[rapf777]

OK now that I have your attention....No it does not stink being a mom but what stinks is when your child is hurting and you do not know what to do. I had to call 911 today. Giuseppa was playing by the stairs (bottom 2 only and its only because that is the way the baby gate will fit) when she turns around and says to me "Mommy boo boo" I looked up at her from the kitchen and that is when my world dropped the bottom from me. She had blood all over her face, pjs, hands and floor. She was perfusely bleeding from her nose AGAIN. This time it really looked bad. There was no way stopping the bleeding. I tried putting pressure, applying ice whatever came to mind. I finally dropped to the floor and called 911. They within 3 minutes and by than it looked like a freakin crime scene. The 3 nice men calmed me down and said it was nothing and they did not think she should go to the hospital. The bleeding stopped and she was a hyper active bomb after that. Well soo much for my nerves.

Thanks for letting me share

Rose

[ana-mom]

How scary for both of you - I'm so glad Guiseppa is OK.

[Whistler]

Oh sorry that scared you so badly. I used to get really bad nosebleeds as a kid and sometimes I really freaked my teachers out.

But although it looks awful, you can't really lose too much blood through your nose and it will eventually stop.

The best thing to do is to not tip her head back or it will run down her throat and make her gag. You can try pressure or ice but I doubt she'll like it. I never did. It was uncomfortable and messy and did not help one bit.

I would just hold her over the sink and let it bleed till it stops. (Sometimes it took up to 20 minutes of steady dripping before mine stopped.) That's what I ended up doing after my mom tried all kinds of different remedies.

Some things that helped prevent them were using a vaporizer or humidifier to keep the air not so dry. We'd also put a little Vaseline in my nose to keep it soft and keep it from cracking. The doctor told us that there is a procedure where you can cauterize the inside of the nose but we never opted for that. We just let it bleed when the bleeds came and didn't worry about it. I grew out of it and rarely have them as an adult.

[grumpyskirtgirl]

OMG How scary!!!!

Thanking God she is ok!

[Whistler]

Oh, and by the way, nosebleeds don't hurt at all.

If she cried it was probably because you were freaking out.

I'm sorry you were so frightened! It sounds like this has happened before so it will likely happen again. It's inconvenient but it is not harmful or painful so you can at least rest easy on that. Although definitely double check with your pediatrician, as I'm sure you were going to already. But what you described sounded just like what I had and it was caused by the skin inside the nose being delicate and cracking open easily, when it got dry in the winter or when I was hot and active in the summer.

[Shannavi]

I would have freaked out too! I'm so glad she is OK. My DS fell and only one drip of blood came out but the overwhelming feeling of fear and panic was unforgettable.

[PackGirl]

Our middle son gets nosebleeds....

It sure looks like a lot of blood...but it isnt.... It is scary at first...but after a couple you kinda get used to it....
He gets them if the air gets too dry....

[DPline]

I am sorry! My younger son used to get nosebleeds a lot and it seems like so much blood. More than once he woke up with his bed looking like he had lost a gallon of blood. As encouragement for you, the older he gets, the less frequent they seem to be. (Knock on wood!)

[TXTennis]

DD had one the other day and it looked horrible as well. I woke up my husband by telling him DD was covered in blood - that got his attention!

It's scary. Glad she is okay.

[cbmstephanie]

I bet that was freaky to see your little one covered in blood. Hopefully, she will grow out of this soon!!

[sak9645]

Nosebleeds are very common in young children who have small noses and short nasal passages. There isn't enough room for cold air to get warmed by body heat and moistened by body fluids, and the cold, dry air quickly causes drying of the delicate tissues of the nose. Blood vessels crack and leak.

Nosebleeds scare people, but the amount of blood lost is surprisingly small. They are not much different from menstrual periods in that respect. When a woman has her period, it looks as if she is losing a lot of blood, yet she isn't. The only women who really lose a lot of blood when menstruating are those with conditions, such as fibroids, that cause hemorrhaging. Most kids' nosebleeds do NOT involve hemorrhaging and will not harm their health at all.

If your child is subject to nosebleeds, it's easy to panic, especially when one occurs at 3 a.m., you're exhausted, and your child is terrified. But don't. Just keep three things at hand: 1) A nasal aspirator if your child is too young to blow his/her nose; 2) A spray bottle of saline solution; and 3) A spray bottle of Afrin nasal spray. Do NOT let other people in the home use either of the spray bottles, and don't use them again on your child after using them when he/she has a nosebleed at the time he has a cold or other respiratory illness, to avoid spreading germs.

