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If your child has absence seizures it means they "shut off" for a few seconds. They appear to stare blankly into space and don't know what's going on around them. They might fidget with their hands, and their eyes might flutter.

There are two main types of absence seizure: typical and atypical. The two types are treated differently. Here we cover the typical absence seizures. These seizures used to be called petit mal seizures.

During an absence seizure, a child loses consciousness for a short time. Seizures usually last less than 10 seconds. But:^{1 2}

• A child can have lots of absence seizures
• Some children have dozens of absence seizures in a day
• A few children have 100 absence seizures a day.

It can be difficult to tell if your child has absence seizures. Before the seizures are diagnosed, children are sometimes told off for being careless or not paying attention. Teachers are often the people who notice that something is wrong.

If your child gets only absence seizures and is between the ages of 4 and 10 years old, your doctor might say they have childhood absence epilepsy.^{1 2} This is a type of epilepsy.

Older children and adults can get absence seizures, but they'll usually get other seizures or symptoms as well. They might have a different type of epilepsy, such as juvenile absence syndrome or myoclonic absence epilepsy.^{2 3} To learn more, see our articles on Epilepsy.

All types of epileptic seizure happen because the brain's electrical activity is disrupted. Nerve cells in the brain become overexcited and fire signals in a disorganized way. The result is a seizure.

Unfortunately, we know very little about why seizures happen. Doctors think children probably get absence seizures because of a problem with the genes that control how their brain works.^{1 2}

Because a child's brain switches off for a few seconds during an absence seizure, they might find it hard to learn, or might have more accidents.⁴ Treatment can reduce the number of seizures or might stop them altogether. Children who still get seizures may need to avoid some activities, such as climbing, swimming unsupervised or riding a bike on busy roads.

This information is for educational use only, and is not a substitute for prompt professional medical advice. Readers should always consult a physician or other professional for advice and treatment. ©BMJ Publishing Group Limited 2008. All rights reserved.