To take my toddler to the GP for this?

[SinkGirl]

My twins are just 2. One of them woke up a couple of night ago at 2am - when I went in his face and sleeping bag were covered in blood.

We went through a phase of this when he was teething a few months ago although not as badly as this. I heard him grinding his teeth so figured that was the cause - once the tooth was through it stopped. I looked it up and it seems teething does cause bleeding in some kids so I wasn’t too worried.

Last night it happened again. He wouldn’t let me look in his mouth but once it stopped I put him back to bed.

Finally managed to get a look in his mouth today and he has badly chewed up one side of his tongue - it looks very sore. That’s obviously where the bleeding was coming from.

Do I need to get it looked at by a doctor? Is there anything they could do? I know tongues generally heal well, but just wondering if it needs to be checked out?

Yes I would. It would be very unusual to bite your tongue that badly and not wake up screaming. I would be concerned about the possibility of a seizure.

Yep I'd be thinking possible seizure too - which can be triggered by pain.

Yes definitely.

A very severe tongue bite can be the result of an epileptic fit and needs investigation.

Yes absolutely! Get an appointment first thing tomorrow, definitely needs checking.

Thank you. That was my thought too but I’m always worried about overreacting. It’s happening during the night only - there hasn’t been any bleeding at all during the day. I don’t know if it’s possible to only have seizures in your sleep?

His twin does have absent episodes although we don’t know why yet - he’s having tests for lots of things. This twin doesn’t have any health issues that we know of.

I’d be worried to. My son has had seizures and bitten his tongue. Only in the night and he was completely unaware.

I’m really worried now - it’s hard to get a proper look at it because he’s obviously sore and never sticks his tongue out but just tried to look again and one side is very swollen and there’s a big white / slightly yellow raised area. I can’t see any actual cut but like I say it’s really hard to see what’s going on. He’s drooling a lot, I just put it down to teething. Can’t believe I’ve left him like this all weekend, I feel awful.

Nocturnal seizures are fairly common in epilepsy so definitely get him checked out. Hope he's ok

Definitely see the gp. I have epilepsy and often bite my tongue in a seizure xx

Thank you everyone. I feel so terrible. It’s only because a similar thing happened a few months ago when he was teething (there’d be a small amount of blood on his sheets mixed with saliva in the morning) and I thought that was the cause.

He’s in very good spirits generally but seems to be a problem when he’s sleeping - he woke up from his nap today within 30 minutes, and the last two night he’s woken up bleeding between 2am and 3am. Going to give him some more painkillers before bed tonight and hope that helps, and call the doctor first thing - they’re usually very good at seeing kids the same day.

Been to the GP this morning who isn’t concerned, says it looks like he’s bitten it and it’s healing. Says to bring him back if it gets worse or keeps happening so I guess that’s it for now. Poor kid woke every 30 minutes last night in tears but no more bleeding. Just hope the doctor is right and it’s nothing to worry about.