A Terrifed Parent

Last night, before I went to sleep, I went over to Spencer to give her a kiss, when I saw that her face was covered in chocolate.  I turned on light to look at my sleeping beauty- why was she covered in chocolate?  Only it wasn't chocolate; it was blood, and it was everywhere.

I'd like to tell you that I was completely calm and didn't overreact, but that's exactly what I did.  I started ripping off all her clothes to see where it was coming from and shaking her to wake wake up.  In my state of complete panic, I didn't think about how my reaction to this was going to scare her, and of course, she woke up scared. As she started to cry, her nose started to bleed (again), which was how I realized what I was actually dealing with was a bloody nose and not lethal wound of some sort.

Now that it's morning I'm able to be calm about all of this, but last night, the bloody nose scared the life out of me.  She has never had a nose bleed and then all of a sudden she has a major one while she's sleeping- what is that?  The next hour was not the most pleasant, as I had to stop the bleeding and Spencer didn't want her nose touched.  Then there was the clean up...

This entire experience has taught me a few lessons, well, more than a few.  I've never had a bloody nose in my life and this was Spencer's first, so I had no idea what was I doing.  Realizing that my reaction completely terrified Spencer, I felt so bad that I made an already scary situation worse.  It took awhile for her to calm down and go back to sleep and by that time I was wide awake, so I decided to look online for some answers.  I wanted to know why this happened and what I should do if/when she has a bloody nose the next time. 

1.  Bloody noses at nighttime are generally happen during allergy season and when the air is very dry.  You can fix this by having a humidifier in the room and putting some Vaseline inside of the nose.  (I can't imagine a world in which Spencer lets me put Vaseline in her nose, so I'm not sure what to do about that.) 

2.  Contrary to popular norms, you should not have them tilt their head backwards and pinch the bridge of their nose.  You need to have your child lean forwards and pinch the base of their nose-this will stop any gushing prevent, blood from going down their throat, and it will clot much more quickly. 

3.  Don't panic!  The good thing to remember is that bloody noses are almost never cause for concern.  The main reasons kids have them is because they pick their noses.  Their nasal passages don't have the thickest of skin yet and the blood vessels are closer to the surface.  So when they pick their noses, they sometimes scratch the surface without realizing it and then something as benign as a sneeze will start the nose bleed. 

4.  Sporadic nose bleeds are normal in small children, but if this is happening frequently, go to the doctor.  You should also go to the doctor if you can't stop the bleeding after ten minutes. 

5.  Don't panic!  I know I'm writing this again, but it's very important.  Something like this is really scary for kid and if they see that their parent is scared, it will make it all the more frightening for them.  Trust me, I know.  As difficult as it may be to not freak out when you see your baby with a bloody nose, remember it's a fairly normal thing.
aining calm will

Spencer is 100% perfectly fine today.  She did ask me if her nose was going to bleed again, but that's all she's said about it.  I'm trying not to be a hovering helicopter, but it's that's hard for me- I'm naturally a worry wart who can't let things go.  But I'm trying!  And if this ever happens again, I feel better knowing what I should and shouldn't do.