One couple is struggling with how to handle the difficult issue of their daughter’s febrile seizures. The father of a 4-year-old girl took to the Reddit community to ask if he is “the a**hole” for telling his wife that she shouldn’t call 911 every time a seizure occurs.
The writer goes on to share that his daughter experiences febrile seizures from time to time and his wife becomes overwhelmed each time due to an anxiety disorder.
“After her first seizing episode, we went to a neurologist who diagnosed the febrile seizures,” the dad writes. “His directions for responding to a seizure were to strip our daughter down, put a cool cloth on her body, and wait for her temperature to drop. Then pump her full of Motrin to manage the fever.”
He went on to say that while the seizures are scary, they are actually harmless and the child will grow out of them.
“It was the opposite of what we needed to do in that moment,” this father says of his wife’s reaction to their daughter’s seizure.
The young girl has now experienced a total of six seizures.
“I followed the neurologist’s directions and we got through the seizures like a breeze,” he adds. “ In a matter of minutes, she was up and wanting to play again. My wife’s initial reaction, however, was to cuddle our daughter in the bed, which actually increased her body temp. In each case, I had to argue with my wife to let go of our daughter so I could cool her down. The cuddling was a result of my wife’s anxiety and her need to soothe herself by nurturing our sick daughter. I get that, but it was the opposite of what we needed to do in that moment.”
On the occasions where the mother was alone with the child when she experienced seizures, she took more drastic measures.
“My wife called 911 and an ambulance came. Both times, I rushed home to inform the 1st responders about her condition and instructed them on how to cool her down. Both times they recommended taking her to the ER, and both times we ended up paying $1000 for a 4-hour ER visit where they gave her nothing more than a dose of children’s Motrin.”
“AITA for telling my wife that we need to follow our neurologist’s directions instead of calling 911 and racking up unnecessary medical bills?”
A majority of the Reddit commenters voted that the dad was definitely not an a**hole and even offered helpful tips to help manage his wife’s anxiety during seizures. The top comment reads, “NTA [Not The A**hole]. Type out a list. Post it somewhere (bathroom). Next couple of times it happens when you’re home, let your wife go through the steps with your encouragement. You are hands-off and Don’t step in unless it all goes to sh*t. This needs to become a ROUTINE for her so she doesn’t panic. If necessary, schedule another visit with neuro so she can hear it all again from them.”
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