Dear parent,
I would like to share with all of you some information on Fits or Febrile Convulsion and how to handle when this happened to your child. This may happen to children as young as few months to 6 years old. My daughter (16 months) was having high fever last Sunday and at mid night when the temperature risen so high that suddenly her body become stiff and shakes, foam in the mouth and the situation was really frightening. Luckily, this happened for about 30 seconds and it seems so long for me looking at my child in this situation. Then, she go into a very deep sleep after the convulsion.
What is Febrile convulsion/Fits or febrile seizure?
It's a convulsion caused by fever in a child between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. If your baby has one of these seizures, he may roll his eyes, drool, or vomit. His body may twitch or jerk and his limbs may get stiff. His skin may appear a little darker than usual, and he may lose consciousness.
The seizure may last only a few seconds or 15 (very long) minutes. (If it lasts longer than a few minutes, call 999.) Afterward, your baby might seem a bit sleepy, or he might seem just fine.
In most cases, febrile seizures are harmless, but that doesn't make them any less terrifying for you while your baby is having one. And you do need to take immediate action when he has one
Febrile seizures tend to happen in children with fevers of over 102 degrees F, but they can happen at lower temperatures. They don't necessarily happen when a child's fever is at its highest, although they do tend to occur during the first 24 hours of a fever.How common are febrile seizures?
Between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, 3 to 5 percent of children will have a febrile seizure. One-third of these children will have another one, and about half of those will have a third. Febrile seizures are most common in the toddler age range.
A child is more likely to have febrile seizures if either of his parents had them when they were young. Kids who have their first febrile seizure in their first year of life are the most likely to have another one. A child is also more likely to have a second seizure if his fever was low when he had his first one, or if the seizure occurred early on in his fever.
What cause this?
Febrile convulsions are quite common in babies and young children. They are brief convulsions, or fits, that happen because your child has a fever (a high temperature).
Lots of illnesses can cause a fever. The fevers that most commonly cause a febrile convulsion come from ear infections and tonsillitis. Some vaccines can cause a rise in temperature as a side effect. Rarely, this can trigger a febrile convulsion.
Children can get febrile convulsions from when they are a few months old. There are different types of convulsions. This information is about simple febrile convulsions.
What can be done?
If your child has a convulsion:
• Check the time. It's useful if you can tell your doctor how long the convulsion lasted.
If it goes on for more than five minutes, you should get medical help
• Roll the child onto their left side. For babies, cradle them in your arms, on their side, with their feet slightly higher than their head
• If your child vomits, clear it away from their mouth so they don't choke. But don't put anything in your child's mouth
• If your child twitches, check whether one or both sides of their body move. If one
side jerks more, tell the doctor. Try to remember which side.
If it's the first time your child has had a convulsion, take them to the doctor or to hospital,
or call 999 for an ambulance.
If your child has had a febrile convulsion before, they may not need to see a doctor. But
always get medical help if you're worried. If your child has already had one febrile
convulsion in the last 24 hours, or if they have another in the next 24 hours, get medical
help
For more information please click this address : http://bit.ly/fbDhg9
This can be happen again if the fever is high, so close monitoring is necessary even though it may be harmless. If your child has fits before, please inform us so that we have to take extra precaution when she/he has fever. It will be better to prepare the rectal suppository and keep at home and in our school for emergency use - to bring down the temperature fast before fits happen.
video on how to insert suppository : http://bit.ly/ex2TUw
I hope this information is helpful to all mothers and please call me if you need further clarification!
