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Parenting

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Original poster

Xray for baby/10 month old - anyone else?

20 replies

Lozzak21 · 05/08/2021 21:14

My 10 month old had an xray due to us suspecting he swallowed something.

Luckily he didn't - but now I'm having terrible mum guilt due to it ultimately not really being necessary (we should of baby proofed better) and secondly him being so little.

I also think the radiographer had to do the xray twice as after the first go she had to change something and start again. So worried about double radiation.

If anyone has been in same boat or can provide some reassurance I'd be much appreciative.

Thank you ❤️

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MrsFin · 05/08/2021 21:44

What are you worried about exactly?

Original poster

Lozzak21 · 05/08/2021 21:54

@MrsFin that he may be more likely to get cancer, his cells mutating etc. He is just so young and I feel awful exposing him for no real reason. Just looking for some similar stories to ease my guilt I guess

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Twizbe · 05/08/2021 21:59

Have you been feeling very anxious about other things?

The risk from x rays is super low so do try to not worry.

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Dandy0911 · 05/08/2021 22:05

The risk from X-rays are minimal. There will be more damage done walking through London for the day due to the pollution.

October2020 · 05/08/2021 22:07

My prem baby had about 5 xrays before she was even at her due date. I really wouldn't worry.

StrawberriCream · 05/08/2021 22:08

Really don't worry about two x-rays at 13months old one of mine had in excess of 50 x-rays from head to toe due to a suspected medical condition.

This is from the NHS website: Being exposed to X-rays does carry a risk of causing cancer many years or decades later, but this risk is thought to be very small. For example, an X-ray of your chest, limbs or teeth is equivalent to a few days' worth of background radiation, and has less than a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of causing cancer.

GuckGuckDoose · 05/08/2021 22:08

The radiation dose from a single (and for that matter, 2!) chest XRs is so vanishingly small - it’s the equivalent to 3 days of natural background radiation that he would be exposed to anyway. A longer flight or living somewhere like Cornwall or Aberdeen with higher amounts of radioactive rock material will be a higher relative dose, but no one worries about that in terms of radiation!

Try not stress!

iusedtoloveopalfruits1 · 05/08/2021 22:09

X-rays are only performed if they are deemed to be medically necessary.
So the fact that it showed nothing is irrelevant.
A doctor and the radiographer performing the x-ray obviously thought it was warranted.
How would you have felt if you hadn’t gone to the hospital. You would then be worrying your child had swallowed something. So you can’t win!!
As for the radial risk do not worry! The equipment is so good these days that the amount of radiation used is very small.
Permature babies in the NICU can have an x-ray every other day for months and months because they need it to get treatment so please don’t worry about one or two x-rays.
Pregnant woman can have CT scans which is much more radiation if they need them because the risk of not getting these tests done by far out weighs the risk of a little bit radiation to the baby.

Lou573 · 05/08/2021 22:09

My 29 weeker had X-rays about twice a week for 3 months. A couple at 10 months wouldn’t even register.

Original poster

Lozzak21 · 05/08/2021 22:09

@Twizbe I'm currently pregnant (I wasn't exposed to xray) so I'm not sure if that's contributing to or exasperated my worries - the hormones, emotions etc. Sometimes I do think I worry too much or obsessively over things. I think I may speak to someone if I get anxiety with baby no2. I just love them so much and feel such a weight of responsible and never want to them to come to any harm. It's hard.

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Original poster

Lozzak21 · 05/08/2021 22:11

@iusedtoloveopalfruits1thank you for your reply. Reassuring ❤️

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Original poster

Lozzak21 · 05/08/2021 22:12

@GuckGuckDoose thank you for responding! You've made me feel a lot better 😊

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iusedtoloveopalfruits1 · 05/08/2021 22:18

@Lozzak21
I’m a radiographer so i’m used to reassuring worried patients and their parents.
My own son hurt his leg and needed an x-ray i felt awful but I wasn’t worried about him having the x-ray. I actually wanted it done so i knew for sure it was ok. He’s a wee bit older than yours but you can’t help but worry about them when they aren’t well.

MrsFin · 05/08/2021 22:42

Do you really think the hospital would have x-rayed him twice if it was that dangerous? People have x-rays all the time.

ItsSnowJokes · 06/08/2021 06:49

My 4 year old has had over 20 xrays and about 25 ultrasounds in her life due to hip dysplasia. 2 xrays wouldn't even make me think about it!

Original poster

Lozzak21 · 06/08/2021 08:06

Thank you everyone! Appreciate all your replies.

@iusedtoloveopalfruits1 that's good to know especially as you work in the field. Just a quick question, when they x rayed his chest first time they said they had to change something and start again, something to do with the machinery. Perhaps a cartridge or something? I'm not an expert so just a guess. Do you know what this could of been? As I thought they were all digital and had pre set settings so to speak.

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Poppy709 · 06/08/2021 10:05

Gosh my little boy had 3 x rays because he had a UTI when he was quite little so they wanted to check his kidneys out, including one where he was injected with radioactive dye and I never even thought about worrying about the radiation. Maybe because I was high risk pregnancy and had so many scans while I was pregnant. Please don’t worry about this, he will be fine, and if your anxiety gets too much do seek help - you don’t have to suffer. Excessive reassurance seeking is a really common symptom of health anxiety and can actually make things worse xxx

iusedtoloveopalfruits1 · 06/08/2021 12:42

Yeah i’m not sure it could be they took the first image and they missed a bit of the area off that they need to see so they would need to do it again.
The machinery we have sometimes makes you think it’s ready to take the x-ray but it doesn’t do it so you need to adjust the plate under the table to make it happy again. So it could be that too.

Hm2020 · 06/08/2021 15:44

My ds had had multiple chest X-rays over his short life he’s 7 and I couldn’t even count how many and they’ve never been able to see anything so technically where not necessary but to be honest it’s never even crossed my mind about the radiation aspect X-rays have been very safe for many years now. I think this is more your anxiety he’d have been a very tiny baby with his first one weighing maybe 4lbs please try not to worry if he had swallowed something and not had an X-ray it would’ve been 10 times worse you did the right thing be kind to yourself.

AegonT · 07/08/2021 15:47

My first had two chest X-rays as a baby and a foot X-ray as a toddler. That isn't much radiation. I would question the need for a CT scan as that is a lot if radiation and would prefer an MRI if it was suitable. My baby did have an MRI but a CT was never on the cards as it was a vascular growth that needed scanning. But I wouldn't question the need for a single X-ray.

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