How do you remove your DC's splinters?

[MommyAllison]

DD got her first splinters today, and DH only managed to get part of one out - so we've got a couple left. She was quite upset and said it hurt (and he was digging around quite a bit with the needle...) so I don't think that technique is working, nor will she probably allow him to try again. What do you do? They are teeny wood splinters, in the knuckle part of her palm below the first finger. I am thankful we made it this long with no splinters! :)

[srhs]

No BTDT with splinters, but do you have really good pointy tweezers? I like Tweezerman; they make some with serious points to them. BB&B carries them.

[MommyAllison]

We do have good tweezers, but the problem is more that at this point, DD isn't going to let us near her with tweezers (and I don't blame her!) :)

[mominma]

A few home suggestions I have read about, which have sometimes worked:

If it is not deep, you can try tape and see if the splinter will stick to the tape.

Another suggestion was to use glue and let it dry on spot. Once the glue dried it would pull the splinter out as the dried glue was peeled off.

Another suggestion was to use some baking soda and water to make a glue. Put it on a band-aid and let it dry, suppose to do the same as above, but the baking soda is suppose to help bring the splinter to the surface.

A few times, we just could not remove the splinter and I think between a bath or just soaking the area the splitter came out by itself.

My kids have only gotten them a few times, but it has been quite the challenge!

[soontobe]

soak her finger in warm water for a while. that usually helps work it out. you can also try to use your finger nails(like popping a pimple) or give it a few days sometimes they come out on their own(if she isnt in too much pain

[JTsMom]

Let her soak in the tub for quite a while before bed, then get it while she's sleeping. We have to do everything along these lines while DS sleeps- nail clipping, puttting ointment on boo boos, splinter removal, etc. :)

[rlu]

DS has the same reaction to tweezers for the same reason. He freaks when we mention them, so for splinters now we cover them with a bandaid and see if they work themselves out. We do the bath idea too. Am going to try the baking soda remedy (learned that for bee stings, didn't consider for splinters).

[wencit]

When we went for DS's 3-year checkup a few weeks ago, he happened to have a splinter under the skin of his hand that was bothering him. I asked his pediatrician if he could remove it, and the doctor took one look and said not to mess around with it, that we would just be inviting infection by digging around. He said the skin would eventually shed and that the splinter would come out by itself. Sure enough, it's now gone. He did mention some kind of tape thingee that we could use in the future if the splinter is sticking up out of the skin, but I forgot what it was called. Maybe call your ped and see what they recommend?

[MommyAllison]

Thanks everyone! We are going to the pedi tomorrow for a well check, so I'll see what she says. We might try the glue trick, since DD gets glue everywhere when doing craft projects anyway! I think it's probably too deep...but tonight is bath night, so we'll see what happens.