How to Help If Your Child Has a Seizure: Call EMS and Don’t Panic

Last updated on May 3rd, 2026 at 02:41 pm

Some children are prone to seizures and having met many of these parents and taken many of these children to the hospital, I know these parents are acutely aware of what to do and how to do it in the event of another seizure. It’s the children that have never had a seizure before and you the parents that have never had to deal with one before that we will focus on. The type of seizure most commonly encountered by children having their first seizure is the febrile seizure. The American College of Emergency Physicians published a number of great findings about febrile seizures and stated the following:

Simple fever-related (or febrile) seizures are common among children under age 5. Although these seizures can be frightening to parents and other caretakers, they are generally harmless. Annals of Emergency Medicine, the scientific journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians, published the following advice for parents and caretakers about simple febrile seizures.

Children at Risk

• Febrile seizures tend to run in families and are not preventable. Children of parents with a history of these seizures are about four- and one-half times more likely to experience a febrile seizure, and if both parents had febrile seizures as children, their child is 20 times more likely to experience one.
• About 30 percent of children who have a febrile seizure will have another one, usually within a year of the first seizure.
• Simple febrile seizures are common among children ages 6 months to 5 years.
• Febrile seizures have been associated with viral infections, Roseola, and Shigella, which is a bacteria that causes bloody diarrhea.
• There are no risk factors for febrile seizures related to geography, race, or ethnicity.

Signs and Symptoms

Here are the signs and symptoms associated with simple febrile seizures:

• Simple febrile seizures generally occur in the first few hours of a high fever or rapid rise in body temperature.
• These seizures generally occur only once in a 24-hour period and usually last less than a minute, but can last 15 minutes or longer.
• May cause loss of consciousness.
• May cause rhythmic muscle contractions.
• May cause child to clench teeth or bite cheek or tongue.
• Child may stare or become unresponsive.
• May cause face, arms, and legs to twitch, and arms or legs to jerk.
• Eyes may roll back.
• May cause difficulty breathing.
• May cause child to lose bladder or bowel control.

Advice to Parents

Parents should seek immediate medical attention for a child or infant experiencing a febrile seizure, even if the seizure does not appear life-threatening (e.g., child’s breathing is not constricted). Although the seizure may end before medical helps arrives or before the child reaches the emergency department, it is important to have a physician rule out other causes for a first-time seizure, especially meningitis. While the child is experiencing a seizure and until help arrives, parents should:

• Protect the child from injury.
• Lay the child face-up on the floor. If the child vomits, turn on the left side to prevent inhaling vomit or mucus into the lungs.
• Do not place anything, including your fingers, in the child’s mouth.

After a Seizure

• In the emergency department, a child who has had a seizure will be evaluated for serious diseases, such as pneumonia or meningitis. This may require diagnostic tests such as blood work, urinalysis, x-rays, or a lumbar puncture (spinal tap). Most children who experience a simple febrile seizure will not require admission to the hospital.
• Medicines generally are not given to prevent simple febrile seizures. In addition, medicines given for fevers, such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, have not been shown to prevent febrile seizures, but are often recommended because they relieve body aches and fever.
• After a seizure, a child may be sleepy or experience memory loss, headache, or confusion.
• Febrile seizures can recur if the child has another fever.

The final thing I would like to add to this is that there is no reason to delay calling 911 if your child starts to have a seizure or you think they are having one please call and allow the professionals to help.

Good luck and Be Safe.

Can Too Much Technology Really Hurt My Child’s Eyes?

Last updated on May 3rd, 2026 at 02:41 pm

Kids may start their days by watching cartoons on TV and texting their friends on their way to school. In the classroom, teachers could ask them to complete assignments on computers or watch educational programming on TVs. When kids get home, they often play video games, do homework on computers, or spend time on social media on their smartphones. Why does this matter? Staring at the screen of a TV, smartphone, tablet, or computer for too long can cause a number of vision problems in children, including:

Eye Strain

Looking at a screen for a long period of time can eventually lead to eye strain, especially if your child is trying to read text off of a small device. But, even if your child is not reading off of his device, he can still suffer from eye strain if he stares at the screen for a long period of time. This problem is often referred to as Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), and can affect adults as well as children. If your child begins to experience blurry vision, burning, itchy or tired eyes, he may be suffering from eye strain. To help your child, the American Optometric Association (AOA) recommends that you teach him what is known as the 20-20-20 rule. To prevent eye strain, tell your children to take a 20-second break to look at an object that is about 20-feet away every 20-minutes they spend in front of the screen. This little trick will help your child’s eyes focus on an object so they can readjust to prevent future strains.

