Follow these tips to treat the baby’s bruises and cuts on kids by keeping your calm
Baby bruises are an inevitable part of every child’s adventurous and growing age. With all the running, jumping, climbing, and exploring, there will be scrapes, wounds, bruises and cuts on kids. While you can’t prevent your daredevil’s tumbles, you can practice staying calm in the process of giving them first aid.
From the moment your child starts crawling on their knees, they are prone to get hurt. We understand that looking at your kid bleed or crying in pain can be overwhelming for you. After all, you want to keep your child safe. But let’s accept it, getting a bruise on a toddler is very common.
Does your baby bruise easily? And does it get confusing for you to decide how to treat a wound? Should you leave it open, or should you cover the cuts on kids?
Some cuts and bruises on toddlers may be mild, and some may be serious. Some might even need immediate medical attention. New parents often get stressed and anxious about how to go about in these critical moments. Let’s dive deep into how you can provide first-aid care to your child without panicking.
How To Handle An Injured Child?
Cuts on kids and baby bruises might become a painful and harrowing experience for a kid – especially when it happens for the first few times. Hence it is essential for you or any other adult around them to be careful and calm while handling them. Seeing you in a panic situation might further impact your child – which might alleviate their anxiety and panic. Here are some quick things to remember for the time of crisis:
Assess the situation: evaluate the seriousness of the baby’s bruises. Based on that, determine if they need emergency medical attention or if you can treat their wound at home like a pro.
Give assurances that everything is fine: try to keep your child calm, reassured, and prepared to get the treatment. Even if the bruise on the toddler is serious, they should feel emotionally safe. To protect them from being scared, you need to consistently give them assurances of ‘all being well’.
Take control of your situation: you should not show your child that you are stressed, worried or even angry. This might scare off your baby. You should appear in control of the situation. Keep talking while treating baby bruises. Sometimes, the injury might be a minor one, and the child might still feel the pain and discomfort. In such cases, do not dismiss or invalidate what your child is experiencing. Otherwise, it might impact your child emotionally – they could feel sad temporarily or learn to shut themselves off and share what they are feeling. It is important to listen to them to make them feel emotionally safe.
Age-appropriate talks: if the child is mature enough to understand, they should be explained the steps to treatment. This will help in removing the fear and speedy recovery.
How Your Baby Bruises Easily And Get Cuts
Bruises on toddlers are unavoidable occurrences of childhood. The majority of the time, they don’t need great attention. But it is crucial to recognise various kinds of wounds so that you can treat them like a pro at home. Your kids will often bump into things and fall. Due to sensitive skin, you will notice your baby bruises easily. The hot summers might lead to their nosebleeds – causing skin bruises around the nose. To treat your baby without panic, it is essential you understand some of the common causes that might hurt your baby:
- Falls: Children often fall while playing or running, leading to bruises on their knees, elbows, and other parts of the body. Sometimes, when your child falls off on the sharp edges of the floor or objects, they might get cuts on their skin. Depending upon the depth of the cut and sharpness of the object, you need to make a call on whether to treat the wound at home or take your child to a doctor.
- Sports Injuries: Active children who participate in sports or other physical activities may sustain bruises & cuts from falls, collisions, or impacts from sports equipment.
- Accidents: Accidents such as car crashes, bike accidents, or other collisions can cause bruises, cuts and ankle/arm twists
- Rough Play: Baby bruises easily from rough play or wrestling with friends or siblings.
- Medical Conditions: Certain medical conditions like bleeding disorders or vitamin deficiencies can also cause bruising in children
- Bites and Scratches: Children can get cuts from bites or scratches from animals, insects, or other children.
- Skin Irritations: Certain skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, or dry skin can also lead to cuts and cracks
How To Treat Baby Bruises
To treat a minor baby bruises, the following precautions and steps should be followed:
- Wrap a cold pack in a wet cloth and put it on the bruise for 15 -20 minutes. This will help in stopping the bleeding.
- After two days, put a warm pack in a wet cloth for 10 minutes (3 times a day). This helps in reabsorbing the blood and also helps in early healing.
- Keep the bruised area raised by putting pillows under it.
- A mild dose of painkillers can be given if your child is in too much pain.
- In the following conditions, consult a doctor-
- If the baby bruise is not improving even after two weeks
- If the bruise on the toddler remains tender and painful
- If a child is unable to move a joint
How To Treat Cuts On Kids
- Firstly, wash your hands with soap and water. It will prevent the spreading of germs to the cut.
- Wash the cut gently with tap water. Do not clean the cut with betadine (antiseptic liquid) or hydrogen peroxide, as they will prevent healing and also damage the sensitive skin of your child.
- Put a thin layer of antibiotic ointment or petroleum jelly on the cut, followed by a bandage. Coconut oil and Vitamin E should be avoided as they may not be sterile.
- If there is blood coming through the bandage, apply mild pressure for some time.
- Elevated the injured area above the heart to stop the bleeding
- If the cut is very large and blood is gushing out, you need to go to the doctor, as stitches may be needed. Vaccine records should be checked, and booster doses should be given. The child may need a tetanus shot for open and dirty cuts.
After the immediate treatment is done, ensure that your child leaves the scab alone and does not scratch it. We know this is extremely tough, but try and explain it to your child. Work on finding ways to distract them and their friends from cuts on kids. Frequent scratching of the scab can lead to delayed recovery. It also enhances the chances of a secondary infection. Further, as the newly formed skin is highly sensitive and vulnerable, make sure to cover the cuts on the kid by applying sunscreen.
At Eurokids, we understand the importance of safe and risk-free playing. We ensure taking good care of baby bruises and cuts on kids. While we work towards enriching the learning environment for your child, we are also determined to give the best first aid care for any bruise on a toddler. Click here to know more or to visit a Eurokids centre for preschool admission for your child.
