Parent and Carer Guide

Seizures in Children: What to Do and When to Call 000

Quick takeaway: protect the child from injury, time the seizure, do not restrain them or put anything in their mouth, and call 000 if the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes, it is their first seizure, or they are not recovering properly.

Few things unsettle a parent, teacher or caregiver faster than seeing a child have a seizure. The body may stiffen, jerk, stare blankly, go floppy, or stop responding. Even when the seizure is brief, the moment can feel much longer.

The most useful response is not a perfect medical explanation. It is a clear plan. This article keeps the focus on what to do in the moment, when to call for urgent help, and how to think about common situations like febrile seizures.

This sits alongside our broader childcare first aid training content and is written for parents, carers, educators and anyone likely to be around children in everyday life.

What a Seizure Can Look Like in a Child

Not every seizure looks like dramatic full-body shaking. Some children fall and jerk. Some suddenly stare and stop responding. Some stiffen, go floppy, make unusual movements, or seem confused and unreachable for a short time.

Healthdirect explains that seizures happen because of sudden abnormal electrical activity in the brain. The first aid priorities, however, stay fairly simple: safety, timing, breathing, and recovery.

What to Do During a Seizure

This is the part people usually need most. If a child is having a seizure, focus on preventing injury and observing what happens.

1. Stay with the child. Panic spreads quickly. A calm adult nearby matters.
2. Move hazards away. Shift chairs, toys, hard objects or anything sharp that could cause injury.
3. Protect the head. Use a folded jumper, towel or something soft under the head if you can do so safely.
4. Time the seizure. Use your phone or watch. People often guess wrong when frightened, and the exact duration can change the advice.
5. Watch breathing and colour. Some children can look pale, red, or briefly bluish around the lips during a convulsive seizure. Keep observing.
6. Give them space. You are protecting, not controlling.

The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network guidance on first aid during seizures is consistent with this practical approach: stay with the child, note the duration, protect them from injury and monitor breathing.

What Not to Do

There are still a few myths around seizures that can make the moment less safe.

• Do not put anything in the child’s mouth. They cannot swallow their tongue, and objects can break teeth or injure the airway.
• Do not restrain their arms or legs. Holding a child down can cause injury to both of you.
• Do not try to give food, drink or medicine while they are still seizing or drowsy.
• Do not assume it is “just a febrile seizure” and ignore it. Some seizures are brief and settle, but first seizures and prolonged seizures still need escalation.

What to Do After the Seizure Stops

Once the jerking or stiffening stops, the child may be sleepy, confused, upset, headachy or quiet. This recovery period can be part of the seizure process.

1. Check breathing. If the child is breathing normally, place them on their side and keep the airway clear.
2. Keep monitoring. Watch their breathing, colour and responsiveness while they recover.
3. Reassure them when they wake more fully. Children can be disoriented and frightened after a seizure.
4. Look for injuries. Check the head, mouth, limbs and surroundings.
5. Follow any existing seizure plan. If the child has an epilepsy diagnosis or prescribed emergency medicine, follow the treating team’s plan exactly.

If the child is not breathing normally after the seizure, start the DRSABCD process and call 000. Our DRSABCD guide is a useful refresher if you want to revise the sequence.

When to Call 000

This is the threshold parents and teachers search for most often. Call 000 for urgent help if:

• the seizure lasts more than 5 minutes
• it is the child’s first seizure
• another seizure starts soon after the first
• the child has trouble breathing, stays very blue, or does not wake or recover as expected
• the seizure happens in water
• the child has a significant injury, known diabetes, or there is any reason to suspect poisoning, meningitis or serious illness

These escalation points align with both Healthdirect seizure advice and the practical family guidance used by major children’s hospitals.

Febrile Seizures: The Common Parent Question

Many child seizure searches are really about fever. A febrile seizure is a seizure linked to a rise in body temperature. They are common enough that plenty of parents encounter one without any previous warning.

Healthdirect’s febrile seizure page and the Raising Children Network guidance both make the same broad point: febrile seizures are frightening, but most children recover fully. That said, they still need calm first aid and appropriate medical review.

• They commonly happen in children roughly 6 months to 6 years old.
• They are triggered by fever, often with viral illnesses.
• Fever medicine may help a child feel more comfortable, but it does not reliably prevent febrile seizures.
• If this is the child’s first seizure, it lasts more than 5 minutes, or the child still looks very unwell when it stops, urgent medical assessment matters.

If fever is part of the picture, our article on fever in children is worth reading alongside this one.

Common Reasons Children Can Have Seizures

Parents often want to know why the seizure happened. There are several possibilities, and not all mean epilepsy.

• Febrile seizure: related to fever.
• Epilepsy or a known seizure disorder: repeated or diagnosed seizure tendency.
• Head injury: especially if there has been a fall or impact.
• Infection or serious illness: including illnesses that affect the brain or general health significantly.
• Low blood sugar, metabolic problems, poisoning or medication issues: less common, but important in the right context.

That is why first seizures deserve proper medical follow-up even if the child seems back to normal later. The first aid job is the immediate safety response. The diagnosis comes next.

How Parents, Schools and Carers Can Prepare

If a child has a known seizure history, preparation makes a major difference. The best plan is boring and practical.

1. Keep a written seizure plan from the child’s doctor if one exists.
2. Tell carers, grandparents, teachers and coaches what a typical seizure looks like for that child.
3. Make sure emergency contacts are current and easy to find.
4. Know whether the child has prescribed rescue medication and who is trained or authorised to give it.
5. Review the plan after any hospital visit, medication change or major new event.

In schools and childcare, this sits alongside the wider first aid picture. Many of the same adults managing seizures may also need to respond to asthma, choking, allergic reactions, fever or falls. Our guide to common child injuries covers some of those broader day-to-day risks.

Why Childcare First Aid Training Helps

Seizures are one of those emergencies where calm matters as much as knowledge. Good training helps people stop doing the wrong things: no forcing the mouth open, no pinning the child down, no freezing because they are unsure whether it is “serious enough”.

Our HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting course is built for people working around babies and children. It covers child CPR, seizure response, choking, anaphylaxis, asthma, burns and other situations where a clear first response makes the environment safer.

Bottom Line

If a child has a seizure, focus on safety first. Protect them from injury, time the seizure, monitor breathing, and call 000 when the seizure is prolonged, it is the first seizure, or recovery is not going as expected.

The moment can be frightening, but the first aid priorities are steady and learnable. That is exactly why child-focused first aid training matters.

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