Q: My daughter is 16 months old and she holds her breath for long periods of time. The cause has been her stubbornness. As per the doctors if her mind grows faster she will become normal. When she holds her breath after few minutes she gets hiccups and becomes unconscious for the next few minutes. Please help me if you have any solution for the problem?

A:Breath holding spells are common in the age group of 6 months to 2 years. More often this is an attention seeking behaviour and only happens when the baby starts crying in retaliation to something. During start of crying act the baby holds the first breath, however if the baby breaks the first breath, she will not hold her breath. Quite often it is associated with iron deficiency or some times calcium deficiency. Please get them checked, reduce her milk intake, give her more semisolids and with time it will settle down.