Conference moira::parenting_v3

    Dottie:
    
    Cory had head x-rays after falling & hitting his head on the
    playground at daycare.  The x-ray technician wrapped him in a nylon
    sling with velcro fasteners.  It did the job of keeping him still, but
    he reacted just like your description of JA !
    
    Last week he had chest x-rays.  This time, he sat on a cart with a 
    bicycle type seat and a clear plastic tube wrapped around him (with
    his hands held over his head).  You can just imagine how much he
    disliked this contraption !!
    
    I'm not sure who has it worse - the poor kids being confined or having
    to listen to their screams/whimpers !
    
    Here's hoping that we don't have to go through this again soon !
    
    
    - Terry

    	I have worked as a technologist in a few clinical laboratories where
    blood was drawn on children. We had to use the restraining board on
    several occasions.

    	Sorry, but when you have a frightened child, when needles or sharp
    instruments are needed, the risk of fright to the mother or child is
    far outweighed by the physical risk of a needle landing in an eye or
    ripping open the skin.

    	I realize that it looks barbaric and many times the mothers would
    be crying harder than the children, but for the technicians and Doctors
    who had to do this work, it was far quicker and safer for both the
    child and the people working on him to restrain the child in this
    manner.

    	No one enjoys seeing a child suffer, but when you know that your
    work will eventually help the child it is easier to bear.

    				Wendy

    	

    When my son was about 10 months he cut his finger and ended up needing
    2 small stiches.  The same Papoose Board was used while the doctor and
    nurse did the stiching.  That was the worst part for me - so I can
    simpathize mother to mother!!  Just to see the child screaming and
    looking at you like What Are You Letting Them Do To Me Mommy! - was
    harder than getting the cut itself and the blood and all. Chase was
    fine and happy until they put him in that thing!  But it did go fast -
    thats one good thing about it!

    When Josh was not quite 3, he ran into the corner of his dresser and
    opened up a nice cut just below his eye. They used the paposse board to
    stitch him up, and he screamed shrill, 700 decibel screams, one right
    after another! I'm not sure either whether my wife's or the doctor's
    ears suffered worse! But from the perspective that the alternative was
    never being fully sure of being able to hold him perfectly still with a
    suture needle 1/2 an inch from his eye, the papoose board didn't seem
    so bad. I certainly wouldn't want them to give him drugs when there is
    a non-drug alternative.
    
    But it is hard to hear and see the relative agony they go through. He
    bounced back quickly though! And the scar is only noticeable if you
    really know where to look (He is 5.5 now).
    
    --dave--

	I have to agree with  .2 that it's a neccesary evil, and I might add,
kinder in the long run.  

	It reminds me of the cats and my husband and myself.  I have a real 
no nonsense attitude about giving the cats medicine.  I restrain them, avoid 
hurting if I can and get it over with *quickly*.  When I give a pill the cat, I
have the pill ready, before I grab the cat.  I grab the cat, kneel with the cat 
between my legs, my crossed feet keeping the cat from backing out, the legs to 
the side preventing a sideways escape, my hands simultaneously keeping the cat 
from getting out the front and opening the jaw and putting the pill in.  Hold
the mouth closed, stroke the throat two or three times (to encourage swallowing)
and let 'em go.  Total elapsed time about 30 sec. All movements are firm giving 
no hint that I have any doubt that I should be doing what I am doing. The cat 
leaves with his dignity a little ruffled but no injuries on either side. My 
husband on the other hand, handles the cats very tentatively, apologizing th the
cat and trying so hard not the make the cat uncomfortable, that it takes 5 times
as long to get a pill down, it OFTEN has to be done over because the pill didn't 
go down far enough and the cat spat it back out, and Gary ALWAYS gets at least 
one nasty scratch.  Both cat and Gary are out of sorts if not definately hurt
for much longer than with my method.

	Kids are really resilient too.  I don't think JA's psyche will be 
permanently damaged by this incident. :-)  As many parents have said here before
(and will again I'm sure :-) ), it's tougher for the parents than the kid.

Tracey  

	

    When Nathan was about 3 1/2 he tried climbing a desk, slipped and split
    his lip a good one.  When calling the pedi, he recommended taking him
    in to the hospital to have it stitched, because the cut crossed the
    line between his lip and the skin above the lip.  Said if it wasn't
    stitched, it might heal crooked and create a permanent disfigurement. 
    So off to the ER we went, they wrapped him in a papoose board, and said
    "Mom, we don't need you here for this!"  and sent me out of the room. 
    This was just as well for me, I don't think I could have stood it being
    in there with him, and quite frankly my presence wasn't going to
    comfort him any!  Of course he screamed bloody murder, but at least I
    didn't have to watch.
    
