I'm Sorry...What?

[CedarCreek]

Uh yeah..I'm not sure what to think about this.

We were outside and I was walking toward the swings to push a couple of dcks with my biter dck tailing me. I got to the swings and when i turned around and dck was a little ways back. She apparently had tripped and fallen on her hands and knees. She got up and started to cry. I went over to pick her up when I saw her hand was bleeding. A lot. (I'm not sure what she cut it on, all I saw were sticks and grass so I guess a stick)

I took dck inside while calling the others to follow. They all sat in the living room while I doctored dck in the kitchen. I washed her cut and applied pressure. Once the bleeding had stopped I inspected the cut. It was small but it was on her palm so if she barely moves her hand it opens up. Yuck. I cleaned with antiseptic and applied gauze and covered with bandaids.

I called mom and got no answer. I texted her and let her know what happened and also that the cut might need dermabond or a stitch because of the location.

Her response: "okay thanks for letting me know"

??

I tell you I think she might need dermabond or a stitch and that's your response?

It's not bleeding and I have it covered but I don't understand why she wouldn't come and see what she thought?

I wrote up an incident report and included that she was advised that it might need the extra care. This makes me uncomfortable.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Call Mom and tell her to please come pick up her child immediately to take to the Doctor. You cannot provide care to a child with an open wound that needs medical attention.

[CedarCreek]

Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist

Call Mom and tell her to please come pick up her child immediately to take to the Doctor. You cannot provide care to a child with an open wound that needs medical attention.

I will do that. I thought that's what I was doing in the first place! Her response really threw me!

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Originally Posted by CedarCreek

I will do that. I thought that's what I was doing in the first place! Her response really threw me!

I have learned (and still learn!) that we often have to spell out exactly what we want to happen to parents if it is something inconvenient for them.

[CedarCreek]

It's just so crazy to me! If I heard a provider say that I would have been there in 10 minutes.

Weird.

[lovemykidstoo]

I had this happen about 9 years ago. I had about a 2 year old at the time and he fell and cut his forehead on the corner of a large box. It was a freak accident and could not believe that cardboard could cut like that, but it was the corner and got him. Called the mom immediately because as you all know, the forehead skin is tight, so of course it gaped. It took her 3 hours to get there after repeated calls. It was small so I told her it was up to her whether she took him for stitches or not. She brought liquid stitches and wanted me to help her do it. Ahh no way am I getting involved in that. She should have taken him to the doctor. To this day he has a scar there and if he would have gotten stitches he probably wouldn't have.

[Oneluckymom]

When DCB fell and cut his forehead open I applied pressure and placed a bandaid hoping it would stop the bleeding.

When DCM showed up I made sure she understood...HE WILL NEED STICHES AND TAKE HIM DIRECTLY TO ER OR URGENT CARE!

With the bandaid in place It probably looks like nothing serious to the parent.

Let me tell you as soon as the Dr took off the bandaid the blood poured and mom couldn't believe.

The Dr told mom what a good job I had done placing the bandaid

[SquirrellyMama]

Can you take a picture and text it to her. That might be a better option than having her come by to look at it, especially if she decides not to take the child in.

I would maybe do the same thing this mom is doing. All three of my kids have spots where they could have gotten stitches but we chose not to. They were also small cuts.

K

[CedarCreek]

I did end up taking a picture and sending it to her and then calling her again to pick up dcg. She sent her 17 year old sister..so i'm betting no one is going to take her to the doctor.

I have a piece of gauze and like 4 band aids on it! The palm is such a pita place to cut your hand.

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Originally Posted by CedarCreek

I did end up taking a picture and sending it to her and then calling her again to pick up dcg. She sent her 17 year old sister..so i'm betting no one is going to take her to the doctor.

I have a piece of gauze and like 4 band aids on it! The palm is such a pita place to cut your hand.

Hopefully she comes back all fixed up on Monday.

[daycarediva]

Anyone else think that NOT taking your child to the dr is neglect? Sometimes it isn't so cut and dry, but if it continues to bleed and isn't going to close easily/heal properly, I would rather take them in and get a stitch or two! Insane!!!

[cheerfuldom]

i dont understand how parents wouldnt even call to check on the child and talk to the provider? or request a texted pic?

my friend had a really bad experience when she started daycare. a child was dropped off and had a severe allergic reaction (which mom did not disclose) and then the mom would not answer calls. provided had to all the ambulance and they took care of child but did not take her to the hospital. mom finally called hours later and said "oh yeah, that happens sometimes" and did not come and get her!

[EntropyControlSpecialist]

Originally Posted by cheerfuldom

i dont understand how parents wouldnt even call to check on the child and talk to the provider? or request a texted pic?

my friend had a really bad experience when she started daycare. a child was dropped off and had a severe allergic reaction (which mom did not disclose) and then the mom would not answer calls. provided had to all the ambulance and they took care of child but did not take her to the hospital. mom finally called hours later and said "oh yeah, that happens sometimes" and did not come and get her!

