Hi moms,
My 18 month old daughter was being watched overnight (last night) by my mother in law while my husband and I are out of town for my birthday. My mother-in-law put our baby to bed with her hair in her pigtails. When she woke up this morning about 12 hours later, she discovered that my baby had at some point during the night pulled out one of her rubber elastics and wrapped it tightly around her index finger. My MIL took the rubber band off, but it has since blistered in a very big way - the blister is on the inside of her finger, the knuckle closest to the fingernail, and it is almost the same size as the top half of her finger! It is also very pink. She seems fine and is playing like usual. My husband and I are still out of town and I'm wondering how concerned I should be. Have any of you seen anything like this before? Any recommendations? I'm a first-time mom and don't want to overreact, but I also don't want to be neglectful. Thanks!
Okay - never mind! The blister unfortunately popped, but our neighbor who is a nurse came over and cleaned and bandaged her up really well and gave her some tylenol. She said she'd come back tomorrow to change the bandage and told us to enjoy the rest of our trip and not to worry. :)
I would have them take her to her doctor. You don't know how long that rubberband was there and how much circulation it cut off, so to be safe, I'd take her in, especially since it blistered! Yikes! Good luck.
I would have taken the bands off before taking her to my in-laws. You can never expect people to do something that you don't want unless you have told them. I find it easier to do it myself and that makes it easier for everyone else. The same with food. I am strict about my daughter's diet, and send I food with her. She doesn't like to eat junk like hotdogs and candy. I have worked hard for this. Most people are impressed with the types of healthy food she will eat. I am proud of this, because it has taken hard work and I don't want others to sabatage it. So, if you want something done right, ensure that you do it yourself!
you are extremely lucky that she didn't lose the finger - she is probably experiencing some bruising and possibly some tissue die off from the circulation being cut off for who knows how long - it should be looked at by a medical professional as soon as possible to make sure it doesn't turn gangrene - maybe have the MIL layoff the pigtails while you are gone - new grandmothers often are less aware of what is necessary for baby-proofing and young child care, so she may not be intentionally negligent but your child may suffer through ignorance - good luck
It is most likely an allergic reaction to the rubberband. I have seen it before in other children. The allergy could be anything such as latex that could be used in the rubberband. I am glad she is ok.
I am dying for an update! How was your daughters finger when you returned from your trip??
This morning, my 19 month-old daughter woke up crying. We ran to her bedroom and saw her blanket (which she regularly sticks her finger through as she sucks her thumb) was wrapped so tightly around her finger and her finger was dark purple. We immediately removed the blanket and her finger lightened to a healthy pink within minutes. Understandably her finger was warm and began to swell. I read this thread and thought it was so odd that your daughter's finger got blisters. Sure enough, hours later, blisters began forming on my daughter's finger. I was so grateful to have read this thread but now I am dying to know what happened in the days that followed. I realize this happened many years ago but I'm hoping you get notifications when people comment on this thread. :)
Thanks for sharing your experience, it helped me today!
I agree with the previous author - no hair ties. I would also keep an eye on the blister, of course.
You could also call your pediatrician's office and leave a message for the nurse. Albeit, moms know best, but receiving medical advice from a trained professional is indispensible. I call them any time I have a medical concern and need medical advice. Some ped's even have websites and have a section for FAQ's.
Hi K..
I would definately say that she has had the circulation cut off & the blood flow rushing to aid is the reason for swelling. My son used to play up to the time I entered him in the ER for RSV several times...I know it would be hard to have any type of bandage kept on her & not really sure what any visit to ER/urgent care/doc visit would do if it just the outside recovering now. Good luck. WEb Md can help but lead to paranoia..use with caution..LOL =) God Bless.
I am glad this resolved well :) Don't be too hard on your MIL, unfortunately things happen, she was probably trying so hard to have a good bedtime and enjoy those minutes with the baby that it was an oversight. My little girl when through a stage when we could not use hair ties at all on her because of this very reason. We were buying the tiny clear rubber band type ones, that you could wrap around those tiny pig tails and not see them, well she would take them out and put them on her fingers like rings, we realized this one evening after she had taken one out (I assumed the band was lost) and her finger swelled up because she had put it around her finger, but it was a clearish color so we didnt see it right away. We switched to the bigger elastic ones that are bright colored so IF she put it around a body part, it really wouldnt be tight enough to cause harm, it can fit over her wrist if necessary. They don't look as cute in pig tails but worked better for us for safety reasons. But, after the original incident, it took several months before I would put anything in her hair other than clips and barrets. She never left anything in her hair anyway so it didn't matter :)
Have a great trip!
Just have your mother in law keep an eye on for 24 hrs, If it gets worse I would take her in just to have it checked, And.... no more putting baby to bed with pigtails. It's a good thing it ended up in her finger and not her mouth.
K.,
I agree with calling a nurse, she will tell you how to handle the finger. I just wanted to say you are lucky to have a MIL that will take you daughter over night so you can have a break. Mine doesn't have any interest in our daughter. Go easy on her, we are all humans. Kids are kids and they will do crazy things, luckily this one is minor. Now you and I both know not to put our girls to bed with piggies in:) Good luck!
The blister is likely from pressure, rather than a reaction to the rubber, but I'd say you were lucky-- she might have choked on it. Tell your MIL NO rubber bands in her hair at night!! Leave the blister alone, don't pop it, and tell your MIL to observe it (watch for infection) but otherwise leave it alone to heal by itself.
