any experience with bloody noses?

[hjdong]

DS got a huge bloody nose today while playing for reasons that are unclear. I attempted not to panic, mostly because I wanted him to be calm - he thought it was paint. But there was a lot of blood (noses are funny that way aren't they). He was playing in one of those tunnel playground things, so I really couldn't see what happend right before the bloody nose (picking - not something he tends to although it happens - major head trauma, nothing) and that really bothered me. I wasn't sure how scared to be. I made him recite the abc's to me. At first he faltered, but when I told him to stop kidding around, he went through the whole song. Did I mention there was a lot of blood? He, of course, wanted to go back to playing. I wanted to wrap him in a cocoon. I satisfied with cleaning him up, making sure the bleeding stopped, and promising him a book when we got home.

A friend suggested it was the aridity (we live in a desert climate) but if anything, it's been more humid (or, as we like to call it, comfortable) the past couple days. Intellectually, I know, kids get bloody noses and it's no big deal. Emotionally he must be watched like a hawk because he's obviously suffered some major head injury. Anyone want to talk me down?

Thanks,

[jadamom]

Here's some info from dr.greene.com:
http://www.drgreene.org/body.cfm?id=...etail&ref=1151
Hope this helps to reassure you. :)

[lcl]

DS gets frequent bloody noses. Usu it is bc he is congested and i agree when the air is dry. lately, it is bc he picks his nose. i know you're JK but for reassurance the anatomy does not work that way from a head injury. my way out theory for DS's bloody noses is that he is unable to clot well due to lack of green leafy veggies in his diet. but that means he will be bruising and bleeding elsewhere as well.

[houseof3boys]

We had one of those before too when Ryan knocked himself in the head with a metal car at his first haircut! It was really fun. :)

It is certainly scary when this stuff happens since you don't know when it warrants a doctor or hospital visit! What page is that on in the toddler manual again? :)

[hjdong]

Thanks everone. As the vision of blood streaming down his face has faded somewhat, I am feeling more rational. The site from Dr. Greene both helped and hurt. "During the preschool years, some children will have several benign nosebleeds a week." OMG. *Please* not us. Although I suppose by the time you get to a couple tmes a week, it's less traumatic.

It helped by indicating that they could be caused by allergies, which DS has, and I didn't know that they could cause nosebleeds. I suspect it's related because, although like I said, he does occasionally pick his nose (don't all kids), he's not really a nose picker (i.e. I have to say something maybe once a week, usually in the carseat when he's bored) so I would be surprised if he took time out from playing to dig around, IYKWIM, but who knows.

This I just found funny. "A nosebleed is diagnosed by observing the blood."

Thanks again,

[ainwonderland]

I totally know what you're talking about as we're one of the "several benign nosebleeds a week" families. It gets really old. I change more sheets now than I did when she was an infant! Ours mostly happen in the middle of the night.

The problem can be cyclical. Dry air leads to dry booger and is either picked bumped or whatever and the nose bleeds. Then there is a scab that becomes irritating and they want it out, and then the nose bleeds, then it forms a scab, and so on.

I have called the pediatrician about this twice and they continue to attempt to reassure me this is very normal in preschoolers. That some kids just have more vasculature in their nose than others. I still honestly wonder. There have been times when she is soooo coated in blood (entire face, hair, hands, front of nightgown) that my husband describes it as a scene from the movie Carrie. Imagine walking in on that in the morning! It took two fills of the bathtub (because the water was so bloody) to get her cleaned off one time.

They do go in cycles like I stated earlier. What has helped for us is in inroom humidifier, trimming her nails constantly and coating the inside of her nostrils with vaseline each night before she goes to bed.

Good luck!

[lizamann]

Not to scare you further, but the problem can last long past the pre-school years. Starting in about 3rd grade, I would get unexplained, instantaneous nosebleeds without any warning or provocation. Sometimes I would hear a little click in my nose, then the blood would come gushing out by the handful. Never really figured that one out, but it would happen several times a year. If it happened in school, some mean kids would make fun of me for picking my nose, which was not at all the case! My parents never worried about it, though. Just had me sit with my head back till it stopped bleeding. Not at all pleasant, but not anything to be really scared about, either. I know I wouldn't like to see my kid go through it, though! And as a middle school teacher, I've had a few kids run out of the room cupping blood under their chins with one hand, and pinching their nose with the other, as they run to the bathroom. I guess it's just one of those things!

ETA I just read the link above, and it still doesn't explain my bleeds. I didn't have a blood disease, allergies, rarely had colds, and my most memorable one happened in August, which around here is NOT dry! Who knows?!