to feel like the worst mother?

[feellikeanidiot]

Was at the dentist this morning for a family app, me, dh, ds1 2.5yrs and ds2 4 months. When it was dh's turn he needed an xray so the dentist said to me to take ds1 out of the room. He never mentioned ds2 and I didn't think to take him too . Of course when I thought about it in the waiting room i thought I should have taken ds2 aswell, but by the time went back in they were finished. No one said anything, but now of course I'm wracked with guilt that ds2 was unnecessarily exposed to radiation. Someone with knowledge of these things please come along and tell me that any risk is negligible, and that I'm not the worst mother in the world

Where exactly did you leave him? Was he in a car seat?

They wouldn't have allowed him to stay if it was dangerous to him. The radiation only goes where it is aimed do the risk really is minimal. You're by no means the worst mother!

You are not a bad mother :)

DS2 will be fine. Any risk is neglible. Promise.

He was sleeping in his car seat. It was only after that I thought the dentist maybe didn't realise he was there.

My DS had to have chest x-rays when he was a couple of days old. Being in a room where a much smaller dose of X-rays is pointing in a different direction to your baby will be fine.

If he was on the floor in his car seat, he was out of the line of fire, so to speak. He'll be fine

Ds2 had extensive head Xrays and a CT scan at a few weeks old. Of course there was a reason for this but I did ask about the risks and they were so minimal even I couldn't worry about them.

I don't know why I didn't think of the risk of radiation, when the dentist said to take ds1 out I just did what I was told and only thought about it in the waiting room. Just feel really stupid, why would the baby be ok to stay if they wanted me to take the 2 yr old out.

Thankyou all for replying . I tend to overthink things at the best of times, was a worrier even before the children, will be a wreck by the time they hit 18

I'm fairly confident it's the job of the x -rayer to make sure no-one is in the room who shouldn't be, so don't be too hard on yourself, especially with 2 little ones, it's so easy to make a mistake or not be as on the ball as you normally would be.
Ds2 had 2 x-rays at six weeks old (hands) at pediatrician's request- your ds will be fine.

DS1 can walk and could get in the way if he isn't safely removed. DS2 is going to stay where you put him and is in no danger of running into the line of fire. I think that is the distinction the dentist made.

Don't worry about it. Also, it is at very low levels. When I was pregnant my dentist told me you'd get a higher dose of radiation from standing next to the running engine of a bus than from a dental X-ray. It's still good practice to take precautions, but as a one-off its nothing to worry about, honest.

Good point Loki. Thankyou. Will try to stop worrying, just get so worried about them, and of course the old parental guilt kicks in.

No chance of that Lunatic, as you can prob tell from this thread i'm having enough bother adjusting to two

I know! Always thought I would've liked more children, now I'm not so sure. If you had to undertake some sort of competency test I think I might be advised to stop at two

The "exposure" zone is 2m in a circle from the x ray head or 5m if it's pointing towards you. It's the operator (i.e dentist's) responsibility to make sure it's safe.

I wouldn't worry too much dd3 had scans and xrays preformed at 10days old. No harm done id say

I had an x ray at the dentist when I was pregnant, but I did not know I was pregnant then. Thank God my DS is healthy and I was very worried about it too. He will be fine.