My 16 month old was in his highchair eating Cheerios when all of a sudden, he started crying. About a minute later, dropped his head and slouched in the chair. I thought he was playing BOO (our version of peek-a-boo) so I went to pick him up and that’s when I realized something was wrong. He was making a low gurgling sound, almost like a growl and his whole body was limp. I could see that he was falling asleep, but he wouldn’t stop growling. I called my husband into the room.
My husband tried to play with him, get him to respond, laugh, or anything. Nothing. Just more growling, only now he was drooling. Out of nowhere, he threw up…and I mean all over the place! I took him to the bathroom and tried to bathe him, he was still limp and wanted so bad to sleep. Remembering all those horror stories of kids who fell unconscious and never wake up, I started trying harder to wake him. He just couldn’t respond, and his eyes were pleading. I felt horrible. I dressed him as fast as I could, and my husband drove us to our local Emergency room. I was in the backseat trying my hardest to get my son to stay awake; shaking the car seat, clapping my hands, and singing the theme song to JoJo’s Circus…with no luck
Turns out, emergency room doctors see this “all the time” and there’s no reason to keep him awake. “Let him sleep” they say. So, there he goes to sleep in peace. No more growling. Doctors do a quick check on him (still asleep by the way) and tell me about “febrile seizures.” I was so scared and for them to just say … “it’s nothing.” Was amazing. Why did no one tell me about this?! Where was this little bit of information in all the parenting and pregnancy books I read? Febrile seizures are very real, and according to doctors, very common. So watch for this with your kids, then call their regular pediatrician!
