, and you start thinking you are doing the wrong thing, or not doing enough! But try not to stress out about it all, you are doing the best you can, and sometimes our little ones have a sudden spike in temperature for no apparent reason. A baby's temperature can rise very rapidly. You did the right thing getting him into hospital.

My daughter ended up in ER at three months with a similar thing, had been perfectly happy and healthy then went limp and her temperature rocketed. No other signs of infections and they could not tell me what caused it. Luckily for me it did not happen again!

The two incidents are not related; too much time has gone by. A rise in temperature is caused by an infection, either viral or bacterial. Ear infections are a really common in babies and young children, and of course they can't tell you when something is wrong. Sometimes they are not even registering it.

My stepson continually had perforated ear drums, and that was the only sign he ever exhibited of an ear infection. No cold, no fever, perfectly happy and content. So of course his parents felt terrible when stuff came out of his ear and they took him into the doctor.

Just trust your instincts and if in doubt it doesn't hurt to get him checked out. Try not to be over protective, but at the same time it is better to get the reassurance he is ok, then you can relax.

Just remember he will pick up on your anxiety, so focus on him being happy and healthy and just enjoy your lovely little boy.

All the best,

Annie Desantis

(Answer approved by our Medical Reference Team)