(editor’s note: this is one family’s experience and is purely for information only.  Your child’s experience may differ)

I wanted to share some information about our experience with my son’s EEG and MRI. Mainly because I searched Google nonstop for hours trying to find some information about how these tests work for a young toddler and couldn’t find much more than a clinical explanation of how they work and why they’re used. That’s not what I wanted when I was nervous about my little monster’s upcoming tests. I wanted to find a mommy or daddy who said they’ve been there and told me what to expect and that everything would be alright. Isn’t that what we all want to know sometimes? So I’m putting it out there for the next worried parent who searches on Google for an EEG or MRI for their little one. I’ve been there, don’t worry, it’s all going to be alright.

What happens during an EEG?

Kaleb did his EEG (Electroencephalography), the test was so much longer than we originally expected. It was about 50 minutes long, after he was all wrapped up and the many many leads were already placed on him.

He was swaddled in a huge blanket and then basically wrapped up and restrained since any movement will alter the test results. Once they had him all wrapped up, he had many leads placed all over his head with goopy glue stuff. He was not a happy camper. There was a lot of screaming and crying at first, since he of course has no idea what is going on. Luckily we had his emergency pacifier handy and they set up a TV for him to watch to keep him distracted. Towards the end they started testing his reaction to different lights, strobe lights, frequencies, etc. He ended up having to close his eyes towards the end because the strobes were getting to him. …continue reading