Cry So Hard - Passes Out

Yes, my son does it. This is normal and the passing out mechanism is actually a safety thing. I believe it happens up until around age 5, when kids outgrow it. It's pretty scary the first few times it happens, isn't it? My mom actually sent me an article about this that was in the New york Times a few months ago.

My little peanut does this. It started when she was about 8 mos. old - she just turned 3. Our pediatrician tells us it is not uncommon, and she should grow out of it by the time she's 4 or 5. Also look up "breath holding spell" on the internet, you can find a lot of useful information, basically what our pediatrician told us. It happens far less frequently now that she's older, but still occasionally. I have noticed a correlation of frequency to when she is not feeling well, fighting a cold or something and/or extremely overtired. While it sure can be scary to watch, we were told the best thing is to stay calm and not make a big deal about it (i.e. avoid encouraging the involuntary behaviour?). I will also note that I had to switch daycare providers over this as they had never heard of such a thing and were concerned over their liability, etc. If you use daycare or a babysitter you should be sure to educate them in advance, even though our pediatrician made me feel like it is no big deal. Hope that is helpful!

Yes, both of my children did it, as did their Uncle when he was a child. They completely grew out of it by 3 years old. I watch a child who came very close to passing out, while crying. It is very scary, but as the other moms said, you just to need to stay calm and they are fine during the time that they are out.

Hi,
My son did this until he was about 2 years old. He would cry and not be able to get his breath, his lips would turn blue and his eyes would roll back and pass out....scarry! Our pediatrician said it may be caused by a spasm in his diaphram but that it wasn't harmful to him. He eventually grew out of it, he is 5 years old now and fine.