    The lip healed perfectly, and I'm glad we had it stitched, even tho it
    wasn't vital to his health.  I can hardly see the scar.  I think the
    papoose board is a "necessary evil" when trying to work on a child. 
    The benefits far outweigh the temporary discomfort.
    

    
    
      When Matthew was 11 months old he fell down the stairs.  We took him
      to the emergency room because he had a nasty gash extending from his
      eye.  A plastic surgeon was required to administer the stitches and
      Matthew needed to be restrained in a papoose board at the time.  I
      also felt so sorry for him.  He required 7 stitches.  He also had
      a large bump on his head and it was felt by everyone that he should
      have a catscan.  Because the head needed to be totally still when
     placing him in the chamber, he needed to be drugged up so that he
    would remain still on the papoose board.  It took 3 separateshots of
      demerol mixed with other things to do the trick.  It took over an
       hour and a half to keep him still enough for this test and he 
       had enough drug in him to knock out a 15 year old kid.  The doctors
      were amazed at his reluctance to go to sleep.  My husband and I were
      not all that surprised, knowing how bedtime had always been a
    struggle.   I really don't know of any other way we could have gottenm
      the testing done.
    
      Lorain
    
    
     

    WOWW!!!  I guess we were LUCKY!!  When Christopher was just over 3, he
    caught a doorknob with his face, laid open a nice gash in his eyebrow.
    I was more worried than he was .... when we got there, he could've
    cared less that they were going to stitch him - he wanted to see WHERE
    they kept the thread!!  FORTUNATELY, they just had him lay down on a
    bed, dripped some novacaine onto the cut to numb it up, injected the
    rest, stitched him up, and 5 stitches later, we were all set.  He
    didn't flinch even a single muscle nor shed a tear (wish I could say
    the same for me!).
    
    I REALLY sympathize with those of you who had to deal with the papoose
    board.  I will say, after seeing Christopher be that still then, that
    I'd have a REAL struggle letting them use it on one of my kids.  He was
    FINE and COMFORTABLE and I was still crying....  No thanks!
    
    

Dottie,

When Kathryne was about 2.5 she got a cut that required stitches
in her eyebrow.  Hubby took her there for them and I took her
to have them out.  The plastic surgon was willing to have her
just sit on my lap, but it was obvious that wasn't going to
work.  So, they restrained her on one of those boards, 
then they also folded the velcro straight jacket over her.

I was going to leave the room as I wasn't sure I could handle
it, but seeing her there like that I knew I had to stay. She
was fine after the stitches came out.  (so was I).

Other than knocking them out I can't see a much better way.

Liz

    Dottie,  
    
    This is one of those time when being a brave parent isn't the way to
    go.  I went with a friend to get her son stiched (10 mos old) for a
    couple of gashes.  The ER nurse took one look at Laurie, and told her
    to take a walk so that she could be the "rescuer" when they were
    finished up.  I stayed with her son and the nurse.  This is one strong
    little boy! He ripped the velcro loose, as they were putting the
    novacaine in.  The nurse and I held him down.  She held his head, and I
    held his arms, the Dr.  wound up practically laying on his legs.  Had
    the Papoose board worked I think we all would have been much happier. 
    Laurie came in just as we were finshed and Birch settled right down.
    
    One possible recommendation, is take a strong friend with you to do the
    holding and let you be the rescuer.
    
    Meg

    This topic hits me from several angles, and all of them are like raw
    nerves!  I've seen AJ being restrained for various miserable test since
    he was 18 days old, the ones at birth were in NICU and most time I
    wasn't there, thankfully.  Several times I was the one holding him
    down, but as he became older I opted to leave the room so I wouldn' get
    the blame for his pain.
    
    The other part of me is the EMT speaking, as part of my training I had
    to spend 8 or so hours in a hospital ER, the night I was there a small
    child had fallen and cut just above her eye, I'm sorry I had to leave
    the room it was just too much for me to see.  I wasn't even a parent at
    the time, I just couldn't stand to see a child in that much misery.
    
    By the way, it's probably the restraint these children are screaming
    at, in just about every case the first step is to numb the area with
    Xylocaine, so you don't feel a thing.  That's quite a change from when
    I was growing up, I had several ER visits with facial cuts thanks to my
    aunt's not-so-nice dog, and I had to lay still and be stitched with no
    numbing agents at all.
    
    Just FYI, most ambulaces, ours included have Pedi size backboards and
    collars to immobilize children who have been in Motor Vehicle
    accidents, and they're not much better than the packapoose everyone
    here seems to hate so much!  Just so you might be aware if you ever
    have the misfortune of having an accident where your children might be
    injured.
    
