Benign neonatal convulsions, though rare, are seen with increasing frequency and are characterized by seizures during the neonatal period with favorable prognosis. Two distinct entities can be identified, based on whether the syndrome is familial or non-familial, with epilepsy developing in 14% of patients with the familial form. We report a retrospective study of 23 patients, 13 with benign familial neonatal seizures and 10 with benign idiopathic neonatal seizures. All except one had normal neurologic development. We observed central temporal (rolandic) EEG foci in the follow-up of a few patients in both groups, with no clinical manifestations. We consider the possibility that these entities may share common genetic factors with benign rolandic epilepsy.