Baby Blues

We had a big scare last night.

During dinner, I gave Isaac something new to eat--steamed chicken and apples. He was really tired, and I should have known better than to give him something new while he was cranky. But he is such a good eater, I thought he'd be fine.

Well, he just didn't want any of his food. He pushed the spoon away and got really upset. And when Isaac gets upset, he doesn't wail--he holds his breath. This time was different, though. He held his breath...and held his breath...and held his breath...until he turned blue. By this time I had pulled him out of his high chair and was blowing in his face, trying to get him to breathe.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to his worried parents, he took a breath. I cuddled him to me as he started to settle down. Then Scott looked at me in horror and said, "He's going to pass out." I looked down at my baby's face, and sure enough his head was lolling and his eyes were rolling back.

Scott asked, "What can I do?" (God bless him!) I told him to put cold water on his hands and splash it on Isaac's face. That seemed to do the trick and revived Isaac from his stupor.

Oh, Lord, how scary! Seeing your child turn blue (and I mean BLUE) is an experience I wish on no parent.

We actually had a fairly similar experience last Sunday, when Isaac got really upset while Scott was trying to use the aspirator on his nose. He held his breath until he burst little blood vessels in his face. Afterwards, it looked like he had a red rash on his face. The rash is still there today, but it is slowly fading.

I talked to his pediatrician today. She said, "Oh, no. You have a Breath Holder!" She said that kids do this to get attention, and that they can actually hold their breath long enough that they will make themselves faint and even have seizures. "They do grow out of it...by 4 or 5 years of age." Oh, goody.