December 10, 2017, 7:54 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Minor accidents happen with children in everyday life. They’re not always a case for the doctor. How parents can tell if their child is injured–and what to do in case of doubt.
They climb on structures they can barely get down from. Or they need to know if the pot on the stove is really as hot as mom says. When children explore the world, they sometimes get hurt. In such situations, it’s important for parents to know what to do.
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1. Child falls from climbing frame
A shock for any parent. As deep as children sometimes fall, you expect the worst. If the child simply gets up after the initial scare and behaves normally, everything is usually fine. However, parents should watch for five warning symptoms in the coming hours, explains Janko von Ribbeck, who wrote a book on first aid for children.
If the child vomits, has a headache, bleeds from an ear, appears absent, or is very sleepy, it could indicate a head trauma. In that case, parents should have their child examined at the hospital and monitored for 48 hours.
2. Child has a laceration
It’s one of the great mysteries of parenthood why children so often fall precisely on an edge. The result is a laceration, from which blood sometimes gushes out. Common body parts: forehead, chin, eyebrow. Such wounds don’t heal on their own, but parents have a certain window of time before the wound needs to be stitched or–more commonly today–glued. “You should be at the children’s clinic within six hours.”
3. Child burns or scalds themselves
It’s usually hot water from the pot or teapot that scalds small children. For smaller wounds, parents should hold them under cold water for five to ten minutes, explains von Ribbeck. Clothes must be removed. “Don’t forget the diaper.” However, fabric that sticks should not be removed but cut around if necessary, recommends Stiftung Warentest in a guide to first aid for children. If a blister bursts, it must always be treated medically because the open wound could become infected. In that case, the child must go to the hospital.
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4. Child chokes
According to von Ribbeck, these are the most dangerous situations: The child has swallowed a nut, candy, or piece of apple, and it gets stuck. “This can be life-threatening,” emphasizes the expert. “Every parent and grandparent must be able to act immediately.” Infants who cannot hold their head yet are placed on their back, and you press firmly on the center of the chest five times in a row. An older baby is laid face down over your thigh, and you tap firmly five times between the shoulder blades. The object should then fall out.
For children over a year old, you try this first. If it doesn’t work, you use the so-called Heimlich maneuver, which everyone should know: You wrap your arms around the child’s torso from behind, place your hands in fists on the child’s upper abdomen, where the solar plexus is. Then you pull the fists sharply toward you, pressing the remaining air out of the lungs. No one should be afraid of causing damage. Often, too much time passes before an ambulance arrives, von Ribbeck emphasizes. By then, the child could have already suffocated.
5. Child has drunk or eaten something potentially poisonous
Children are curious. If there’s a cleaning bottle with a funny-looking colorful liquid around, they might take a sip. If parents observe this, they should first call the poison control center at +49 30 19240. There, you can report what the child has swallowed and receive precise instructions on what to do. What always helps: give a glass of water to drink–but no milk. You should also not induce vomiting.