KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

I am a mother that needs assurance or "proof" to make me less paranoid.

Anyone here with kids that had febrile fits before and actually "outgrow" it ie stops after age 5 or 6 as advised by docs?

My son had his first seizure at 15 months. After the first episode, he would have several seizures whenever he had a fever, sometimes even when his temperature was only 37.4C. It was a terrifying experience for me. Even tho we followed all instructions and gave him his fever medication dutifully, we could not prevent his seizures. Even when he was hospitalised, the hospital staff did all they could, inserting fever and seizure medication n the standard sponging down - he still had his seizures. The seizures started about 12-16 hours after each bout of infection. Thankfully, he outgrew this problem and have been free from febrile seizures since he was 4 years old.

Today, he is a healthy and bright 12 year old who had just completed his PSLE and looking forward to starting his new life in a secondary school.

I hope that your case will be a once-only episode. I have known many such once-only febrile cases. All the best to you and your child.

My son had his fits when he was around 10 months. He was having fever when he suddenly passed out with the rolling eyes when we were trying to feed him medicine. It scared us as we thought he "died" and till today, I can still recall that. We called the ambulance and sent his to KKH.

He had a few attacks after that whenever he has fever and sometimes in his sleep. There are at least 2 other time that the caregiver called in the ambulance becoz they were to shock to react.

He is gg to P1 next year. Touch wood, he has not had fits for a couple of years already. The doctor at KKH said kids usually outgrow it by 7 yo.

Good luck to you.

My daughter had fits when she was 18 months old. It happened while I was showering her. She had just recovered from a fever the day before. All of a sudden, her body stiffened, initially I thought she was playing with me, but when I saw her eyes roll, I knew she had fits. Quickly I brought her out and somehow some insticnt told me to check her tongue...it had gone behind, so I stuck my fingers in her mouth to sort of pull her tongue out and kept it pressed down. We threw some clothes over her, and I carried her and ran to the clinic downstairs. But the doc there seemed to be in a panic too and refused to attend to her, but by then she had seemed to have recovered a little but unconcious. So my wife stayed at the clinic while I ran all the way back to get my car (thank goodness for IPPT training or it could have been adrenaline ) and drove to a nearby PD's clinic. The PD was alot more calm and took over immediately. Once she had assertained that my daughter was somewhat stabilsed, she called for an ambulance. My daughter was warded at KKH for 4 days. Diagnosis was provoked seizure, likely caused by electrolyte imbalance.
It was the scariest day of my life. So far *touch wood*, she has not had a another attack.

Thank you thank you all for sharing !

My feet went wobbly each time i recall those incidents (had a couple) and every single fever alarm or call from teachers (yes I was kiasu enough to tell them to call me whenever the temp is above 37 deg) will make me jump and drop whatever I was doing and rushed to pick him up/home. Felt guilty and helpless too when sometimes you thought it's due to your fault that perhaps ibufern was administered not fast enough.

I dont think others will be able to understand until you have seen your own child in that state before ...

Yes and I think I read somewhere that it's more likely to affect boys rather than girls.

My 6 yr old (who had febrile fits last time) had fever yesterday and it went up to 40 degree. Never so high and we were at the GP clinic. So he was given nerofen immediately even though he just had his progesic 1/2 hr ago. His face tend to turn red and his eyes so not lively and also he complain of headache everytime the fever is high. Probably becoz he is tired, he was dozing off too.

For a moment, having talk abt his condition in this post saying that he seems to outgrow it. I was worried that he will suddenly get fits. Fortunately he is better today (back to normal). As he is supposed to be in BC camp this week, he was enjoying it tremendously and also the cost is not cheap but too bad we had to let him skip class today so as to be socially responsible.

insider wrote:Seeing your child in a first febrile fit is a very terrifying experience. Their body froze, eyeball out of alignment, etc...

My daughter had one when her temperature breached 40 degrees, when she was 2yo. It is about the most horrifying time of my life, second only to the time when I was told my mother probably won't survive her stroke.

Febrile Fits only happen when there is high temp? If no fever and still have fits, what will tat be? Will children outgrow from it and is that deem to be serious?

Hi luvmum, I dont know. Mine so far happens when accompanied with fever.

Here's the extract from KK brochure on febrile fits - not sure if it helps.
- Simple febrile fits commonly occur in children between 6 mths to 6 years old. There may be a history of such fits in the family.
- Fits usually occur with high fevers, especially when the temp reachers 38.5 deg or more.
- In a fit, the child's arms and legs will jerk involvuntarily; up-rolling of the eyes and teeth clenching are common sighs. The child may also pass motion and/or urine during a fit.
- Fits usually last a few minutes, with some as long as 15 minutes.
- A child will commonly feel sleepy after a fit.
- There is a 30 per cent chance that the child will have another fit, especially if the body temperature maintains at 38.5 deg and above.
- The actual cause of febrile fits has not been clearly established but they may be a background family history associated with it.
- Simple febrie fits do not cause brain damage nor do they cause delay in a child's development.

When my son was about 1 plus, he had diarrohea and vomitting (without fever). Then one early morning after his diarrohea, suddenly his arms and legs jerked involuntarily , clenching his teeth. The next thing I knew was that his lips turned black and he became motionless. He was like “gone" (forgot to check his heartbeat). We tried to wake him but he would not response.

We called an ambulance, they also could not wake him. I was holding him throughout the ride. The moment we reached KKH, he was awake and smiling. Warded for observation for 1 night, diagnosis was provoked seizure.