Exposure to Light

The screens on electronic devices emit blue and violet lights, which some researchers believe can cause the eyes to age prematurely. Blue light can reach further into the eye than ultraviolet light, which has led many researchers to study whether this light could damage the retina. Unfortunately, if a child does damage his retina because of exposure to blue light, the retina cannot be replaced. Some studies have even found a link between excessive exposure to blue and violet light and the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) later on in life. Research on this matter is still ongoing, but parents should still be cautious about letting their children spend endless hours in front of various screens.

Nearsightedness

Children’s lens and retinas are still developing until they become teenagers. Research has shown that if the distance between the lens and retina begins to lengthen during development, the child is at a greater risk of being nearsighted. What does this have to do with screen time? Research has also proven that exposure to sunlight can reduce a child’s risk of developing nearsightedness. But, many children are not spending as much time outdoors because they are glued to their devices, so they are suffering from a lack of exposure to natural light. This could explain why the number of people who have nearsightedness has increased from 25% to 42% over the last three decades.

Eye Irritation

Children tend to get sucked into whatever activity they’re doing on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. According to a study done in 2009, when children are concentrating solely on their device, they begin to blink less often, which means their eyes will not be properly lubricated by tears. If this continues, your child may begin to experience severe eye irritation caused by the dryness. Dry eyes are also more vulnerable to scratches caused by debris or dust, which are usually cleared out of the eye by tears.

What should you do to protect your child’s vision? You don’t have to stop them from using their favorite devices, but you should limit the amount of time they are able to use them. It’s recommended that children between the ages of 2-5 only spend one hour per day in front of a screen. After the age of five, parents should feel free to monitor their children and set restrictions that they think are fair. You should also take your child in for regular eye examinations so you can identify problems as they arise instead of letting them go untreated over time. How often should they go? According to the AOA, children should begin visiting the eye doctor at six months old. The next eye exam should come when they are three years old, and then again when they are five or six. After this time, try to take your child to the eye doctor every two years unless he begins to experience vision-related issues. By following these steps, you can protect your child’s vision from these potential dangers!

DistrACTION Cards: Because Kids Already Know Shots Hurt

As a pediatrician, I have a confession to make. I’m ashamed to admit that in residency I was amused when kids ramped up the drama getting shots. I’m not talking about a sadistic pleasure watching a 4 year old get poked repeatedly, I’m talking about an artistic appreciation of the wailing, screaming, and ninja-like thrashing performance when the nurse brought in the tray and….cleaned the child’s arm. With cotton. Gently. Yep, it was hard not to restrain a snicker when you alerted the child that, far from being near death from pain, the procedure hadn’t started yet. See? Cotton.

As a pain researcher, I now know that fear dramatically increases pain perception. Not only that, but focusing on the site where you expect pain naturally enhances your body’s perception of pain. Just like focusing on bite of gourmet food enhances your perception of nuances of the flavor (“Oh, cilantro!”) focusing on a painful procedure enhances that pain to occupy your entire consciousness. Not great if you don’t want pain.

Pain relief has become a major focus of medical professionals and children’s hospitals in recent years. While topical anesthetics have been around for decades, only 7% of pediatricians use methods to decrease the pain of needles. Recent innovations to address pediatric pain have been introduced, in part due to the realization that needle fear has jumped from 25% to 63% of children. This 252% increase is theorized to result in part because there are five times more live-saving vaccines that are now routine, and the realization that some vaccines need to be given at older ages to work well. Older age means kids remember the event, have greater cognitive powers to focus on the event, and thus can develop ongoing issues with needles when they experience vaccines as traumatic..

One physiologic way to deal with pain has been spotlighted here before, putting the cold and vibration unit Buzzy “between the brain and the pain”. The body feels sensations of cold and massage, and has less bandwidth to perceive pain. The sensation can even be disrupted, just like cold running water eliminated the pain of a burned finger. What I realized soon after developing Buzzy, however, was that a kid who is bound and determined to let you know how much they hate shots can feel pain from an alcohol swab. For a highly anxious kid who hasn’t seen Buzzy before, the explanation of “how this is going to make it better” might even focus them more on the procedure. I realized I needed something to help the child who is already afraid…something to decrease the fear AND take the focus off the poke.

