Staying Calm When Your Child Gets Hurt

Head injuries, broken bones, nasty cuts and falls…..

It’s scary when your child gets hurt.

When my son was about 18 months old, he twisted the clean out in our bathtub around and then fell on it.  The spout cover was on the spout, the water temperature was perfect, but he managed to hit that dull little edge on the clean out and cut open his chin.

When I grabbed him out of the bathtub, my eyes got wide. 

The cut was thick and meaty. 

I started to freak out a little bit and expected blood to start spurting out all over the place. 

But then I said, Stay Calm.

The gash did start bleeding.

I pressed a clean washcloth against my son’s chin and accessed the situation.

Tweet this: Staying Calm When Your Child Gets Hurt via @MelissaMatters1 http://ctt.ec/uea6Q

At the time, my daughter had just turned five and I had to make sure she stayed calm too. So I assured her and my son that everything would be okay.

I didn’t need an ambulance. I waited for the blood to subside and was able to get both children in the car to go to urgent care.

It was brutal watching my son get stitches. He was mostly upset because he didn’t like strangers holding and touching him. So, his arms had to be bundled up and I had to hold his head straight while the doctor stitched him up.  

And, I had to stay calm and talk to him, even though it was hard to see him cry.

Staying calm when your child gets hurt can be hard. Here are a few tips* to help you stay calm when you child gets injured.

Remember, Your Kids are Watching You

Your child/ren can feed off your emotions. If mom and dad are scared that means I should be scared too. Often times, a scared child will be harder to treat because they may be squirming around. So try to stay calm!

Be Prepared

If you have children, taking a first aid class is a good bet.  Having worked as a teacher, I have had to take first aid classes. However, I have been thinking that I need a refresher course. Having a first aid kit is another good idea. I have these small first aid kits that I can put in my purse. Typically, they have gauze, bandages, antiseptic, and a few other odds and ends.  It won’t help a broken arm but it’s helpful for those frequent knee scrapes my children often receive.

Get Advice/Help

There have been a number of times when my kids have hit their heads and gotten a giant goose egg.  With head injuries, I think it’s always good to get advice, and not just from a Google search. If I’m ever in doubt, I always go to urgent care. Of course if it’s more serious, such as your child has uncontrolled bleeding or isn't breathing, you’ll have to call an ambulance. My health provider has a nurse hotline I can call for advice too.

And then there's this:

Prayer helps me get through any rough time with my kids. I know God is there holding my hand as I'm dealing with blood and tears. 

Have you ever been in a situation where your child had a serious injury? What did you do? Tell me in the comments.

Don't Forget to Vote! One click = one vote. Thanks so much. 



*Information in this post is not to be substituted for professional advice.