A seizure with a fever in a young child. Frightening to watch and usually harmless — and paracetamol does not prevent them.
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A febrile convulsion is a seizure that happens in a young child during a fever. It affects roughly one child in twenty between the ages of six months and five years, and it is one of the most frightening things a parent can witness.
The two things worth knowing before anything else: they are usually harmless, and they are not caused by anything you did or failed to do.
A typical febrile convulsion lasts a couple of minutes, the child is drowsy and confused afterwards, and they are back to themselves within an hour or two. They do not cause brain damage, and the great majority of children who have one never develop epilepsy.
The point that surprises most parents is that giving paracetamol or ibuprofen does not prevent them. This has been studied properly, and lowering the temperature does not reduce the chance of a seizure. Treat the child's discomfort by all means — but not in the belief that it prevents a fit.
During the seizure, a child may:
Afterwards, they are usually drowsy, irritable and confused for anything up to an hour. That is normal and expected.
A simple febrile convulsion — which is the great majority — involves the whole body, lasts under 15 minutes, happens only once in a 24-hour period, and the child recovers fully.
A complex febrile convulsion affects one side or one limb, lasts longer than 15 minutes, or happens more than once in 24 hours. These need more careful assessment, though most still turn out well.
They are not caused by letting a fever go untreated, and no parent should be left thinking they are.
A febrile convulsion is diagnosed by the picture — a seizure, in a feverish child of the right age, who recovers. There is no confirmatory test.
The clinical work is finding the source of the fever and, above all, excluding meningitis and encephalitis. That is the reason a first seizure is assessed in person and often in hospital.
Meningitis, encephalitis, a low blood sugar, a head injury, or epilepsy presenting for the first time. Breath-holding attacks and faints are also mistaken for seizures, and a video helps distinguish them.
A child who has had a seizure needs to be seen in person, not on a video call. We will say that immediately rather than work around it.
A first febrile convulsion always warrants same-day face-to-face assessment — partly to check the child, and mainly to make sure the fever is not from something serious such as meningitis. Call 999 during a seizure, or 111 straight afterwards.
Its role here is afterwards, and it is not a small one.
Call 999 immediately if:
Seek same-day assessment even after a short seizure in a child who has had them before, if they are more unwell than usual, drowsy, or you are not happy.
Paracetamol and ibuprofen do not prevent febrile convulsions. Trials have looked at this carefully, and giving antipyretics does not reduce the chance of a seizure.
Give them because your child is uncomfortable or miserable with a fever — that is a good reason. Do not give them believing you are preventing a fit, and do not blame yourself if one happens anyway.
Nor is sponging, fanning or cold bathing recommended. It makes children shiver and distressed, and it does not help.
Keep them up to date. A fever after a vaccine can trigger a seizure in a susceptible child, but the illnesses vaccines prevent cause far more fevers, and far worse outcomes.
If your child has had a seizure, call 999 or 111 — not us. That is the clearest thing on this page.
The gap after a febrile convulsion is not medical care. It is explanation.
This page follows NICE Clinical Knowledge Summaries on febrile seizure and NICE NG143, Fever in under 5s.
Around a third of children who have one febrile convulsion will have another, most within a year. The risk of later epilepsy is only slightly above the background population risk after a simple febrile seizure — higher where seizures are complex, where there is a family history of epilepsy, or where there is pre-existing neurological difference.
Reviewed against NICE CKS and NG143 current at the date shown above.
No, and this matters. Paracetamol and ibuprofen do not prevent febrile convulsions — that has been studied properly.
Nothing you did or did not do caused this. Give them for discomfort, not for prevention.
Almost certainly not. After a simple febrile convulsion the chance of developing epilepsy is only slightly above the background risk for any child.
Febrile convulsions and epilepsy are different things, and one rarely leads to the other.
No. Simple febrile convulsions do not cause brain damage, learning difficulties or developmental problems.
Children who have them develop exactly as they would have done.
Around a third of children have another, usually within a year, and the chance is higher if the first one was before 18 months or there is a family history.
Most children stop having them by the age of five.
Note the time. Clear the space. Do not restrain them and put nothing in their mouth. Roll them on their side once it stops.
Call 999 if it passes five minutes, or if it is their first.
If someone else can, yes. A short video is genuinely useful to the clinician and often clarifies what type of event it was.
Do not do it at the expense of keeping your child safe.
Yes, and they should. A post-vaccine fever can occasionally trigger a seizure, but the diseases vaccines prevent are far more dangerous.
Mention the history so you can be advised what to expect.
Not after a simple febrile convulsion. An EEG does not predict epilepsy in this situation and is not recommended.
Complex or recurrent seizures are assessed differently.
Yes — with a clear written plan. Time it, keep them safe, recovery position, 999 at five minutes.
Most parents find that having the plan written down is what makes normal life possible again.
August 30, 2026
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