Fortunately, kids have amazing imaginations, and — Ooh, look at that! —are pretty easy to distract. An easier, faster, and less expensive way to address pain and even boredom comes from the delightful curiosity kids have about new things, especially when they’re brightly colored. The very trait in kids that can be frustrating in long lines or car trips can actually be a huge advantage in managing pain. In fact, some of the more traditional hospital distractions (blowing up a balloon, etc.) had been proven to decrease children’s distress with medical procedures consistently by about 50%… But for this situation – for the child walking in terrified – we needed something more…but what? And thus, the DistrACTION cards were born….

What we’d learned was that controlling pain wasn’t enough for anyone – Fear, Focus on the procedure, and Pain all contribute to the experience.

To optimally pull a child’s attention away from a painful procedure, Child Life therapists use a variety of techniques, from blowing out (pinwheels, balloons, deep breathing) to visual distractions, both passive (videos) and active (Where’s Waldo??). Pulling from the distraction pain literature, I distilled the elements that seemed to be most helpful. In a stressful situation, too much difficulty (math problems) can be counterproductive. This is why “Where’s Waldo”, while a good active distraction, is actually less effective for most medical situations: he’s just too hard to find. The concept, though, is useful – visual active tasks like finding work well. Adding rote elements like counting can be good, but it depends on how hard it is to find something. “How many of something can you find” can be too easy if they’re right there – you could stop after one. “Find 6 of something”, however, is a concrete task which adds visual input to the cognitive task and gives the comfort of rote familiarity. The trick is distracting effectively for the right situation, giving just the right amount of challenge with the comforting ritual of counting. It’s that simple.

DistrACTION cards have 10 questions on the back of each one, stratified by age groups.

They include questions that require simple finding for younger kids (Where is a purple cow?) with some questions that only adults could get (Can you find all the suits in a deck of cards?) Classic counting, how many cows?, was found to be too easy for older kids, so questions add difficulty by asking “How many cows are wearing a costume?”)

After creating the DistrACTION^® Cards for medical procedures, investigators around the world started testing them.

1. First, Buzzy plus Distraction was tested for IV access in Turkey. Used correctly, Buzzy decreases needle pain 50-80%, and has been highlighted in Phlebotomy Today as a way to help draw blood in anxious patients. When DistrACTION is added, both together reduce pain from IV insertion 88%.
2. Investigators then started evaluating the DistrACTION cards alone. In the first study, pain was reduced 50% with the “Monkeys” set of cards alone; even cooler, 97% of kids said the procedure was better than previous times they’d had blood drawn.
3. Subsequent studies comparing other Child Life techniques found that DistrACTION cards decreased pain more than playing with a kaleidoscope; another study found the cards more effective than blowing a balloon, or playing a singing cartoon game.

The DistrACTION cards have now been clinically proven in three studies to be even better than other distractors in hospitals

Beyond pain management though, we found a terrific secondary benefit. When you can distract a child well enough to reduce pain in an unfamiliar environment, adding DistrACTION cards to a situation that is “merely boring” is extremely effective. From a 2 hour junior high concert recital to (one emergency nurse admitted) sitting through Mass, the cards have been extremely helpful for everyday behavior support. They’re waterproof, so they even work on the beach. No batteries, no screens – who knew?

I think the coolest thing for me has been that now, I get amused when a child seems very anxious, starts to ramp up the drama… and then is told “It’s already done!” As kids learn how distraction helps them deal with their own pain, the lesson sticks, even when there are no cards around. At a recent doctor visit for HPV vaccination, my older son said “Wait! You don’t have DistrACTION cards? Ok, ok, no problem…” he looked around the room and found red, blue and yellow speckles on the tile floor.” “No problem. When I need the shot, I’m counting confetti!” When he didn’t even flinch with the poke he was almost as proud of himself as I was!

HEALTHFUL HINTS

1. Distraction is an extremely effective parenting technique for multiple situations quite apart from pain management. Trouble starts brewing when children get bored, but a child who learns how to entertain themselves will have that skill their whole lives.
   • It’s critical to not depend on a battery powered source for distraction – whether it’s a small book, Distraction cards, or a small pot of play-dough, props help avert a boredom-induced meltdown. Once you learn the level of difficulty that keeps a kid engaged, the world around becomes a perfectly good distraction. “OK, I spy with my little eye…”
   • YOU are the best distraction for your child. While older kids can ask each other questions or read the questions on the back of the cards themselves, human interaction keeps a distraction interesting.
2. For injections and medical procedures, there’s a difference between offering distraction and forcing a kid not to watch. Let the 20% of kids who prefer to view the procedure do so – it may be it’s own distraction for them, or a way for them to feel in control of the situation so they’re less afraid.

