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Original poster

help does dd need to go to hospital?

31 replies

swift1 · 31/03/2007 21:43

PLease help I am worried sick. Was taking dd to bed tonite , shes 3 , and as ahe didnt want to go I pulled her arm to move her along and she dropped to the floor in protest. i pulled her back up to her feet and took her up.
It was nothing that doesnt happen a hundred times a day. But she complaained her arm hurt , and wont move it. Shes holding it to her side. Its not her shoulder as we can move her whole arm, its her elbow, she cant bend it. I gave her some calpol and shes gone to sleep now. But her arm is just led my her side and if we try to bend her arm she starts to cry. i fell sick to my stomach that I have hurt her. I have tried to ring nhs direct but they are busy. If she wakes in the night should I take her to casualty. I habe just rested an ice pack against it for 10 mins.. HElp I just dont know what to do and am panicking.

OP posts:
colditz · 31/03/2007 21:46

she might have don't something to her elbow, she's the right age for it - a mate of mine did this to her 3 year old while she was crossing the road with him.

Don't6 panic, apparently it is very easy to do, you don't have to pull their arm hard at all for it to happen. The docs at a & e will have seen this before.

If she wqakes up with it I would take her tonmight, if not, and her arm is fine tomorrow I wouldn't worry.

colditz · 31/03/2007 21:46

she might have don't something to her elbow, she's the right age for it - a mate of mine did this to her 3 year old while she was crossing the road with him.

Don't6 panic, apparently it is very easy to do, you don't have to pull their arm hard at all for it to happen. The docs at a & e will have seen this before.

If she wqakes up with it I would take her tonmight, if not, and her arm is fine tomorrow I wouldn't worry.

jalopy · 31/03/2007 21:46

Don't panic. You might have accidently pulled the elbow out of place. She will need it popping back in. Don't feel bad, it's a really common injury and done very swiftly in A & E. Hope this helps

Nemo2007 · 31/03/2007 21:46

To be honest if she wakes and is doing the same I would take her. Dont worry about it too much as it is just one of those things that happens in innocence.

princesscc · 31/03/2007 21:47

OK, breathe! I would suggest waiting til morning. If she really is hurt (which I doubt) take her then. It's nothing you have done and if you say you've done it hundreds of times there is a strong possibility she's playing you. Try to stop worrying hun.

hoolagirl · 31/03/2007 21:48

Ooops, nothing I certainly haven't done!
Keep trying NHS, you may need to take her for xray.
Oooh, I have done this soooo many times!

Original poster
swift1 · 31/03/2007 21:48

THanks, I dont hink shes playing as she cries when i move it in her sleep. I feel awful , I would never hurt my baby, and I have .

OP posts:
harman · 31/03/2007 21:49

Message withdrawn

tortoise · 31/03/2007 21:49

Sounds like my DD1 last Saturday but she hurt her elbow on the trampoline! A&E xrays all fine. By Sunday afternoon after i made her a sling it suddenly got better. I wondered if it was because i bent the elbow up to put the sling on. Before that she kept it straight and wouldnt really bend it much.

JodieG1 · 31/03/2007 21:50

Seeing as she's crying with it in her sleep then I'd take her now. I wouldn't wait until morning as if it does need seeing to the sooner the better.

hoolagirl · 31/03/2007 21:50

Sorry , just read my thread and I sound like a drama queen.
I really do this a lot as im sure loads of us do when they do their 'floppy doll' impression.

chocolateface · 31/03/2007 21:50

This has happened to my DS, and happened to me loads when I was little. A&E should be able to sort it out quite easily. - They asked DS to touch his nose & his elbow popped right back in place. Apparently it's quite common in under fives.

LedodgyCheapEasterEggsAreASin · 31/03/2007 21:54

yes take her I did this to my dd when she was 2 1/2 we were dancing she twisted and pulled I forgot to let go and she had disclocated her elbow a quick trip to the out of hours clicked it back into place but it was extremley painful until then.

harman · 31/03/2007 21:54

Message withdrawn

chocolateface · 31/03/2007 21:55

If she's asleep now, I'd wait untill morning to take her to A&E. It is Saturday night, after all - You'll probably be seen much more quickly in the morning. Please don't beat yourself up too much over this. I still feel really awful about my DS. It happened when he was 3, and now he's 8.

