My daughter is 2 1/2 years old and had what the doctors think was an absence seizure last week.  She had a febrile seizure exactly 7 months ago, but hasn't had any other symptoms or issues since then.  I just happened to notice in the morning that just for a second she stared off into space, so I mentioned it to my sitter.  My sitter called later to say that my daughter was staring off into space, no blinking, no movement for about 5 minutes.  She came out of it once she picked her up and then she was very sleepy.  We made a visit to the ER and they diagnosed the absence seizure.  We're scheduled for a 2nd sleep deprived EEG (the first one was normal back in October) and a visit with a neurologist tomorrow, with an MRI in a few weeks.  My sitter is trained to deal with seizures in children and we're both concerned.  My husband has an aunt that had one of these seizures years ago when she was a child, but no other family history.  I'm afraid I won't ask the right questions at the appointment.  I'm trying to find as much info as I can....Can you have these types of seizures but not have Epilepsy?  She is a little hard to understand when she speaks, but I've never considered her slow in any way...Does anyone know anything about lack of sleep causing seizures?  Kendall doesn't sleep very well, but doesn't wake up exhausted - completely the opposite!  I know I'm rambling, but I just don't know what I'm really supposed to be looking for!  Any help would be most welcome!