Hi, Apologies this is going to be a bit rambly...

Yesterday my little girl (13 months) was playing on the sofa, but was starting to be naughty with biting and poking mummy. So I put her down on the floor to chill out with a firm 'no!' and she started crying, as you would expect. Usually when she is really upset she does what we call a silent cry when no noise comes out. Which she did, but then she went really red, more so than usual so I picked her up, then I noticed she stopped breathing. Then she when floppy, then she went really stiff and started fitting.

It was terrifying, Hubby called 999, and within minutes we had a paramedic. Quickly she came round, but was really drowsy. We went to A&E and there they suspected a febrile convulsion, (she's had D&V for a couple of days) but admitted us to the childrens ward to be seen by the paediatric doctor. The doctor upon hearing all the information qucikly drew the conclusion that it was caused by a tantrum, apparently its fairly common (although I had never heard of it). Apparently its known as a Blue Spell (I think) and 1 in 20 children has them although they rarely end in a fit. The good news is that these fits aren't harmful and she is back to her usual self today, like nothing ever happened.

The doctor has advised keeping an eye on her temper and try not to let her get too upset without pampering her. So now I am looking for some advice on where I might be able to get some support or some advice from parents in a similar boat. At the moment we are terrified and showing her right from wrong incase it happens again. Can anyone help???

Wow that sounds scary! I'm so glad she is ok, I'm sorry I can't be of much help specifically but wanted to suggest you put this on the children with special needs section on here, you may find someone can point you in the right direction. Also have you tried googling 'blue spells' you may find chateooms will pop up with similar queries, I have used another sit www.justmommies.com although there is meant to be a good one on yahoo too. Good luck and really hope you find what you're looking for

Hi - my Niece has this and its also called Cyanosis. It is very scarey but is harmless. The spells last for no more than a minute. Just make sure if she gets upset shes put on the floor coz my niece done it on her mums bed once and she passed out and fell on the (laminate) floor. Your LO will grow out of it by the time she is a young child 5/6 and there wont be any lasting damage that'll affect her later on in life.

Take care xx xx

I have no first hand experience, but my best friends little girl used to do it quite frequently (without the convulsion though). Usually when she had a tantum, or if she hurt or scarred herself. They grow out of it after a while - but it must be really scarey in the mean time.
From what I can gather they basically hold their breath until they faint, so my friend used to blow in lo's face to try to get her to breath again, before she got to the fainting stage.
Hope she grow's out of it soon.
xx