This blog was medically reviewed by Meysam Kebriaei, MD, medical director of the neurosurgery program at Children’s Minnesota.
As a parent, seeing your child experience a seizure can be frightening. Understanding the symptoms, types and treatments for seizures in kids can help you feel more prepared and empowered to manage this condition if you or someone you know experiences it.
Pediatric seizures can be relatively common and can be caused by various factors. In this blog, you will learn about seizure symptoms in kids, the different types of seizures and the treatments available at Children’s Minnesota. Through reading this, we hope to help you gain a better understanding of how to support your child if they experience a seizure.
What are seizures in children?
A seizure is unusual electrical activity in the brain that can cause changes in behavior, movement or feelings. During a seizure, a person may stare into space or have jerking movements in part of the body or the whole body. But some people may show no signs at all.
While seizures in toddlers, kids and teens can sometimes look worrisome, seizures are relatively common and typically treatable. Plus, some children outgrow their seizures as they age.
What is epilepsy in children?
Epilepsy is a condition that affects the central nervous system. Having a seizure does not necessarily mean that a person has epilepsy. But, if a person experiences one or many seizures for unclear reasons and is at risk for having additional seizures, they may be diagnosed with epilepsy.
Epilepsy can develop during childhood or later in life, and for some people with epilepsy, especially those who developed it at a young age, the seizures may become less frequent or eventually go away, depending on the cause or type of epilepsy.
We know that epilepsy can greatly affect your child and family. The pediatric epilepsy program at Children’s Minnesota, in partnership with Minnesota Epilepsy Group, provides the highest level of diagnosis and treatment for children with epilepsy and is the only pediatric Level 4 epilepsy group in Minnesota.
Seizures in babies
People of all ages can experience seizures, including babies and infants. Many parents may notice different behavior with their baby during neonatal seizures, for example, eyelid blinking, convulsing or staring blankly for a few seconds. It’s important to be aware of seizure symptoms so you can notice if your child may be experiencing one. We recommend talking with a health care professional if you feel they have experienced an infant seizure.
What causes seizures in children?
What are the causes of pediatric seizures? Seizures have different causes and sometimes the cause of a seizure may be difficult to figure out. The most common type of seizure in children is caused by a fever (called a febrile seizure).
Other causes include:
- Head injury
- Illness or infection
- Low blood sodium
- Medicines
- Genetics
- Some illegal drugs
It’s important to note that sometimes, a seizure’s cause is never found.
In the Children’s Minnesota neuroscience program, in partnership with Noran Neurology and Minnesota Epilepsy Group, 500+ patients are treated for epilepsy annually, making us one of the busiest pediatric epilepsy programs in the country.
What are the types of seizures in children?
There are different types of seizures. The type depends on the part of the brain where the seizure started. Seizures usually fall into one of two categories: partial (also known as focal seizures) or generalized. Depending on the type of seizure someone is having, they may experience different symptoms and effects.
Focal (partial) seizures
Focal seizures in children and adults start in one part of the brain, but the abnormal activity may move to other parts of the brain. A person having a partial seizure may experience twitching throughout the body; have slurred, abnormal or unusual speech; or feel tingling throughout one side of the body. How a person experiences this all depends on what part of the brain is experiencing abnormal electrical activity.
During a partial seizure, a person may or may not be aware of their surroundings or actions. There are two types of focal seizures:
- Simple seizure: A simple seizure is when a person loses awareness of their surroundings or actions.
- Complex seizure: A complex seizure is when someone loses awareness and the ability to interact with their surroundings.
Generalized seizures
The difference between partial and generalized seizures is that generalized seizures involve simultaneous abnormal electrical activities all over the brain. There are different types of generalized seizures. Below, we describe a few examples of generalized seizures.
- Absence seizure: During an absence seizure, a person will look like they are staring off into space or daydreaming for about 15 seconds. After this type of seizure, the person usually quickly returns to their normal level of activity.
- Tonic-clonic seizure: In a tonic-clonic seizure, a person’s eyes may roll back, their muscles may stiffen and the person may make sudden jerking motions such as flinging their arms. Their body may also go limp, causing them to slump down or fall over. They may also lose control of their bladder or bowel.
