Keeping a baby or child safe at home

Here are some suggestions for reducing the risk of injury to your child if you have a seizure at home.

Bathing, changing and dressing a baby or young child

• It is best for someone else to be with you when bathing a baby. This is because if you had a seizure, your baby would be at risk of drowning. If on your own, a ‘top and tail’ wash (where you lay a baby or young child on a towel or changing mat and wash them with water from a shallow bowl) is a safer alternative. If a baby can crawl, make sure the bowl of water is out of their reach.
• When changing or dressing a baby, it is safer to do this on a floor changing mat rather than on a changing table. This is to reduce the risk of the baby falling if you had a seizure.
• It’s a good idea to keep supplies of nappies and other baby equipment on each floor of your house. This will reduce the need for you to carry a baby up and down stairs.

Feeding a baby

• When feeding a baby from a bottle or your breast, sit on the floor on a rug or a cushion. If you had a seizure, they wouldn’t have far to fall and would have a softer landing. 
• If your seizures or anti-epileptic drugs make you feel confused, you might find it hard to remember when you last fed your baby. Make a note of the time of the last feed and how much they took (from a bottle) or how long the feed lasted (from your breast). 
• To remind you which breast you last fed your baby from, use a simple memory aid, such as moving a piece of jewellery from one wrist to another. 
• If you have memory problems, clearly label food containers or bottles with the date and time that you expressed your breast milk, made up your baby’s bottles or pureed some baby food.  
• If you feed your baby formula milk and you feel confused after a seizure, use ready-made cartons of formula. This is easier than trying to count out scoops of formula powder.

Feeding a young child   

• If you tend to fall to one side when you have a seizure, seat a child on your non-affected side to feed them.
• If your seizures may cause you to fall and knock over a standard highchair, sit a child in a lower seat that you could not knock over. This could be a bouncer chair placed on the floor or a 2-in-1 highchair (where the chair and table part can be used without the high-legs). Always use the safety straps to make sure a child is secure in a baby seat.
• If you would be unable to cook food for a child after a seizure, have a supply of ready-made food available. 

Keeping a baby or child safe during and after your seizures

• Ask somebody else to carry a baby up and downstairs. If this is not possible, use a car seat when carrying a baby on stairs. This would protect them if you dropped them during a seizure.
• When looking after a baby during the night and first thing in the morning, try to avoid walking around with the baby. Instead, use a stroller or car seat to move them. This is particularly advisable if you have unexpected myoclonic jerks.
• If you have hard/wooden floors, use a stroller/pushchair to move your baby around the house. This would reduce the risk of dropping a baby onto a hard surface if you had a seizure.
• If you need to rest after a seizure, it’s advisable to ask someone else to look after a child. If this isn’t possible, stay with a child in a room where you can rest and where there are no possible hazards for a child. Hazards include cookers, fires or loose electrical wires. Make sure that a child would not be able to leave the room, by using safety gates or closing doors firmly. If a child is very young, you may prefer to put them in a playpen. 
• If there’s a risk that you’ll fall asleep after a seizure, use an alarm to wake you at regular intervals. This will help you to check on a child, for example to see if they need feeding. Alternatively, ask a friend or relative if they can phone you or call at your house at an agreed time, to make sure that you are all OK.
• If you routinely lock the exits to your home when you are inside, don’t leave the keys in the keyholes. Consider giving a spare key to a neighbour, friend or relative. Also, don’t use bolts or chains. These measures will make it easier for people to get in your house if you have a seizure and need help.

Making your home safe for a baby or child

If you are unable to supervise a baby or child during and after a seizure, it’s particularly important to make sure that your home is as safe as possible. Here are some safety tips.

• Use safety gates to stop a child from wandering into rooms where there are possible dangers, such as the kitchen. Gates can also be used at the top and bottom of stairs.
• Use cupboard door locks and safety corners for furniture in all your rooms. You can buy these in many shops.
• Use a fireguard that is fixed to the wall. This would prevent you from knocking it out of place if you fell on it during a seizure.
• If you smoke, be aware that if you had a seizure, a lit cigarette would cause the risk of fire.
• As with all medicines, make sure all your anti-epileptic drugs are kept out of the reach of a child at all times, preferably in childproof containers. This is especially important if a child is sometimes left unsupervised when you have a seizure.
• Only do your ironing when there is another person available to look after a child. If you had a seizure it would be easy for you to drop the iron or a child to get hold of it and get burned.
• Avoid holding a baby while you are cooking. If possible, do not let a child in the kitchen while you are cooking. If this is unavoidable, follow usual safety measures such as using the back burners on a stove and turning pan handles in. This would prevent you or a child from knocking them off if you had a seizure.

Teaching a child about seizures and first aid

Talk to a child from an early age about what happens when you have seizures. Also, explain how they can help you, for example, by rolling you onto your side after a seizure, if they can. This should help a child to feel more confident, knowing that they are helping you when you have a seizure. Information to help you explain epilepsy to a child.  http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/me-and-my-dad

As soon as a child is old enough, teach them how to use a phone. They can use this to get help when you have a seizure. Many phones have a speed dial facility, which will make this easier for a child.

There is a lot of general information available to help parents to make their home more ‘child friendly’. Your can get more information from your health visitor or www.direct.gov.uk – click on the section for parents.