[Snook182]

My little girl has been having nose bleed's, it happens about once/twice a week...sometime's she wakes up and her nose is full of dry blood.....but sometime's it happens just all of a sudden (awake) and just pours out...
I am planning on taking her to the doctor about this, but wondering if any of you have any experience with this?I am clueless, Thank's for your help!

[kretzklan]

DS2 had/has terrible nosebleeds. Got one the night we got custody in Russia and it lasted 4 hours! We looked into cauterizing his nose (where the freeze/burn the blood vessels) but there were no guarantees it would be helpful long term. The biggest thing the doctor has taught him is to keep his nose 'moist'. He uses a rub called 'ocean gel' (like ocean spray, obviously) and he puts a little in each morning and evening (during the winter/dry months). His blood vessels are large in his nose (apparently a genetic thing).
The incidents have really died down - from 3-6 per week to 1-3 per month.

[momofMikhail]

My dd use to get bad nose bleeds all the time (at least 1-2 a week). We found out that she has allergies, and the blood vessels in her nose are close to the surface because of the allergies. Some seasons would be worse than others, but it really got bad during allergy season. Once the dr. put her on an allergy med. she only gets a nose bleed every so often.

[Mommy K]

Our daughter gets them too. The reason she gets them is that the air is dry. We have saline nasal spray (little noses) that we have been using at night before bed in the winter. We also have a house humidifier, but she still needed the extra moisture at night.

[angieandstever]

Our daughter gets them on and off too. Usually it is the beginning of her getting sick. She has bad allergies and gets colds and ear infections. She has had her adenoids removed and two sets of tubes so they are better.

However one time last year she got quite a few nose bleeds in one week. She then got sick so we took her to the doctor and low and he said something blue was in her nose. Low and behold she had stuck a care bear bandaid up her nose! She loves to wear bandaids because they are cute so we have to monitor her closely now. We told her if she stuck one up her nose again she wouldn't get to wear anymore bandaids and she has been okay since.

Good luck!

[Bamamom07]

Well, when I was a little kid, I used to get frequent random nosebleeds. I remember one time I was probably 7 or 8, eating a bowl of lucky charms, and I noticed little drops of blood dripping on the table as I leaned over to take a bite. It happened again another time out shopping with my mom, and totally freaked her out so it must have been significant. She took me to the doctor. He said the problem was some people can have blood vessels lying just below the surface of the skin, and any little thing-rubbing nose, picking, can open it up. He used a swab with silver nitrate on it and touched inside my nose. Very nontraumatic, I vaguely remember it now. It worked.

[annaguat]

I second this approach. We have two bio-s with nose bleed issues. Anna

Originally Posted by kretzklan

DS2 had/has terrible nosebleeds. Got one the night we got custody in Russia and it lasted 4 hours! We looked into cauterizing his nose (where the freeze/burn the blood vessels) but there were no guarantees it would be helpful long term. The biggest thing the doctor has taught him is to keep his nose 'moist'. He uses a rub called 'ocean gel' (like ocean spray, obviously) and he puts a little in each morning and evening (during the winter/dry months). His blood vessels are large in his nose (apparently a genetic thing).
The incidents have really died down - from 3-6 per week to 1-3 per month.

[Mary Mulcahy]

Danny gets them in the winter. Make sure you keep the air humudified and the saline spray keeps the tissue moist. Also try to keep them from picking.

With my son it is a sure sign that he will or is sick (cold ect)
Mary

[hml1976]

My daughter gets gushers! I was terrified at first but really childhood nosebleeds are very common and most likely nothing to be concerned about at all.

[Melina's Mom]

My daughter gets really bad nose bleeds & she has been to the doctors & he told me to put vaseline in her nose & ever since I have been doing this she has had NO nose bleeds since.. hope this helps.