Kids’ Cavities: Nature or Nurture?

Last updated on May 3rd, 2026 at 02:42 pm

I know of an interesting family, and I am sure there are many like them. The wife has never had a cavity, and no one in her family ever did. The husband, though his teeth are straight and white, had to have fillings at a young age and still deals with cavities as a grown man, despite good hygiene. Their two preschool-aged children eat the same diet, drink the same fluoridated water, go to the same dentist for checkups and cleanings and have the same parents brushing and flossing their teeth every night and at naptime. Yet, one of the children has already had several fillings and a silver crown, while the other has perfect checkups every time. This scenario prompts an important question. Are cavities a matter of nature or nurture?

As with any great debate, the answer is hardly one or the other. Let’s take a look at the roles both nature and nurture play in oral health. By nature, I mean heredity, or genes. By nurture, I mean habits and diet. Can a parent with “bad teeth” pass along the propensity for cavities? Is it worth it to get cleanings and brush regularly if you have “bad teeth”?

The truth is, nature does play a role. Our heredity influences about everything about us, including our oral risk factors like how our saliva is composed, how much of it our bodies make and the composition of our teeth. Some people may be more prone to problems like enamel defects, crowding, early or late eruption of teeth, bite issues or dry mouth, but careful maintenance can usually overcome them. “Bad” genes are hardly a death sentence, and caring for your teeth is far from futile, no matter how blessed or disadvantaged your smile genes may be!

That’s because nurture is hugely important in oral health. Whether you inherited “strong” teeth or “weak” ones, how you care for yourself is the number one factor in your oral health. You may have to work harder to avoid cavities and gum disease than others, but good habits do pay off.

So what things can you do to make the most of “nature” and “nurture” your family’s smiles?

• Watch your mouth. You may have the germs that cause dental caries in your mouth, but you weren’t born that way and neither were your kids. The bacteria that feed on sugars in our mouths, producing acid and ultimately leading to tooth decay, are passed from person to person. Don’t share utensils, drinks or extra sloppy kisses with your kids to avoid sharing these cavity-causing cooties.
• Set the example. You may know by now if the genes fairies blessed you with good teeth, but it’s likely you won’t find out until later with your kids. Either way, you and your kids should be drinking plenty of water, brushing, flossing and seeing the dentist regularly. People with good teeth still only get one (adult) set, just like everyone else!
• Pay close attention. If you already know you or your spouse has a family history of dental problems, be on the lookout for similar symptoms in your kids. If you see crowding, irregularities in enamel or another problem, be sure to mention your concern and the family history to your dentist. These days, with dental sealants, interceptive orthodontics and so many other preventive treatments, a little vigilance can go a long way to keep smiles healthy.

Difficult Getting Students to Focus? Try the Flashlight Technique

Last updated on May 3rd, 2026 at 02:42 pm

“How do I teach the flashlight technique” for re-directing attention in a “super easy way”.

As always, we begin with collaboration.

Talk with the child 1:1 in a kind and collaborative manner and tell him that you have been noticing he has difficulty keeping his attention focused on the work in class, ask him if he has noticed as well. Then have the “cognitive conversation” bringing to light an idea that might help.

Tell him that you once had a student named Max who taught you about imaginary flashlights. Max said that when his mind was drifting in class and he would catch himself, he would switch on an imaginary flashlight and point it where he needed to be focusing.

Ask the child if he thinks this might be helpful and talk with him about how you can help with questions and cueing prompts in class. Agree to the prompts, so that he feels helped and supported not humiliated in class. That’s it, super simple. A kind conversation, a social narrative story, and a plan, the two of you develop together, to help him learn how to alert, focus and sustain his attention.

Have The Cognitive Conversation

Teaching a child to use his flashlight is done in three steps:

1. Teaching the child to notice he is off-task.

Q: Where is your flashlight pointing?

2. Helping him alert his brain to salient information.

Q: Where does your flashlight need to point?

3. Pushing the re-engage button.

Prompt: You can use your flashlight to select what you need to focus on right now.

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