The baby books always tell you to sit your child up, with head upright or slightly tilted forward, and to pinch the nostrils for up to ten minutes, having the child breathe through his mouth, to allow the blood to clot.

Well, I have to tell you that very few babies and young children will sit still, letting you hold their noses, for ten minutes. The idea of sitting up with head upright or forward is fine, since you don't want a child to have blood going down his/her throat and upsetting his/her stomach. Kids can vomit and feel terrible when they swallow a lot of blood. But forget this ten minutes of pinching the nose, unless your child is unusually mellow. For one thing, ten minutes may not be enough to stop the blood flow, especially if your child is upset and crying.

Here's what worked for us and for many kids I know. First, use the nasal aspirator, or have your child blow his/her nose, to clean some of the blood and mucus out. Spray in some saline solution and suction or have your child blow his/her nose again.

Then, immediately, squirt some Afrin nasal spray (or one of its generic equivalents) into each nostril. Afrin contains a substance that constricts blood vessels; that's what makes it work as a decongestant. The blood flow should start to decrease, as the blood vessels start to constrict. If it's still pretty heavy, give one more squirt to each nostril. Your child may yell, because Afrin tastes bad if any goes down into his/her throat, or because it stings a wee bit, but it really isn't a painful experience.

In most cases, the bleeding will slow and come to a stop very quickly -- within a minute or two. Do NOT blow the nose again. Just clean the child up and let him/her go back to bed or whatever.

IF the child's nosebleed does not stop, even after using Afrin, then call your doctor or go to the emergency room. Your child may need to have a blood vessel cauterized, and your doctor may want to take some tests to rule out clotting problems. Or if the nosebleed was due to a fall on the face, there may have been an injury that is causing bleeding.

To prevent future nosebleeds, especially in the winter, do the following. Buy some Bacitracin ointment, and put a dab on a Q-tip into each nostril when the child gets up, and again at bedtime. If you can't find Bacitracin (which I recommend because it has mild antibacterial properties), you can get away with using Vaseline. Do not put enough to make it hard for your child to breathe; use only a small amount.

Some people like to use a squirt of saline beforehand, and that is fine. Saline does not contain medicine, and is harmless; it's just salt water, often buffered with something like baking soda to make it sting less. It is a good nasal moisturizer. Do NOT use Afrin, however, as a substitute for saline, when trying to PREVENT nosebleeds.

Do not use Afrin when your child has a cold, either. Afrin and other products like it can cause "rebound" congestion if used too frequently for colds and nasal allergies. Some people actually wind up needing to take steroids to open up their nasal passages, because they have overused the product and they can't breathe through their noses at all.

Use the Afrin ONLY when your child has a nosebleed that doesn't stop quickly on its own, and only use a squirt or two per nostril.

Some people find that using a room humidifier or vaporizer in winter moisturizes indoor air enough to reduce nasal drying and the incidence of nosebleeds. But do be careful if you use them. The steam type can cause serious scalding, so do not place them where a child can get at them or yank them off a table by pulling on the electrical cord. The "cool mist" type usually need very careful and frequent cleaning to avoid buildup of molds and bacteria.

And, of course, humidifiers don't help if a child goes outdoors in winter. That's why I would recommend the Bacitracin or Vaseline. It's a cheap and effective way to keep the nasal membranes from drying and cracking. You can even use an extra dab before your child goes to play in the snow.

Sharon



Sharon

[Kingwait4Dany]

My oldest son get nose bleeds (bad ones) all the time, especially in the winter. Yes do the humidifer, sailine drops everyday and even the vasoline. Now don't freak out they get one in the middle of the night and sleep through it. My son is famous for that...talk about a bloody freak out!!! Hang in there! Pam

[MamaS]

Don't want to be an alarmist, but my oldest daughter used to get nosebleeds on occasion. But one time she had one that would NOT stop. We ended up at the doctor's office. He packed it, did a blood test, and sent us directly to the hospital. She had thrombocytopenia and was in the hospital for five days, getting transfusions of platelets. So, a visit to the pediatrician would not be the act of a paranoid mother.

[Dmitry'smom]

You poor thing. That would have freaked me out! My son used to get terrible nose bleeds that would not stop for anything. We found out it was because he had allergies and his nasal passage was just so dried out that it would start bleeding and it made it harder to stop. We put him on saline spray and saw an improvement right away.

who knew a nose could put out so much blood??

[Ana01]

Rita,

I feel your pain. Alberto gets nose bleeds too; fortunately, we haven't had one lately. But when he's gotten them, it's pretty freaky!

Glad that Guiseppa is fine and that your nerves are probably calmed down by now. :-)