Bloody Nose in 17 Month Old

Updated on January 24, 2009
K.B. asks from East Moriches, NY
8 answers

My 17 month old has been teething for the past week or so. I don't give him medication often, unless he has a fever. His temperature has been hovering around 99 degrees, but he has obviously been uncomfortable based on his behavior. I was planning on giving him infant advil or motrin this morning, but he woke up around 5:15 with a bloody nose. We've had the heat on, which can cause me to get a dry-bloody nose, but this was a good amount of blood, not running out, but not dry either. Drs. office doesn't open until later to call...does anyone know if its OK for me to give him Advil or Motrin? Thanks!

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So What Happened?

Thank you everyone!
Turns out my son had an ear infection that tagged along at the end of a teething episode. (He never touched his ear, and was still wild during the day - go figure.) So what I thought was left-over teething was an infection. I think the heat caused the nosebleed, coincidentally, at the same time. The doctor said no problem to giving him tylenol, advil OR motrin, but I'll stick to the tylenol if I have to give him anything.

More Answers

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A.D.

answers from New York on

Hi K., Your son's nosebleed can also be from the heat. We sometimes put a dish of water on the radiator. Find a way to put some moisture into the air. I don't think I would give him advil. Find out why his nose is bleding. Let us know. Grandma Mary

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M.M.

answers from New York on

My son is 8 and has been getting blood noses in the dry winter for years. I have found that if I keep the heat low in the bedroom and put a vapouriser/humidifier on it seems to help. Since I have done this he hasn't had any problems.

Advil and Motrin wont hurt him and will make him feel better with those nasty teeth coming through. Soon it will be over :)
Good luck

M.

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C.B.

answers from New York on

NO IT'S NOT OK!!!!
Don't you know that even over the counter drugs are dangerous, especially for babies.
A low grad fever is not dangerous, just a sign to get rid of toxins in the body, and any medication interrupts the process.
Apply cold compacts to his forhead and neck is best.

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M.T.

answers from New York on

Hi K.,
I have no idea what might have case the bloody nose, but it is a good idea to call the doctors office and let them know about what happened since it's not usual for your son. I would not give a motrin based product to someone that's having questionable bleeding - acetominephin only.

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J.

answers from New York on

Hi, I generally don't give meds either but I did give tyenol when teething. It seemed less potent to me. Maybe give him 1/2 a dose. The bloody nose could be the heat. My kids get bloody noses & a hacking cough b/c it is too dry. I have the old iron radiators. I think if you have a humidifier in the room it would help. In the mean time, you can put a pot of water on the radiator and it will have the same effect. Hope this helps.

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A.H.

answers from New York on

I'm not sure why you would give him anything for a bloody nose, but if you want to give him medicine for the teething, give him Tylenol / acetamenophin (sp?). DO NOT GIVE HIM ASPIRIN. It is very dangerous to children.

The bloody nose might have to do with him picking his nose - does he have nails?? I've never heard of it being caused by teething .

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H.J.

answers from Albany on

Hi K., I think you are doing everything right in terms of alleviating his fever and knowing that it is part of teething especially when you are dealing with molars. Regarding the bloody nose I would follow up with the Dr. and possibly get a check on his nasal passages and his ears checked. If he is teething and perhaps fighting a cold, the bloody nose makes sense. My son had bloody noses often and I don't mean waking up with crusting, I mean projectile blood and in copious amounts. The Dr. never seemed too alarmed but always ruled out any more of serious problem. My son had constant ear infections but never showed any symptoms, fever, tugging or discomfort while sleeping. But without fail and especially when teething the Dr. found nose inflamation and ear infections. I definitely agree with your earlier poster that a humidifier would be a good investment. For us it alleviated the nose bleeds and nose inflamation. We still had to deal with the ear infections and went the tube route. From that point we were able to see the beginning of a cold without the miscellaneous symptoms that didn't jive with teething.

Hope this helps,
H.

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D.B.

answers from New York on

K.,

I'm afraid that I have no idea whether it would be alright to give him Advil or Motrin, but you definitely don't want to give him baby aspirin for his fever,as aspirin acts as a blood thinner and may cause him to have more nosebleeds. It may be a good idea to check with his pediatrician before giving him any type of over the counter medication, since some of them do make children more prone to nosebleeds.

If he has a low grade temp, it could be coming from his teething, or he may have a "bug" of some sort, or even an infection in his sinus passages, which is making him even more uncomfortable.

I thought I would post this to you since you mentioned that he had a nosebleed. If these continue, it could very well be coming from the heat in your home, especially if you have forced hot air heat. It may be a good idea to run some sort of a humidifier, or even a cool mist vaporizer for him while he sleeps, in order to put some moisture in the air, which may make him more comfortable, and less likely to have more nosebleeds.

If he should have any more of them, and you have a problem getting it stopped, putting ice on the back of his neck will help to stop the bleeding. Don't ever tip his head back, or the blood running down his throat may cause him to choke!

When my son (who is now 28) was small, every winter was an absolute nightmare, as he would get nosebleeds all the time from the forced hot air heat drying out his nasal passages, and when he got one, it took forever to get it stopped. Putting some humidity in the air in his room did help, but we finally had to cut his bedroom door in half, and leave the top half of it open, so that it didn't get too warm in his room, or he would have them every night, and they were nearly impossible to stop. He actually ended up in the ER twice, having to have his nose cauterized in order to stop the bleeding.

If your son continues to have nosebleeds, I would definitely make his pediatrician aware of it, and run a humidifier or cool mist vaporizer in his room during the winter months. His doctor may want to do some bloodwork, to check the Vitamin K levels in his blood, as, if it is too low, it will make him more likely to get frequent nosebleeds.

I hope this doesn't escalate into frequent nosebleeds because of your heat, but, if it does, the suggestions that I made above will definitely help. Good luck, and the most important thing to remember, if he should have one, is to stay calm, so you don't upset or frighten him, because that will only make the bleeding worse.

I hope this information helps!

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