Techniques for intensively monitoring epileptic seizures are being increasingly applied to childhood seizure problems. This article reviews the salient features of the past and present monitoring methodologies and discusses their relevance for studying the pediatric age group. Clinical applications of intensive monitoring presently include differential diagnosis and characterization of attacks, topographic localization of paroxysmal discharges, spike frequency studies, therapeutic re-evaluation, and neuropsychological testing. Petit mal, infantile spasms, and pseudoseizure disorders have been studied in greatest detail. The particular problems associated with studies of infants and children are noted. To date, intensive monitoring has primarily been carried out in adult populations. However, pediatric applications are likely to become more prevalent as monitoring studies continue to demonstrate that new information can be generated that would otherwise be unobtainable by conventional recording techniques.