Taking a knee
Poor Jack and his skinned, scraped, contused, oozing knees. The kid is wearing a huge Band-aid on each knee and is now deathly afraid of removing said Band-aids.
Last night at bathtime, we told him we had to take them off because we wanted his war wounds to get a little circulation, and besides, wet Band-aids are just disgusting. So I told Josh to take them off while I directed my mother-in-law on what bandages and Neosporin products we needed her to grab from the drugstore.
I heard a blood-curdling scream and crying from the bathroom as I sent her on the emergency first aid run, and I came in to see Josh looking pale and pained and Jack sobbing and standing up dripping water everywhere. I asked what happened and Josh said when he pulled the Band-aid off, he pulled some skin with it.
Well then. I understood the expressions on everyone's face and tried to reassure Josh it wasn't his fault and calm Jack down and reassure him that pulling the other Band-aid off his other leg wasn't going to hurt. I lied to his face, but there was nothing else to be done. I instructed Josh to just grab it and pull quickly, but he balked, understandably, because he didn't want to traumatize either himself or Jack again. But I insisted and held on to a wet Jack while he pulled.
The screaming ensued again, although I suspect it was more fear than pain that time. We got him out of the tub and dried him off as he sniffled and moaned and clung to me like I was his only hope in the world. Then Grandma arrived home with the supplies, including some antiseptic spray.
I would like to point out it was antiseptic spray that clearly stated on the label contained NUMBING ingredients. I am pretty sure the fine print on the box instructs people to drink a bottle of bourbon before using the spray because that was about the only way it was numbing anything. Instead, I sprayed it on his knees and Jack jumped a foot off the counter and started screaming, "It hurts, Mommy. It's huuuuurts, Mommy." Mother of the Year material for sure, folks.
We immediately applied the Neosporin with pain relief and that must have actually CONTAINED pain relief because he stopped screaming and started whimpering instead. After applying a Band-aid the size of Texas to each of his kneecaps, we were able to calm him down. He kept requesting "medicine in my mouth" so we gave him some Motrin and tucked him into bed.
Today his wounds were oozing and weeping all day (hope you weren't enjoying your breakfast just now) and when it was time to change the Band-aids before bed, I assured him we wouldn't use the spray again. No no, we would use hydrogen peroxide!
As a child, I had plenty of scrapes like this and my father's cure-all for everything was to bathe the injury in peroxide. I once put a hole almost completely through my middle finger when it was caught under a big-wheel and my dad tried to just pour peroxide on it. I ended up needing stitches and still have a scar. So my background told me to go with what I knew in this situation.
Jack sat on the bathroom counter as Josh held his legs over the sink and I commenced with the pouring. For the first 10 seconds, Jack was fascinated by the bubbling. And then the pain set in. And the screaming started. I am pretty sure he now has PTSD when it comes to me coming anywhere near his knees. But again, we smeared on the Neosporin and slapped on a Band-aid and all was well.
Unfortunately, we will need to keep doing this little song and dance each night until it scabs over. And they say motherhood isn't glamorous...
Last night at bathtime, we told him we had to take them off because we wanted his war wounds to get a little circulation, and besides, wet Band-aids are just disgusting. So I told Josh to take them off while I directed my mother-in-law on what bandages and Neosporin products we needed her to grab from the drugstore.
I heard a blood-curdling scream and crying from the bathroom as I sent her on the emergency first aid run, and I came in to see Josh looking pale and pained and Jack sobbing and standing up dripping water everywhere. I asked what happened and Josh said when he pulled the Band-aid off, he pulled some skin with it.
Well then. I understood the expressions on everyone's face and tried to reassure Josh it wasn't his fault and calm Jack down and reassure him that pulling the other Band-aid off his other leg wasn't going to hurt. I lied to his face, but there was nothing else to be done. I instructed Josh to just grab it and pull quickly, but he balked, understandably, because he didn't want to traumatize either himself or Jack again. But I insisted and held on to a wet Jack while he pulled.
The screaming ensued again, although I suspect it was more fear than pain that time. We got him out of the tub and dried him off as he sniffled and moaned and clung to me like I was his only hope in the world. Then Grandma arrived home with the supplies, including some antiseptic spray.
I would like to point out it was antiseptic spray that clearly stated on the label contained NUMBING ingredients. I am pretty sure the fine print on the box instructs people to drink a bottle of bourbon before using the spray because that was about the only way it was numbing anything. Instead, I sprayed it on his knees and Jack jumped a foot off the counter and started screaming, "It hurts, Mommy. It's huuuuurts, Mommy." Mother of the Year material for sure, folks.
We immediately applied the Neosporin with pain relief and that must have actually CONTAINED pain relief because he stopped screaming and started whimpering instead. After applying a Band-aid the size of Texas to each of his kneecaps, we were able to calm him down. He kept requesting "medicine in my mouth" so we gave him some Motrin and tucked him into bed.
Today his wounds were oozing and weeping all day (hope you weren't enjoying your breakfast just now) and when it was time to change the Band-aids before bed, I assured him we wouldn't use the spray again. No no, we would use hydrogen peroxide!
As a child, I had plenty of scrapes like this and my father's cure-all for everything was to bathe the injury in peroxide. I once put a hole almost completely through my middle finger when it was caught under a big-wheel and my dad tried to just pour peroxide on it. I ended up needing stitches and still have a scar. So my background told me to go with what I knew in this situation.
Jack sat on the bathroom counter as Josh held his legs over the sink and I commenced with the pouring. For the first 10 seconds, Jack was fascinated by the bubbling. And then the pain set in. And the screaming started. I am pretty sure he now has PTSD when it comes to me coming anywhere near his knees. But again, we smeared on the Neosporin and slapped on a Band-aid and all was well.
Unfortunately, we will need to keep doing this little song and dance each night until it scabs over. And they say motherhood isn't glamorous...
posted by Amy at
9:41 PM
6 Comments:
Oh no!! Sounds really traumatic for all of you. Also a little gross.
Oh, the poor little guy! I hope it starts to feel better really soon.
My husband puts straight rubbing alcohol on his cuts. I told him in no uncertain terms that if he ever did that to one of the kids that I would divorce him on the spot. So far it hasn't been a problem.
My recommendation, gauze pads and tape. It looks way cooler, and sticks much less. Put some of the tape on the back of his hand fiest, and let him pull it off, so he can see it's less ouchy! Worked for my kid, Mr. SoManyBumpsIWasWaitingForCPStoCall.
fiest? first.
This post has been removed by the author.
Totally agree with the gauze pads and tape and lots of neosporin. Also try changing them at least 2xs a day. I know it seems more traumatic but it gives less time for the skin to stick to the bandaid before you put more neosporin on it. This is what we had to do when Matthew broke his arm last year and did exactly what you are describing to his knee and opposite elbow. The last thing we wanted to do was cause him more pain and it worked like a charm.
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