I would have quickly termed that family. That is a nightmare waiting to happen.

[CedarCreek]

Is it violating her privacy if I show a picture of her hand on here?

[DCBlessings27]

Originally Posted by cheerfuldom

i dont understand how parents wouldnt even call to check on the child and talk to the provider? or request a texted pic?

my friend had a really bad experience when she started daycare. a child was dropped off and had a severe allergic reaction (which mom did not disclose) and then the mom would not answer calls. provided had to all the ambulance and they took care of child but did not take her to the hospital. mom finally called hours later and said "oh yeah, that happens sometimes" and did not come and get her!

I really don't understand some daycare parents.

[Lucy]

Originally Posted by CedarCreek

Is it violating her privacy if I show a picture of her hand on here?

I would think not. As long as there's no face showing.

[Kaddidle Care]

Originally Posted by CedarCreek

Uh yeah..I'm not sure what to think about this.

I called mom and got no answer. I texted her and let her know what happened and also that the cut might need dermabond or a stitch because of the location.

Her response: "okay thanks for letting me know"

??

I tell you I think she might need dermabond or a stitch and that's your response?

It's not bleeding and I have it covered but I don't understand why she wouldn't come and see what she thought?

I wrote up an incident report and included that she was advised that it might need the extra care. This makes me uncomfortable.

It almost sounds to me like she expected YOU to take the child to the Dr.

I had a 2 year old child fall in my home - hit the corner of the end table and the cut was in the eyebrow area (T.G. not her eye) and when I inspected it, it would open up like an eyeball. EEEK! She was the only one in my care so I called the parents and told them it looked like it needed stitches so they told me where to bring her (I already had her medical information on hand.) So I brought her to the clinic and stayed with her while they stitched her up. (6 stitches inside and 6 outside) It was very traumatic but her parents were 30-40 minutes away and I felt she needed the care immediately. It was all done by the time they arrived.

I personally feel the quicker stitches are done, the better. This girl is an adult now and they did such a wonderful job - you cannot see a scar at all.

A text doesn't get through to people's heads like a phone call as they can't hear the urgency in your voice.

[Solandia]

To be completely honest...if an injury looks like it "only needs a stitch or two", I wouldn't be taking my kid to the ER for it. MAYBE on the face. Maybe. The hand...it isn't worth the $1500 for maybe 2 stitches. 5+, yeah, ok...possibly

I JUST took my own 3yo to the ER 2 nights ago for a scratch on the ear that spilt open(no cartilage, only superficial). 24hrs later the dermabond is picked off, and it is "gaping" again. It is going to heal regardless...the doc can't put stitches there anyway...and it is about $2K down the toilet. My 2yo split open his chin a 1/2inch last summer just walking & tripped....the dermabond worked like a charm, and barely a scar. BUT...it wasn't super serious, and a butterfly bandage would have worked ok, too. I don't think I would take him in again, if it happens another time. A more serious laceration...of course, but really wasn't necessary & would likely scar regardless if he does it again. Which is likely. I would be in the ER once/mo for injuries that only need one stitch. If I had free healthcare, yes....why not. But I do not.

[SquirrellyMama]

Originally Posted by daycarediva

Anyone else think that NOT taking your child to the dr is neglect? Sometimes it isn't so cut and dry, but if it continues to bleed and isn't going to close easily/heal properly, I would rather take them in and get a stitch or two! Insane!!!

No, I don't necessarily think it is neglect. My son has a small scar on his lip because we didn't get stitches. It isn't very noticeable and I thought stitches on the lip would have been a lot more painful than a small scar.

My youngest dd has a small scar up by her eye. It probably could have used 2 stitches. Again, I felt the small scar (it looks like a cute dimple) was less painful than the stitches would have been.

My oldest dd could have had stitches on the back of her head. Her scar is covered by her hair.

Just because a doctor can put stitches in a cut doesn't mean they need stitches. I cleaned up my kids' wounds and made sure they were safe from infection and they healed. Yes, they have some small scars but stitches can also leave scars.

K

[momofboys]

Originally Posted by Solandia

To be completely honest...if an injury looks like it "only needs a stitch or two", I wouldn't be taking my kid to the ER for it. MAYBE on the face. Maybe. The hand...it isn't worth the $1500 for maybe 2 stitches. 5+, yeah, ok...possibly

I JUST took my own 3yo to the ER 2 nights ago for a scratch on the ear that spilt open(no cartilage, only superficial). 24hrs later the dermabond is picked off, and it is "gaping" again. It is going to heal regardless...the doc can't put stitches there anyway...and it is about $2K down the toilet. My 2yo split open his chin a 1/2inch last summer just walking & tripped....the dermabond worked like a charm, and barely a scar. BUT...it wasn't super serious, and a butterfly bandage would have worked ok, too. I don't think I would take him in again, if it happens another time. A more serious laceration...of course, but really wasn't necessary & would likely scar regardless if he does it again. Which is likely. I would be in the ER once/mo for injuries that only need one stitch. If I had free healthcare, yes....why not. But I do not.

