OMG. Nonsebleed out of nowhere. --> THANK YOU!

[Fairy]

Update --> Thanks for all the replies, guys! I think it's a combination of what all of you said. Definitely, he's a picker. I think that 1 nosebleed that kept getting re-picked probably applies to him. No bleeding last night, but I'd imagine it'll happen again, cuz we're very dry in this house. I guess with the combination I'm kind of surprised it hasn't happened before this. I'm gonna keep the vaseline trick ready, too. Anyway, I really appreciate all the responses. Poor Eeyore's been washed twice; the first time wasn't enough, the second time I forgot him in the washer, so now he's off for a third round. Thanks again!

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DS went down for bedtime at about 8pm. Just went to check on him before I went to bed myself at about 11:30pm, and there was blood all over his face. Initially I panicked, but then I saw it was all coming from his notes. Earlier during dinner, he said he had a tummy ache, so I pulled the milk and all the food, and he just layed in front of the TV for about 20 minutes. Sat on the potty for a good long time, nothing. Finally, I put him down for bed. I went up to check on him once, and there was no problem. In those 2.5 hours or so, there was a nosebleed. I'd say a full tablespoon's worth on his sheet, matted in his Eeyore, and his face. He fought me tooth and nail to clean his face. I used a wipee, then screamed (just his face, not in his nose) so I switched to a warm washcloth, which didn't help much. Inside his nose is still a bit dried, and some looks fresh, but he won't let me near it. The kid is strong, he seriously won't let me near it. I cleaned up the dried stuff on his face, tho. He just wanted to go back to bed.

I never had nosebleeds. DS has asthma. Asthma I know. Allergies I know. Vomiting? That I know. Nosebleeds are another language. The books say just pinch nose, head forward, sometimes ice on neck. Is there anythign else I can be doing?

I'm not gonna be able to sleep tonight.

ETA --> Ok, it could be he went dumpster diving for that wayward booger. Read that's a common thing, and DS is very fond of picking his nose right now. We say, "don't pick your nose" several times a day. And when he woke up to me trying not to panic, the first thing he did was stick his finger up his nose. Hoping that's all it is. Still, alot of blood for such a little finger . . .

[JustMe]

Any chance he has spent a lot of time in heated rooms lately or had some other reason for being really dry? Dd used to get chronic really bad nosebleeds until recently. There were a couple of times I almost had to take her to the ER in the middle of the night. Although it seemed she was just prone to them, as is not true with your ds as you say this is his first time, one thing I did learn is that being too dry either caused by heat and/or not taking in enough liquids can cause a nosebleed. And, yes, the picking thing is to blame for lots of nose bleeds as well.

If it has stopped, meaning there is no more blood coming out, I would not be doingg anything else. The times when I couldnt get the nosebleed to stop, ice is the only thing that worked for us.

Robyn

[Emmas Mom]

I'm not sure where you are but how's the humidity level? Can you hook up a humidifier?

[momofmany]

Nosebleeds are pretty common in our house, especially as the heating season begins. Children can get them for lots of reasons and they are mostly messy and harmless. Just do what you've mentioned and stay calm. Oh - and my 7yo seems to have them for a week or so at at time, esp. when she has a cold. We keep kleenex everywhere during those weeks.

Good luck!

[egoldber]

Sarah gets nosebleeds fairly frequently. They are scary but not really dangerous. This link is helpful for info about nosebleeds:

http://www.entnet.org/healthinfo/nose/nosebleeds.cfm

You mention he has allergies. What is taking for his allergies? If he takes an inhaled med like Nasonex, make sure you spray toward the side of the nose, not the center.

Things that make Sarah's worse are dry air (turning on the heat for the first time is a big trigger), air travel, dry climates, cold air.

Things that help are making sure she stays hydrated and using a saline spray frequently.

[MamaMolly]

I got nose bleeds all the time as a kid, and again when pregnant with DD. It had a lot to do with the air being dry. A humidifier really helps.

Also, my mom told me a long time ago that anything above the neck bleeds 'like a stuck pig". So even though it looks like gallons, it probably isn't all that much. Still, it is pretty scary!

My guess is dry air and nose picking are the culprits. DD had her first nosebleed after bonking her nose at the playground, then had it re-bleeding on and off throughout the day due to her fondness for brain scratching.

If it continues or you are worried, call your ped. and reassure yourself. It can't hurt, right?

Hugs, mama, you handled it well!
Molly

[Moneypenny]

For quite a while, DD's self-soothing bedtime activity was nose-picking. She never had a full nose-bleed, but would often wake up with smears all over her sheets. My good-night message to her was, "Good night. I love you. Sweet dreams. Keep your finger out of your nose!"

I imagine nosepicking, along with colder weather and the furnace running and drying out the air, is what did it.

Susan
mama to my 3-year old cutie pie

[g-mama]

It's probably not a big deal at all. My oldest ds gets them frequently and there's nothing that I can tell triggering it. I wouldn't worry, and I definitely wouldn't lose sleep over it.


~Kristen

Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
Marco 12-05

[bubbaray]

I used to get major nosebleeds as a kid. As in 30 minutes and still bleeding. You got it right, pinch the nose (IIRC, for 15min, then check to see if its stopped, if not, 15min more), lean FORWARD, ice on the back of neck. I think the standard is if it hasn't stopped bleeding in 30 min, then you go to the dr/ER/urgent care.

Once it stops, you can swab vaseline inside the nose to moisturize. If its dry where you are, you can do the vaseline trick every day (I used to have to do that all winter as a kid). For me it wasn't nosepicking (I swear, LOL!), it was the dry air.

If you are worried at night, you could give him an extra pillow if he's using a pillow or prop up the head end of his mattress if he's younger (IIRC, he's near my DD#1's age and we've used 2 pillows with her when she's been stuffed up).

If it happens again in his sleep and its stopped bleeding when you see it, I'd probably just leave it and clean him up in the morning.

BTW, he might feel a little sick afterwards if much blood gets into his tummy.



Melissa

DD#1: 04/2004

DD#2: 01/2007

[Kungjo]

How's the humidity level in your area? DD #1 usually gets at least one nose bleed during the winter season due to a combination of low humidity in the area and the heat inside the house or school. Both cause noses to dry up resulting in a nosebleed.

Try putting a humidifier in his room at night to combat the dryness. Her ped also recommended keeping the nose moist with Little Noses Unmedicated Saline Drops. A drop or two in each nostril does the trick. It's located in the cold/allergy medicine aisle of Target or Wal-Mart.

HTH