    Lyn
    

    After reading all these, and replying before, just over a week ago, our
    22 month old, Daniel, fell and laid his eyelid open. It was Sunday
    morning and we headed to the ER to meet the doctor on call. He was
    concerned because of the location. The topical anesthetic they use
    (they called it "Tack"...don't know if that's how it's spelled), can
    absolutley not be used in teh eye. As the cut was on his eyelid, they
    were nervous about trying it there, but as the alternative was an
    injection into the eyelid, they opted to have us try the topical. They
    did not want to use the papoose board for the anesthtetic, since most
    kids *hate* it, and they didn't want him to get totally crazy before
    they stitched him. So I lay on the table and held Dan on my chest, face
    down and head turned toward my wife, who held the swab full of
    anesthetic on his eyelid. I had him, particularly his head, in a vise
    grip, so that he couldn't jump and get that swab in his eye. My wife
    did an admirable job holding it there....it had to be held for a full
    10 minutes! And Daniel *screamed* loud and long the whole time!Actually
    writhed, twisted, hollered, and shrieked bloody murder might dexcribe
    it better. When the ten minutes was up they strapped him on the papoose
    board.....and he became absolutely silent! Just layed there looking
    around! The doctor carefully cleaned the eyelid, and the only time Dan
    even whimpered was when a bit of the cleansing solution seemed to get
    nto his eye. He got three stitches and couldn't have been calmer! Now
    the doctor warned us that we shouldn't expect such behavior when they
    cam out, as he wouldn't be anesthetized. So when my wife took him to
    get them out, she went expecting the worst. The ER doctor had even
    suggested he might need to be knocked out!
    Our own doctor saw him for stitch removal, and they put him in the
    papoose board expecting the worst. Again, he laid there perfectly
    quietly, just looking around! He pointed out (verbally) to the nurse
    assisting, the light shining in his face, and told her "cold" when the
    doctor used a cleaning wipe before removing the stitches. She didn't
    even hold his head,  and it wasn't strapped down. She just gently held
    the eyelid shut. The doctor clipped and pulled the 3 stitches in quick
    time. Of course, *after* they let him out of the restraints, he reached
    out his leittle arms to my wife and gave her a pitiful "mommy!", as if
    he had just suffered severe stress and torture!
    
    We were amazed at his reaction to the papoose board! Never would have
    suspected it....hope if he ever needs it again, it'll be the same way!
    
    --dave--

    My daughter has a similar response to her snow suit.  We call her
    catatonic baby!  It's the only time she is both quiet and immobile.
    
    I'll keep Daniel's experience in mind, in case Gina ever needs to be on
    a papoose board.
    
    judy

    I just had to reopen this one and relate that we had a very POSITIVE
    experience a couple weeks ago.  AJ fell of a playground slide, he was
    climbing up the outside of this huge pipe slide at a new community
    playground, and as I yelled at him to get down before he got hurt, he
    did!  He whacked the back of his head and opened a small cut.  Now the
    embarassment comes of the knowledge that I, the EMT, didn't have so
    much as a bandaid with me at the time, and there wasn't a phone nearby. 
    Fortunately the playground is on the entrance ramp to the highway.  I
    had our dispatcher tone out the ambulance and we met them at
    headquarters.  The crew (my coworkers) had to immobilize him on the
    "pedi immobilization board, and used a cervical collar.  He squawed
    more at that than anything all day.
    
    At the hospital many Xrays were taken before he was allowed off the
    board, the collar still remained a while longer.  The point of all this
    babbling is that the seem to have revised methods for stitching kids. 
    They Don't shave the hair, the stitch through it.  They don't inject
    novacaine (xylocaine specifically), it is taken out of the bottle with
    a needle and sqirted on cotton balls then I had to hold it on the cut
    for 10-15 minutes, while wearing a latex glove so I wouldn't absorb it
    through my skin. (this is also a cardiac drug, for those unfamiliar)
    and very quickly the doctor stitched it up.  He only protested that
    during the stitch his hair was being pulled, but no real pain.
    
    As active as he was, we think that because the approach was calm, cool
    and collected (on the surface that is, I was falling apart inside) he
    was untraumatized by the whole incident.  They had him lay on his belly
    with his head turned up during the exams and stitching, he was
    unrestrained.  I did hold his head still, but this wasn't really
    needed.  After the stitch they delivered a full tray of food, and made
    sure he had eaten before he left.  (This is because head injuries
    sometimes will cause nausea, if a concussion is present).  They also
    told us it was OK to wash his hair as usual.
    
    Let me just say I was extremely relieved to see all this happen with no
    big hype, infact no one was particularly rushed or excited, and he
    picked up on the fact that it was being handled calmly.  Of course he
    still talks about his ride in "Mommy and daddy's ambulance".  Good
    grief I never imagined it would be MY child and ME as the ones being
    taken care of in that vehicle!
    
    
    Lyn