That's fair - and understandable. I am lucky that we have great insurance - the only caveat is we can't go to the ER for such things - because if we did for something "minor" like stitches, unless it was life-threatening, we would be out for the whole visit - our insurance would make us meet our deductible which we normally don't do (dr visits/urgent care is exempt from our deductible). Whenever we need stitches (& with 3 boys it has happened a time or two or three lol) we go to Urgent Care & we end up paying a small amount (usually less than $20). Can I ask why you chose the ER-why not a cheaper resource or do you not have urgent cares near your home, we have to travel 20-25 min to get to one & a hospital is one block from our home but there is no way I will go to the ER unless it is a true emergency (life or death).

[Solandia]

Originally Posted by momofboys

That's fair - and understandable. I am lucky that we have great insurance - the only caveat is we can't go to the ER for such things - because if we did for something "minor" like stitches, unless it was life-threatening, we would be out for the whole visit - our insurance would make us meet our deductible which we normally don't do (dr visits/urgent care is exempt from our deductible). Whenever we need stitches (& with 3 boys it has happened a time or two or three lol) we go to Urgent Care & we end up paying a small amount (usually less than $20). Can I ask why you chose the ER-why not a cheaper resource or do you not have urgent cares near your home, we have to travel 20-25 min to get to one & a hospital is one block from our home but there is no way I will go to the ER unless it is a true emergency (life or death).

Urgent care is only open until 7pm, this happened right at 7pm. For stitches (or dermabond) to work, it needs to be done soon after. No point in waiting until 7am when urgent care opens...it makes it a wasted effort. As it was, the dr was subpar, didnt' wait for the wound to stop oozing, and then did a ****ty job applying the dermabond...totally a waste of time & resources. And the urgent care would still be $300-400 for this particular issue, even if it was during their hours...still not worth the expense in this case.

[momofboys]

Originally Posted by Solandia

Urgent care is only open until 7pm, this happened right at 7pm. For stitches (or dermabond) to work, it needs to be done soon after. No point in waiting until 7am when urgent care opens...it makes it a wasted effort. As it was, the dr was subpar, didnt' wait for the wound to stop oozing, and then did a ****ty job applying the dermabond...totally a waste of time & resources. And the urgent care would still be $300-400 for this particular issue, even if it was during their hours...still not worth the expense in this case.

That makes sense, and I know that timeframe - you really can't wait hours for stitches!

[Texasjeepgirl]

Several years ago I had a little girl trip on the driveway and bite her tongue... nearly IN HALF... it was HORRIBLE... I called the grandmother that worked about 2 blocks away... she seemed unconcerned... I insisted that it was just awful and she acted like she was being 'put out' to come check this child...

AMAZING

[CedarCreek]

Sorry for the delayed response, I was trying to enjoy the weekend!

So this is what her hand looked like when she barely moved it. It opened and what you see there is fatty tissue. This is why I told her that I thought she might need a stitch.

She came this morning and told me that she just put more antiseptic and liquid bandaid on it. She sent some but I wont be using it. I covered her hand so she wont pick at the liquid band aid. I wasn't going to harp on her parenting choice this morning but it's not the choice I would have made for sure.

[SilverSabre25]

ouch! I'm really lax when it comes to injuries and stuff, but I think that would have warranted an urgent care visit even in my book!

[Blackcat31]

Originally Posted by CedarCreek

Sorry for the delayed response, I was trying to enjoy the weekend!

So this is what her hand looked like when she barely moved it. It opened and what you see there is fatty tissue. This is why I told her that I thought she might need a stitch.

She came this morning and told me that she just put more antiseptic and liquid bandaid on it. She sent some but I wont be using it. I covered her hand so she wont pick at the liquid band aid. I wasn't going to harp on her parenting choice this morning but it's not the choice I would have made for sure.

Honestly, that looks serious enough that I don't think I wouldn't have accepted her back into care without a Dr's note.

There is way too much liability there.....

It looks awful and I am not so sure I would be putting anything on it besides a covering to keep it clean. Ugh, what a bad spot to be injured in.

I would've probably responded the same way, not everyone gets to leave work if their child gets hurt. I wouldn't leave work to get my son for that. Doesn't mean the mom didn't care, just can't drop everything all of the time

[CedarCreek]

Who said she didn't care?

I said it was not the parenting choice that I would have made and I didn't say anything to her about that choice.