that does help at lot catchymonkey - thanks!

alittlebitshy - if this helps. since i posted this originally a year ago we have not had another one.

the slightest sign of a temperature she gets stripped off and calpol poured down her throat.

hope that helps a bit.

Alittlebitshy DS is 14 and has had about 20 febrile convulsions since he was 15 months , the last one was only in May and they are scary to anyone who hasn't seen them before. He gave the school secretaries such a shock as he was helping them out at the time. They were very upset It turned out he had pneumonia, we popped into school the next day on the way home from the hospital to show them he was okay.
At the moment he is being diagnosed for GEFS+ which is basically an unusual history of febrile convulsions that go on beyond the age of 6 which has a genetic basis. My mum and sister has FC until they were 10 and probably my grandmother as well. It is a rare condition and only recently started to be recognised.

However I would say there is very little you can do to prevent a fit. With both my dc (dd has 4 fits when she was 3) the fit was the first sign they were ill and the fits have done them no harm and they can't even remember them afterwards.
To be honest we had got to the stage where we didn't even bother to take them to the doctor if it was obvious what caused the fit,usually flu like viruses but also tonsilits and ear infections. We had diazipam if they every went over 5 minutes but never needed to use it.

Dr Christopher Green had a brilliant line in Toddler Taming.

""The short fever fit does not damage the child only it's mother's nerves"

It is so true

No experience of this thank God, but I was also going to suggest an angel monitor or some other breathing monitor. That way if anything did go dreadfully wrong, the alarm would go off.

You have my utmost sympathy - it is a truly terrifying experience. DD had her first at around 2.5 and then didn't have another one until she was 4. The first was absolutely horrendous, we had no idea what it was as she didn't actually 'convulse' she just passed out and turned blue. I thought she'd dropped down dead The second was more of an actual fit and, because I knew what it was, I wasn't as terrified. Both times I called an ambulance though.

I wish I could tell you we had some warning before hand but we didn't. She didn't even seem remotely ill - I had no reason to even take her temp. I think part of the reason kids have febrile convulsions is because their temp rises suddenly and rapidly.

I did find the info on the nhs direct website very reassuring - children never die of febrile convulsions and they do no lasting damage. Except to the nerves of their poor parents. I felt exactly like you about night times and slept in with her for the the first couple of nights after - until I felt calmer.

Just found this thread while searching for info. it seems my 15mo ds had a febrile convulsion last night and i think he had gone from no temp to 39. something .

am still shaky about it. am going to start a thread, probably tomorrow, just to seek fresh reassurances but I wanted to say how helpful I have found this thread. thanks ladies.

Sycupatree has summed that up really well - don't sit and watch to see if a temp is getting high - treat any sign of a temperature that's rising because they can literally go from seemingly fine to a fit in minutes and you're left thinking "huh?". Any sign of a temp, adminster calpol.

Also, despite DS being a "regular" fitter, we have taken him to A&E again with one since the first one, just as I was away from home and I was having particular problems getting his temp to stay down. They always say ring for an ambulance - let us come to you, so you can deal with the child. Fortunately we literally have the doctors round the corner and they are very happy for me to turn up there with no warning if I'm struggling with him.

Cathy Monkey - am at work so not a lot of time to post, so am cutting and pasting some of the info I stuck on another thread. Sorry, some of it will seem a bit out of context because it's in direct repsonse to some slightly different posts relating to FC's.

"I know a little bit because my DD suffers from them, and I know what VS would have gone through - I thought my DD had died in my arms. My heart nearly stopped. I couldn't speak - I ran out into the street and a passerby had to call the ambulance.

The amazing docs at the hospital were so helpful. They explained that the convulsion itself is not actually very dangerous - it's more like a safety mechansism. They ALWAYS keep in 1st time febrile c's overnight, but more because it's an opportunity to educate the parents or carers about what to do next time. In reality, there's no need to hospitalise (except DD had a severe urine infection so they did keep her for 4 days until this was cleared up).

They told us if it happened again, we should feel able to call and ambulance if we wanted to, or bring her in - whatever we felt most comfortable doing. But they stressed that it wasn't necessary for DD, it was more a support thing. They gave all the advice about how to bring down temps effectively and swiftly in the future.

They mentioned genetic predisposition and both of us looked blankly at them. It was only when we informed MIL that it had happened that she very casually said "oh yes, DH used to have those". We were a bit WTF? But it was oddly reassuring to know she "fitted" the brief, so to speak

We are now just very liberal with the calpol at any hint of temperature.^

If this is helpful:

Any illness that causes a fever (high temperature) can cause a febrile seizure. Most occur with common illnesses such as ear infections, coughs, colds, flu, and other virus infections. Serious infections such as pneumonia, kidney infections, meningitis, etc, are less common causes.

About 3 in 100 children have a febrile seizure sometime before their 6th birthday. They most commonly occur between the ages of 18 months and three years. They are rare in children under six months and over the age of six years.

The other thing worth noting is that it is generally considered to be the RAPID ASCENT of the the temperature that causes the seizure, not the actual temperature itself. So it's not suprising that a child goes from nothing, to seizure. The seizure is usually the first sign of the infection"

Oh and one time fairly recently I couldn't get DS temp down. It was 42 despite calpol and calprofen, bath etc, so I was dashing him to the docs (literally round the corner) - as I ran in carrying DS who was by this stage unresponsive, doctor met me and shoved me back out of the door in to the rain! Naked DS gets soaked but seconds later he perked up. Doctor said - I often find that getting them out in to the cold air can actually help us out! So maybe if all else fails that can be an option?!

DS (now 2.5) has had 5 since he was just over a year. The first one was the worst, I really thought he was dead, as I found him in his cot grey with his eyes rolled back in his head. Since then I am much better at preventing them happening in the first place, and if they do, staying calm, cooling him down etc. At the merest hint of a temperature I start alternating calpol/calprofen and ensure he is cool enough by removing layers etc. If his temperature is still rising I put him in a lukewarm bath. He's also been prescribed paracetamol suppositories if I am unable to adminster oral calpol. Basically I never let him get too hot - they've all been temperature related 3 from teething (despite having one GP tell me "it's a myth they get temperatures with teething" and 2 from ear infections. Apparently they can be genetic - DH had them as a child so I was kind of anticipating one but what I saw was nothing like I expected.

It is scary and you are no doubt still shaken, but they don't cause lasting damage (except to your nerves) and now you know what to do if the signs are there for another one.