TKMaxx · 31/03/2007 21:57

happened to me too a few years ago - i was trying to help my 1yo son stand up and his shoulder just popped out. i felt absolutely terrible. took him to a&e as it was the daytime and they sorted it straight away. very common. i'd leave her to sleep but take her in the morning if she doesn't seem better.

hoolagirl · 31/03/2007 21:57

We have ALL done things like this, please don't feel bad!

Miaou · 31/03/2007 21:57

Really don't worry swift - dh and I dislocated dd1's shoulder in much the same way when she was about 16m. I was telling my gp about it just this week and he was saying that elbow dislocation (usually caused by trying to catch a stumbling child) was the most common injury to children seen in A&E - a little known fact!

If she's sleeping, then leave her for now. If she wakes, take a view on taking her in (bearing in mind it's Saturday night). If she's not moving it normally in the morning, then take her along to A&E.

PeachyClair · 31/03/2007 22:01

I really wouldn't go to A&E unless it was a definite urgent need on a Saturday night, not unless you want her to get an education in the seedierside of life anyhow!

I used to know a girl whose shoulder did this several times a week, it was easy to deal with but needed seeing. Tomorrow should do it.

potoroo · 31/03/2007 22:03

DS has done this three times (popped his elbow out). Once he did it in his sleep. It takes about 2 min to pop it back in at A&E - but if you can, get them to show you how to do it. DH was able to pop Ds's elbow back in himself last time which saved us a trip.

(PS We got 'lectures' both times we went about not pulling DS by the arm - don't worry about it!)

LedodgyCheapEasterEggsAreASin · 31/03/2007 22:04

Yeah apparently once it happens it makes them prone to it happening again.

foxinsocks · 31/03/2007 22:06

see if you have a minor injuries place near you (I discovered last year that we have one - has an X-ray bit too which is very handy) - they are less hectic than proper A&Es and can normally deal with this sort of thing (NHS direct should be able to tell you if you have one).

tinkerbellhadpiles · 31/03/2007 22:09

I'm hypermobile, all my joints come out and I have to go to A&E at least once a month to have them put back in if my DH can't get them back in (it's only really embarassing when my hips pop out when we are having sex) and the docs at my A&E reckon they do an 'elbow an hour' because particularly in the summer when they are playing out, loads of kids get this injury.

The elbow, not the hips popping during sex obviously.

SpawnChorus · 31/03/2007 22:13

Haven't read all of the thread, but it def sounds like she might have dislocated her elbow...nothing serious!! DD has done this twice now - once when DH was holding her hand and she tripped over, and another time when she pulled away from me while I held her hand. First time it happened we went to A&E and the nurse just wiggled it back into place. Took literally about 3 seconds. DD went from being miserable to happy instantaneously. Nurse said it is a common injury with toddlers cos their ligaments (or something) are extra loose at that age.

The second time it happened, we were gathering our stuff up for a trip to A&E to sort it out, when she fell over and it popped itself back into place...lucky!

By the way, if you do decide to go to A&E, she will prob be seen v quickly cos the staff know it can be sorted out with a quick wiggle.

madoldcatlady · 31/03/2007 22:27

Yep. It deffo sounds like a dislocated elbow.

To date I have dislocated both my DD3s and my nieces. Childrens joints (particularly their elbows) are prone to dislocation as they are looser (?) than adults'. With DD3 I was holding her hand on one side and leading a pony on the other side. The pony pulled quickly away from me, causing me to tug sharply on DDs arm. She was 3 at the time, and collapsed to the ground in agony. She screamed all the way to a&e. Whilst being examined by the doc it popped back in to place.

With my niece, I was holding her hand as we walked through a door when she threw a hissy fit and dropped to the ground. When she stood up she was clutching her elbow and refused to use her arm. I felt terrible til the doc said it was so very common as some children have very lax joints. She's done the same thing several times since.