[LucyLuMyLuv]

Nosebleeds can also be a sign of Von Willebrand's Disease -- a bleeding disorder. If the nosebleeds don't resolve with the above measures I would ask for testing for VWD. It is more common than people think. (I have 3 children with Hemophilia - another bleeding disorder).

[sak9645]

Childhood nosebleed are very, very common. Most childhood nosebleeds are also totally harmless. What looks like gallons of blood is at most a tablespoon or two. Children do not tend to develop anemia from the nosebleeds. Bleeding disorders, such as Von Willebrand's disease and hemophilia, are rare, and you will probably know about them before your child starts having nosebleeds.

Nosebleeds occur most commonly in winter. The nasal passages are intended to warm and moisten air as it enters the body. But when the air outside is cold and/or dry, a dry type of heating system (such as forced air) is working, and the nasal passages are short, what tends to happen, instead, is that the delicate nasal membranes dry out. When that happens, little cracks develop, and blood vessels that are right near the surface break.

Not all nosebleeds occur in winter, of course. If your child has a cold or allergy, the irritated nasal membranes may also be subject to cracking and bleeding. And dry summer heat can also cause irritation. So, basically, nosebleeds CAN occur at any time.

If a child picks at the irritated, dry nasal membranes, because they "feel funny", he/she is almost certain to get a nosebleed. You can tell when a child has been picking because there is often blood on a finger or two, especially around the nail. You really don't want a child picking his/her nose, because he/she can introduce infection via dirty fingernails. I'll talk about strategies for preventing it later.

But even children who don't pick will get nosebleeds from dry nasal passages. In some children, the dry, irritated nasal passages are so delicate that almost any movement -- just turning over in bed, for example -- can cause a nosebleed to start. My daughter would get them upon awakening from sleep and starting to sit up.

Most baby books will tell you that, when a child gets a nosebleed, you should sit him/her up and tilt his/her head forward, so that blood doesn't run backwards from the nose, down the throat. Swallowing blood can make your child's digestive tract uncomfortable, and can provoke vomiting, so this is a good idea.

Most baby books will also tell you to pinch the child's nose closed, and hold it that way for ten minutes, having the child breathe through his/her mouth. I've got to tell you that you aren't going to find too many toddlers willing to sit still and let you hold their nose for ten minutes. And at 3 a.m., when your child has a nosebleed, you are going to be too tired to have patience.

If the nosebleed is mild, hold the nose as long as your chld will let you, and it will probably slow down its volume and come to a stop fairly soon. However, if your child has a real gusher, there are some things you can do so you can avoid a trip to the emergency room.

First, keep a bottle of saline nasal spray in the house, designated solely for your child. Throw it out if you use it when he/she has a cold or other infection, and buy a new one. Squirt the spray into the bleeding nostril a few times.

Second, if your child isn't capable of blowing his/her nose, use a nasal aspirator to suction out clots, blood, and nasal spray. Always wash the nasal aspirator out well afterwards.

Third, immediately after suctioning or blowing the nose, squirt one spray of Afrin nasal spray (or its generic) into the bleeding nostril. Afrin is a nasal decongestant that acts by constricting the blood vessels in the nose. When the blood vessels constrict, blood stops leaking out.

NOW pinch the nose shut for as long as the child will let you -- probably a minute! If bleeding doesn't stop or slow down in a minute or two, go through the process again. The bleeding will almost certainly stop or slow appreciably.

Let me advise you here NEVER to use Afrin or other decongestants with babies and children for things like colds, unless recommended by a doctor. When you use it for a nosebleed, use only one or two squirts. And try not to use it again for at least a day or two afterwards.

The reason is that, if you overuse a decongestant, you will cause rebound congestion. The nose that was stuffy before, may become so congested that you can't breathe well. Adults who overuse decongestants for allergies sometimes wind up having to go onto steroids in order to open up the nasal passages.

