Does it seem like your toddler is just an accident waiting to happen? Fortunately, nigh niggling child cuts and scrapes can be treated at habitation with some extra cuddles and tot-friendly bandages. Sometimes, though, a bleeding cut needs first aid from a pro.

Here's what you lot demand to know if your toddler's cutting won't stop bleeding and how it'll likely exist treated when you see the dr..

How long does it take for a cut to finish bleeding?

Most typical toddler cuts volition stop haemorrhage on their own, but if your kid'due south scrape won't stop after five to ten minutes of applying direct pressure level or if the wound is spurting blood, then it'southward time to go to the emergency room.

You should also seek medical treat the following:

  • Wide, deep or gaping cuts, which may crave stitches

  • A wound on your toddler'southward neck or face or near the eye or lips

  • Bleeding cuts filled with drinking glass or other debris (dirt, pebbles, twigs) that can't be flushed away or cleaned with soap and water after 15 minutes

  • Pare that'south scraped deeply or a scrape that's spread over a large surface area

  • A cutting from an animal or human bite, a burn, a puncture wound (like a nail) or an electrical injury

What to do if your toddler gets cutting

Whether you lot're treating a minor cut to stop the bleeding at abode or you're on the way to the dr. or ER with a bigger injury, it'southward important to proceed your cool. Recollect, if yous remain calm, your tot is more likely to follow accommodate. Hither'southward more than well-nigh each scenario:

What to do for minor cuts at home

If y'all have them, clothing clean Latex or condom gloves. In one case the bleeding has subsided, thoroughly flush the cut with tepid water and gently wash the surface area around information technology with mild soap. Dry the wound, dab a bit of antibiotic ointment and then wrap the cut with gauze or use a bandage.

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What to do for cuts on the style to the doctor, urgent care or ER

Keep to utilise steady, direct force per unit area on the bleeding cutting with a clean dry out cloth, replacing it with a new 1 as needed. You tin can also give your toddler children'due south acetaminophen for the pain.

What happens when you get to the pediatrician's office, urgent care or hospital?

When yous become to the ER, urgent intendance or doctor'due south function, a nurse will appraise the injury and will likely ask whether your tot has had the DTaP vaccine. (Among other things, this shot protects kids from the tetanus bacteria — plant in soil, dust or carrion — which can get into a cut and cause an infection.)

You'll also be asked whether your toddler has any allergies to medications. (It'south possible your child may need an anesthetic if the doctor gives her stitches.) If the cut won't stop bleeding, your child will exist brought directly to an exam room. Otherwise, the nurse may have you sit in the waiting room.

How are cuts that don't terminate bleeding treated?

The doc volition terminate the bleeding by applying continuous pressure on the cutting and then examine the gash to make up one's mind if it needs stitches. If then, treatment for a bleeding cutting volition likely include one of the post-obit:

  • Steri-Strips (as well called butterfly bandages). These small, sticky strips are generally used on minor cuts to keep the skin together.

  • Classic stitches. Old-fashioned stitches are still the most common way to sew upwards a wound. The doc will clean the injury and use an anesthetic and and so y'all may assist agree your child nonetheless during the stitching. Afterward five to 12 days of healing, the physician will take the stitches out.

  • Absorbable stitches. These stitches are often used on the mouth, lips and face and aren't removed — a plus if your toddler has trouble sitting still or is afraid of medical procedures.

  • Peel gum. If your tot's cut isn't too deep or broad, the md may opt for mucilage to shut it upward. The pros: Glue goes on quickly and falls off on its own, simply you don't want to use it in a spot where your child can pick it off easily.

  • Pare staples. These surgical fasteners, which are typically for scalp cuts, sound scarier than they are. Afterwards the doctor applies a numbing cream, skin staples get in speedily and painlessly. After the wound has healed, the staples volition need to be removed by your pediatrician. Many scalp cuts can also exist airtight using something called the "hair apposition technique," which uses the patient'southward ain hair and pare gum to shut the wound.

What the md volition tell you to practise at home

The pediatrician or urgent intendance/ER doctor will send y'all home with wound care instructions on how to continue the stitches dry out (for at least 24 hours) and how to spot signs of infection, which include redness, swelling, pus discharge or fever. Before y'all leave, be sure y'all know when your tot'due south stitches will demand to be removed. Stitches can be harder to accept out when they're left in too long, so be sure to follow upward with your pediatrician as instructed.

A toddler cut that won't cease bleeding can be a little scary and definitely stressful, but these occasional boo-boos are par for the course when you have a busy toddler. Keep a cool caput as you follow the steps outlined above and your tot will before long be on the mend.