My Baby Holds Their Breath Until They Turn Blue
The short answer
Breath-holding spells are frightening to watch but almost never dangerous. They happen in about 5% of healthy children, usually between ages 6 months and 6 years, and are involuntary responses to strong emotions like frustration, anger, or fear. Your child is not doing this on purpose and cannot control it.
Parents everywhere have the same worry. You are doing the right thing by looking into it.
By Age
What to expect by age
6-12 months
Breath-holding spells can begin as early as 6 months, though they are more common after the first birthday. At this age, they are often triggered by pain (like a fall or bump) rather than frustration. Your baby cries, then suddenly stops breathing, may turn blue or pale, and might briefly go limp or stiff. The episode typically lasts less than a minute before breathing resumes automatically.
12-24 months
This is when breath-holding spells are most common, often triggered by frustration or being told "no." The typical pattern: your toddler starts crying intensely, then stops breathing and may turn blue (cyanotic spell) or pale (pallid spell). Some children briefly lose consciousness or have a few seconds of stiffening. While terrifying for parents, the body's automatic reflexes always restart breathing.
2-4 years
Breath-holding spells often continue through the toddler years but may start to become less frequent as your child develops better emotional regulation and communication skills. The spells remain involuntary - your child cannot "decide" to hold their breath, and trying to prevent tantrums to avoid spells often backfires. Most children outgrow these completely by age 4-6.
4-6 years
Most children have outgrown breath-holding spells by this age. If they continue or start for the first time after age 5, your doctor may want to rule out other causes like seizures or cardiac issues. Keep a video of an episode if possible - this can be very helpful for diagnosis.
What Should You Do?
When to take action
- The spell lasts less than a minute before breathing automatically resumes
- Your child returns to normal immediately after breathing resumes with no confusion or drowsiness
- Spells are triggered by specific events like frustration, fear, anger, or pain
- Your child is developing normally in all other areas
- The spell follows a consistent pattern: cry → breath hold → brief color change → automatic breathing recovery
- Spells are happening more than 1-2 times per week or are increasing in frequency
- Your child seems drowsy or confused after a spell rather than immediately returning to normal
- Spells began after age 4 or continue past age 6
- You have a family history of heart problems or seizure disorders
- Your child has rhythmic jerking movements that last more than a few seconds during or after the spell - this could be a seizure rather than a breath-holding spell
- Your child does not resume breathing within 60 seconds or appears to need help to start breathing again
- The spell happens without any trigger (no crying, pain, or emotion beforehand) or happens during sleep
Sources
Related Resources
Trust your instincts. If something feels wrong, reach out to your pediatrician.
Worrying about your baby means you care. That is a good thing.
Related Behavior Concerns
Aggressive Play vs Normal Play
Rough-and-tumble play — wrestling, chasing, play-fighting, and superhero battles — is a normal and important part of child development, particularly for toddlers and preschoolers. It helps children develop physical coordination, social skills, self-regulation, and an understanding of boundaries. The key distinction between normal rough play and concerning aggression is whether both children are having fun, there is turn-taking in roles, and no one is intentionally trying to hurt the other.
My Toddler Is Aggressive Toward Pets
Toddlers being rough with pets is extremely common and almost never reflects true aggression or cruelty. Young children lack the motor control to be consistently gentle and do not yet understand that animals feel pain the way they do. With patient, consistent teaching about gentle touch and close supervision, most toddlers learn to interact safely with pets by age 3-4.
My Baby Doesn't Seem Attached to Anyone
By 7-9 months, most babies show clear preferences for their primary caregivers and some wariness of unfamiliar people. If your baby seems equally comfortable with everyone and shows no distress when separated from caregivers, it may simply reflect an easy-going temperament. However, if combined with other social differences, it can occasionally warrant further discussion with your pediatrician.
Attachment Parenting Burnout
Attachment parenting principles (responsive feeding, babywearing, co-sleeping) can foster strong parent-child bonds, but the all-encompassing nature of the approach can lead to parental exhaustion and burnout, particularly for the primary caregiver. Research shows that secure attachment comes from being consistently responsive to your child — it does not require 24/7 physical proximity, exclusive breastfeeding, or co-sleeping. A burned-out, resentful parent is less able to provide the emotional responsiveness that is at the true heart of secure attachment.
Attention Span Expectations by Age
Young children naturally have very short attention spans, and this is completely normal. A general guideline is roughly 2-3 minutes of sustained focus per year of age, so a 2-year-old might focus for 4-6 minutes on a single activity. Attention span develops gradually over childhood and is strongly influenced by interest level, environment, and temperament.
Baby Arching Back and Crying During Feeding
A baby who arches their back and cries during feeding is often showing signs of discomfort. The most common cause is gastroesophageal reflux (GER) - stomach acid flowing back into the esophagus causes a burning sensation, and the baby arches to try to relieve it. Other causes include an improper latch (breastfeeding), a bottle nipple with too fast or too slow a flow, ear infection pain worsened by swallowing, oral thrush, or being overstimulated. If this is happening regularly, discuss it with your pediatrician.