Febrile seizures are convulsions that occur in babies and small children due to fever. Most often, the seizure would cause unconsciousness, along with movement and/or shaking of the arms and legs. Although not as common, some babies will twitch just on a single arm or leg. On rare occasion, a febrile seizure could last 15 minutes but most often, it would only last a few seconds to a couple of minutes.
Obviously, having a child that experiences a febrile seizure is a horrific experience. In most cases, the baby or child would be running a temperature of 102 when registered rectally. In addition, the seizure usually occurs within the first day or two of the fever. If you have a child that has been running a fever around 102, you should talk to your pediatrician to learn what to do to reduce the chance of a febrile seizure.
Depending on the exact symptoms seen by the doctor, he or she may want to do a spinal tap or other testing to determine the cause of the fever. For instance, something simple such as an ear infection or teething would first be ruled out, followed by checking for something more serious such as spinal meningitis. Although frightening, most doctors do not recommend any type of preventative medication unless the seizures happen often.
Typically, over-the-counter medication such as ibuprofen or acetaminophen (child’s Tylenol for example), are great at reducing fever. Even so, the child could still have a febrile seizure. Therefore, treating the fever does little help. Instead, the underlying problem needs to be addressed. The most worrisome aspect of a febrile seizure is the ruling out of epilepsy, which produces seizures while not being associated with a fever.
You can only imagine the intensity of being a parent and watching your small baby or child go through a seizure. At the moment it happens, you would likely feel as if the world has been turned upside down, making you completely helpless. Just remember, febrile seizures are not harmful to your child. In other words, unlike other types of seizures, these cause no brain damage, mental function loss, damage to the nervous system, or even death. However, if you have a child with febrile seizures, you definitely want to address the problem with the doctor so anything more serious could be eliminated.