Not recognising pain

Our premmie girl is now 16 month old ish. We have noticed that she doesnt seem to react to pain stimuli... For instance she will jam her fingers in places but not cry... If she does cry its usually out of shock or more frequently frustration... She is communicative and happy, seems to react "normally" in every other way... she just doesnt seem to sense or react to pain?! Is this a normal thing? Could this be a sign of something more serious?

Perhaps related, perhaps not, she also has these moments where she will just stare at nothing. For ages. To the point that her carers felt the need to comment on it as it freaked them out...

Just after some ideas as to if this is a normal sort of thing. Our other two kids have never acted/reacted this way at all. . .

Thanks :)

My DS now 3.5yrs was very much the same up until recently. He still has a very high pain threshold and if he does cry I know that it's somewhat serious. But generally he gets straight back up and continues on.

I haven't experienced the stare but this may be her way of processing the pain, rather than crying.

The possibility that something may have been wrong with DS crossed my mind a number of times but I have always put it down to the extensive amount of invasive medical intervention he needed to get him where he is today.

Maybe make an appointment with your GP and if they feel it is needed, or on your request, they can refer you to a Paed (if you don't already have one).

The pain thing could be related to Sensory Processing Disorder. My DD used to have a high pain tolerance, but she's learnt the thing to do is cry, even for minor things that I know don't actually hurt.

Hey BC, Just wondering - when you say that your DD 'stares at nothing for ages', how long does she do this for? And how often? When she is doing it, is she rousable? If you call her name or touch her, does she immediately respond? I ask because your description is suggestive of absence seizures. The fact that others have commented on these episodes also rings some alarm bells. How prem was your DD? Seizures are more common in children who were delivered very prem due to the higher likelihood of damage to the brain during and after birth. It's possible that a part of the brain which is damaged can interfere with the processing of pain reception and also cause absence seizures. I may be way off base, and those episodes may be completely unrelated to her lack of reaction to painful stimuli but I would consult a doctor for investigation. Try to record one of her absent episodes with your phone to show the doctor. Good luck, I hope your DD is fine.