Sawyer's Breath Holding Spell

Here is a video of Sawyer having a breath holding spell. Warning: This video is very disturbing so be prepared. Breath Holding Spells are behavioral. Sawyer's spell in this video was spurred because I said it was time for bed. He began to cry and couldn't catch his breath. He then passed out for a few seconds and you can see the color eventually come back as he gets oxygen through his body. We usually try to make sure that Sawyer is laying down and safe (as you will notice by me making sure he is lying down on his back in the video). If Sawyer were standing he could easily fall and hit his head. For parents that have children that do this it is important that you make sure the child is safe and to know that they can pass out for several minutes and still be okay. Sawyer's longest was one and a half minutes, but up to 3 minutes is okay. We have also been advised the best thing to do after this happens is to continue with the punishment or whatever spurred the breath holding spell. In this case, he didn't want to go to bed, so I had to risk him having another to ensure that he understands that this behavior will not be rewarded by getting his way. If you give in, the child will have more instances of these spells and use them as a weapon. This is all I have tonight but wanted to share and help other Moms dealing with these types of spells.