- Myoclonic seizure: Myoclonic seizures are brief, shock-like jerks of the muscles. These seizures generally do not last more than a few seconds. Sometimes a person will only experience one myoclonic seizure, but it’s possible that they may experience many in a short period of time (clusters).
- Febrile seizures: Febrile seizures, also known as febrile convulsions, are very common. You may wonder, what causes a febrile convulsion or seizure? Febrile seizures are caused by fevers, typically when the fever is above 100.4°F. These seizures often occur in children between 6 months and 6 years old and are typically not chronic. A person having a febrile seizure may uncontrollably convulse, or shake, roll the eyes, become unconscious or moan.
What are the signs & symptoms of seizures in children?
While noticing signs and symptoms of some seizures are obvious, others may be hard to recognize, especially when it comes to noticing signs of seizures in infants. The different symptoms of seizures depends on the type of seizure someone is having.
Here is a list of the more common signs of seizures in toddlers, kids and teens.
Motor symptoms
- Jerking motions, like flinging arms
- Body goes limp, causing them to slump down or fall over
- Brief, shock-like jerks
- Twitching throughout the body
- Convulsing
Non-motor symptoms
- Staring blankly
- Lost control of bladder or bowel
- Having slurred, abnormal or unusual speech
- Feeling tingling throughout one side of the body
What to do if your child is having a seizure
It can be scary to see your child have a seizure, but there are a few things you can do to keep them safe.
- Stay calm.
- Do not hold or restrain the person.
- Help the person lie down on their side on a flat, comfortable surface.
- Do not put anything in the person’s mouth during the seizure, as forcing the mouth open may cause an injury.
- If the person is wearing glasses or a backpack, remove them. You should also loosen any tight clothing near the neck.
- Move sharp or hard objects away from the person.
- Do not leave the person alone.
- Make sure they are breathing without difficulty.
- Talk to them with a calm, reassuring voice after the seizure is over.
- Pay attention during the seizure so that you will be able to describe what happened before, during and after.
The person may need medical attention if they have trouble breathing or appear bluish around the mouth after the seizure, have a medical condition like diabetes, had a long seizure, or had multiple seizures. In cases of emergency, always call 9-1-1.
How are seizures diagnosed?
If your child experiences a seizure, you should talk with your health care provider or pediatrician about getting a referral to see a neurologist or epileptologist affiliated with Children’s Minnesota through our partnership with the Minnesota Epilepsy Group.
Your health care provider will talk you through the seizure experience. They may ask you questions like:
- How long did the seizure last?
- Did you notice any symptoms before the seizure started?
- Does your child have any other health conditions?
- Has your child recently had a fever or infection?
In addition to speaking with the experts at Children’s Minnesota and the Minnesota Epilepsy Group, your child may also have tests done to help reach a diagnosis. These tests could include:
- Electroencephalogram (EEG)
- Stereoelectroencephalography (SEEG)
- If needed, brain scans like MRIs (magnetic resonance imaging) can be done using our hybrid intraoperative MRI (iMRI) suite or CT (computed tomography) scans.
How are seizures treated?
At Children’s Minnesota, epilepsy treatment focuses on preventing seizures through medication, surgery or special diets. The team includes pharmacists with extensive knowledge of drug interactions and access to the latest clinical trials. If medications aren’t effective, we offer advanced surgical options, which can significantly improve seizure control and quality of life.
The comprehensive pre-surgery evaluations involve neurology, epileptology, neurosurgery, neuropsychology and radiology. We also provide ketogenic diets (high in fat and low in carbohydrates), which can improve seizure control in many patients.
Surgery for children with epilepsy
In some cases, children experiencing seizures or who have been diagnosed with epilepsy may need surgery to help treat this. These surgeries can be managed by the comprehensive epilepsy team.
Doing surgery on the brain requires careful planning. We use targeted epilepsy surgery with “stereotactic electroencephalogram,” which is a state of the art, minimally invasive procedure where multiple tiny electrodes are placed into the brain to map out where seizures are coming from.
How the experts at Children’s Minnesota can help
We know that as a parent you will want to help your child who is experiencing seizures or has been diagnosed with epilepsy. Seizures can be scary to experience as a child and as a family member. That’s why we focus on a compassionate approach to finding the right treatment and creating a personalized plan. The epilepsy specialists put your family at the center of everything we do.
You can count on these experts for all your pediatric neuroscience needs.
