What's the kindest way to remove a splinter?

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

My dd who is 2 and a half got a splinter stuck in her index finger yesterday. I left it until today hoping that it might work it's way out but looking at it today it doesn't look likely and it's beginning to turn red.

Now I know I can't leave it as it looks like it will become infected but from previous experience trying to extract splinters from her older brother, it's a bloody nightmare (cue screaming, needing to be pinned down etc) so really not looking forward to this evening when her daddy will be home for assistance.

I was thinking of soaking her in the bath to hopefully swell and loosen the surrounding skin and use a sterile pin and tweezers but I'm wondering if anyone had any tips or wisdom we could use to remove it as painlessly and with as little fuss as possible?

She won't tolerate me touching her finger so holding ice on it is out of the question, she wouldn't understand.

Try putting it in a bowl of salt water as warm/ hot as she can cope with. this might help to draw any infection out ...only if there is an opening though. I would try with a tweezer approach as well first.
Also I find a chuppa lolly helps as they have to concentrate on holding / eating with the other hand..smarties go down too fast.

Thanks for replying! It's all done! I bathed her, soaked a needle and some tweezers in surgical spirit, after bath my husband held her on his knee and I picked it out with the needle and tweezers. It was all done in under a minute, plenty of tears but lots of cuddles afterwards! Phew! I think I dread splinters more than they dread having them out!

Next time you could try magnesium sulphate paste. You put it on, then put a bandage on over the top and leave it overnight and it helps draw it out without resulting to tweezers or needles which my 4yo screams at as soon as she sees me coming at her.

Thanks LCK, it sounds a lot less traumatic! I mean a splinter fgs! What a fuss! Where can I get hold of some?

Oh poor you. We used to have to go to a and e with splinters as ds had a heart condition. Awful!

I second the magnesium sulphate paste.

You buy it in a small pot from any chemist.

I know it's over in this instance...but the biggest tip I had was just lots of antiseptic cream with a plaster over. The skin becomes moist and puckered and the splinter just sort of slips out.

I have always down that with my DC and it has worked perfectly.

I wish my own parents had done that. I remember loads of splinter episodes where they plucked it out with tweezers. Really ouch. A miserable experience!

Oh gosh I hate splinters. Your poor dd.

Dd once came in from the garden with a whole handful of splinters... she'd managed to grab some wood from somewhere. It was awful. She was about 4. I took her to the gp and he applied some anaesthestic cream and we sat and waited for it to work and then a nurse removed them all with tweezers. Horrible experience !!