So consider use of a decongestant an emergency treatment. And, in fact, it is; that's what some emergency rooms do if you panic and bring your child with a nosebleed to the hospital. Before considering cauterization, it's not uncommon for the ER people to use a little decongestant to see if the bleeding stops. And it usually will.

In short, before piling your bleeding child into the car and trying to drive, half asleep, to the nearest ER, give the decongestant a try. You may find that it will let both your child AND you breathe easier and sleep easier.

Consider cauterization a last resort, to be used ONLY if there is a single prominent blood vessel that is the cause of the nosebleeds, and if the bleeding can't be controlled easily by the methods above, or prevented by use of the measures described below. Most children do not need it.

Now, besides stopping nosebleeds when they occur, you will want to try to reduce the frequency of nosebleeds. The best solutions are the following:

1. Use a safe humidifier that is set up so that a child can't be burned or scalded. A humidifier puts moisture into the air, to counteract the dryness that contributes to fragile blood vessels in noses.

2. Use saline nasal spray frequently. Saline nasal spray does not contain any medicine. Saline means "salty", and the nasal spray is simply water that has been treated with salt and a buffering agent, so it doesn't sting the delicate nasal tissues. It moisturizes the nasal passages, and can be used as often as you wish.

3. Apply a tiny dab of Bacitracin ointment to the inside of the nose, using a Q-tip, every morning and night. Be very gentle and don't push the Q-tip in very far; and don't use too much, or it will make breathing difficult. Bacitracin has mild antibacterial properties, which can help reduce the chance of infection if your child has been picking, but you can also use plain old Vaseline, if you don't have any; the goal is simply to moisturize the dry nasal passages. For my daughter, the Bacitracin was the #1 best solution to the nosebleed problems, and she still uses it occasionally. Be absolutely rigid about using Bacitracin or Vaseline during the times when nosebleeds are most common, such as during the winter.

Get your child's nasal allergies treated. Allergies that cause itchy, irritated nasal passages will trigger nose-picking, which can trigger bleeding.


Sharon

[kac266]

You wrote:
[ Bleeding disorders, such as Von Willebrand's disease and hemophilia, are rare, and you will probably know about them before your child starts having nosebleeds.

This is not necessarily true. In our case my daughter was due to go into emergency surgery for an abcess in her throat, I casually mentioned that I was concerned about her mosquito bites bleeding so much when she scratched them. They took a test to see if she had a bleeding disorder and sure enough she has mild Von willebrands, I had never heard of this before and had to be educated on it.
She never had the typical symptoms of VWD.
It is better to be sure than to face severe problems such as bleeding in the brain from falls or perhaps auto accidents.
You can be given medication to help your blood clot faster.
My daughter was 6.6 years old when diagnosed. She had been with us for 5 years at the time.
This disease is hereditary.
Hope that is not your diagnosis,but better safe than sorry.
Cindy

[rapf777]

It is ironic that you posted this today. DD wakes me up gagging and I see blood coming out of her nose. I immediately got up and took her to the bathroom where she vomited blood. YES I did FREAK!!!!!!!!!! I called her Dr. and told me to not worry that the vomiting was caused by her nose bleed. This happens to her on an average once a month. This last time I did check her nails to see if she picked her nose and her nails were clean. We try to discourage her from "picking" her nose which she has gotten ALOT better. But I do plan on getting her nose courtorized. When she bleeds she BLEEDS!! Last time I had the paramedics at the house because I could not stop the bleeding. Even the paramedics said my floor looked like a crime scene. YES lots of blood. We got her to blow her nose and there was the clot and it stopped bleeding. I would just ask your Dr.'s opinion on what to do. Ours suggested to have it courtorized. So after Easter our little one is going to get it done.

Rose

[KJones5]

I just went to the doctor because of this with my son this week. He had a nose bleed that lasted 30 minutes.

The doctor said the only reason you should get concerned is if there is also blood in the stool, urine or if the child bruises very easily. These are are signs there could be a bleeding disorder. Otherwise, no big deal.