I always think Abby's the toughest little girl, completely resilient, but I know after today that I will never lightly make that assumption.
While shopping today, I watched Abby take a mild stumble that somehow scared her more than it probably should have and she cried so hard she was not able to take a breath. The few seconds that followed had to be the scariest few seconds of my life! All of a sudden, there was no sound coming out of her mouth. I laid her back and her eyes were rolling backwards and eyelids shutting. Luckily, my mom was with me and she shoved her forward so she could put pressure just under her rib cage and started rubbing her back. I don't know if Abby actually completely passed out, but it did not matter. The moment of panic that rushed over me, knowing she wasn't breathing made me so numb with fear that I'm still trying to shake the feeling.
She recovered quickly, but I'm keeping a very close eye on her tonight to make sure she continues to do well.
I'm still mystified about why this happened. I have heard of kids losing their breath from crying traumatically for a long period of time, but this happened to Abby only on her second cry! She must have really freaked out from the fall, as harmless as it seemed from an observer's point of view.
Regardless, I am just so, so grateful that this whole episode only lasted seconds.
While shopping today, I watched Abby take a mild stumble that somehow scared her more than it probably should have and she cried so hard she was not able to take a breath. The few seconds that followed had to be the scariest few seconds of my life! All of a sudden, there was no sound coming out of her mouth. I laid her back and her eyes were rolling backwards and eyelids shutting. Luckily, my mom was with me and she shoved her forward so she could put pressure just under her rib cage and started rubbing her back. I don't know if Abby actually completely passed out, but it did not matter. The moment of panic that rushed over me, knowing she wasn't breathing made me so numb with fear that I'm still trying to shake the feeling.
She recovered quickly, but I'm keeping a very close eye on her tonight to make sure she continues to do well.
I'm still mystified about why this happened. I have heard of kids losing their breath from crying traumatically for a long period of time, but this happened to Abby only on her second cry! She must have really freaked out from the fall, as harmless as it seemed from an observer's point of view.
Regardless, I am just so, so grateful that this whole episode only lasted seconds.
Comments (2)
Oh my God, I did not know that even could happen! So what are you supposed to do? Sounds like just apply chest pressure? Oh my.... what else don't I know?!! I'm frightened. Ask your Mom what else she is aware of!
I did some research on this because it scared me so much and it appears to be so common and normal. The process of passing out actually allows them to resume a normal breathing pattern! However, if your child does seem to have problems catching their breath, either from crying hard or purposely holding their breath, you can blow a puff of air in their face and they usually snap out of it.