[Can coma and awakening be evoked in infants?].

Abstract

This question occurred to me when I had the opportunity to consult an hospitalized nursling in Neonate Unit. I felt him to look like oldest children considered as being in coma. Coma diagnosis has not been evoked neither for him nor for other babies I had to know during their neonate hospitalization. They were described as somnolent, sleepy, flaccid. It seems that coma state could not be considered during their first weeks of life. This difference of impression appeared to me as interesting to question. What possibilities of relations with the nursling does this imply?