When First aid is nice to know

I've heard that the experienced mom has many job skills, including that of a nurse. I'm very glad to have had many years of official first aid training to help. I've heard before that little kids are fragile and that if you're not careful, you can pull their arms from their sockets. That said, I've read many an article on how the rough play your husband initiates with your baby may look dangerous, but is rarely harmful. We've never been really rough with Becca, but we do occasionally lift her by her arms and swing her around. None of it has ever hurt her. Then came Friday night. Finishing up an evening out, I was holding Becca's hand in a parking lot next to our car while Kyle opened the door. Becca, struggling to get free, of course, spun out and was about to fall into a puddle. Kyle grabbed her wrist and pulled her up and into the car in the same movement. I was a little late in lifting the other arm to balance her out. Once in the car Becca cried, but I thought it was because we were out an hour past her bedtime, she has an ear infection, and we were rude enough to not let her play in puddles. Or not. She cried while I put her pajamas on (also not an anomaly), but went to sleep within minutes of being put in her crib, so I figured that was it. I woke several time during the night to her fussing in her sleep, but she never really woke up enough for me to detect that anything other than an ear infection was troubling her. The next morning I went to get her when I knew she was awake. She didn't push herself up to wander around her crib like usual. She fussed a bit when I took her out. I noticed her left arm was simply hanging at her side. At this point, I considered she may have been injured the night before. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, however, I did think of the possibility that her arm may have fallen asleep. She cried in earnest anytime I moved her arm, but quieted as I massaged it. My massaging had two purposes: if her arm was asleep, the massage would help wake it up. If the arm was hurt, a sudden cry of pain might alert me to the location of the pain. Kyle was the one who narrowed the injury down to her wrist, as anytime he moved it, she cried. I called and made an appointment to meet with the pediatrician. Thankfully they are open a half day on Saturdays.

Kyle had to go to work and I had two hours before the doctor's appointment and a child who cried when her arm was moved. Since 18-month olds are not known for holding still, I used my basic first aid training from my 13 years as a girl scout and six years at Girls' Camp. I grabbed some scrap fabric and made a sling, after wrapping her wrist in more scrap fabric. Becca couldn't really resist the sling, as she didn't really have control of her arm. She fussed for a few minutes until she seemingly discovered the convenience of the sling. After that, she ran around the house and aside from an occasional whimper, she seemed mostly herself.

When we got to the doctor's office, I was surprised to find out that although she seemed to favor her wrist, it was actually her elbow that had been pulled from its socket. The doctor made me feel better by saying that it happens to the most concerned parent and even he had done it to his daughter. If we had caught it the night before, it most likely wouldn't have been a big deal at all. Since the arm had been left overnight, it was a bit swollen so he wasn't able to tell for sure if he had put the elbow back, though he was pretty confident. We left the sling on for a few more hours, then took it off yesterday evening so Becca could start to exercise it. Within an hour, she was completely back to normal. I'm so grateful for this child!