Is Your Child a Band-Aid Addict?

Updated on March 25, 2012
K.B. asks from Detroit, MI
22 answers

My daughter is 4 and is going through a phase where she wants a Band-Aid for everything - it's rare that she gets a boo-boo that is actually bleeding and needs a Band-Aid, but any tiny scratch, bump, stubbed toe, etc. she wants one. Telling her that she really doesn't need one, or explaining she only needs one of boo-boos that are bleeding, doesn't matter to her - she will insist "But it hurts really bad!" and start crying. She will also want to go through multiple Band-Aid changes and then I have to really put my foot down and tell her no more Band-Aids after this one.

She also went through a phase of wanting an ice pack for everything. At the child care at her school, they often give the kids an ice pack for bumps, scrapes, etc. and then that got her wanting one for herself all the time too.

I have put the boxes of Band-Aids in a lower drawer where she can get one herself if she thinks she needs one, so I am not constantly being asked to get her one. Right now she has about 3 or 4 on each leg, one on one finger, and one on her chin. I know it's probably not a hill worth dying on, but it's also starting to drive me more than a little insane. Is there anything I can do to help her understand she doesn't need one for every little injury? Or just suffer through it and wait for this to pass?

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So What Happened?

Yeah, I've tried just getting the ugly plain tan ones, not the cute cartoon character ones - does not matter. ;)

Ooh, just remembered - she is addicted to chapstick too. We call it her "crackstick" because she constantly has to be carrying some around and putting more on!

Featured Answers

J.S.

answers from Jacksonville on

YES, she is! I didn't mind it so much till I pulled six of them out of a clogged up drain. GRrrrrrr!

4 moms found this helpful

M.F.

answers from Portland on

LOL
yes!
Mine is 6 and will suddenly show up with a bandaid on her cheek or her nose or her arm.
I will ask her what happened and she will say that she bumped it or something.
There isn't even a slightly pink mark, but it NEEDED a bandaid, LOL

Alwell, at least she has learned to do it herself, LOL

4 moms found this helpful

More Answers

M..

answers from Detroit on

YES! I quit buying them!

5 moms found this helpful
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N.W.

answers from Eugene on

Hello, my name is N. and I am a bandaid addict.

Yesterday I had bloodwork done and had, HAD to ask for the Dora bandaid, the hot pink one with the little monkey on it. It was embarrassing but that is the power of an addiction.

At home, I have bandaids with bows, teddy bears and ballet slippers on them. These are for me, my teenaged boys get the brown ones.

But really, how many other ways can you give so much pleasure with something that costs 10 cents and a few seconds of time. Enjoy!

5 moms found this helpful
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M.L.

answers from Colorado Springs on

You might try giving your daughter a daily supply. Some kids will go through a huge box of Band-aids in a single day! (Oh, you knew that?)

Instead, put a half dozen in a paper envelope and say, "This is for today. There won't be any more Band-aids until tomorrow, so use them well." Hide the rest on the top shelf of the closet behind the towels, or in your nearest wall safe if necessary! Then let her decorate herself as much as she pleases.

This, too, shall pass. Pretty soon she'll lose the interest in the Band-aids... and find something else to make you crazy. :^D

5 moms found this helpful
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C.W.

answers from Santa Barbara on

My now 18 year old daughter was exactly like that so I was sure to stock up on the cheap $1 boxes. If it made her felt better, great. It wasn't worth being too strict about the bandage supply over a few dollars.

I asked her to pick me up some a few weeks ago because I had some shoes I knew would give me trouble on a trip....I received Mickey Mouse ones (old school) from her. She is also the girl that has the mini first aid kit in her purse and the full blown one in her car now.

5 moms found this helpful

L.A.

answers from Austin on

Pick your battles.. She may grow up to be a Doctor!

Our daughter loved band aides. I would purchase them on sale especially the ones at Target that were discontinued..

She is now 21 and still is famous for her crazy bandaides. The girls at her college know to go to our daughter if they need one.

When we come across them we purchase them for her.. Of course she only uses them now if she needs them, but you can always count on her to have a few in her purse.

5 moms found this helpful

C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

It's the age. Band-aids are a "catch all" for kids...it shows you care...you are protecting them...

I have BOXES of band aids - all shapes, sizes and styles (Batman, Pooh, etc.) and my kids (still at 9 & 11) LOVE band-aids and the big ta-do I make over their boo-boo's...they laugh and love the attention STILL!!!

4 moms found this helpful
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P.H.

answers from Dallas on

This makes me smile as I remember my son who's almost 14 wanting Band Aids all the time! I miss those days! Try to enjoy it and take some pictures of her to look at later.

4 moms found this helpful
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I.G.

answers from Seattle on

I had to laugh. my 4 year old is the same. I thing at this age it's part fashion accessory, part badge of of courage. I love your idea of just putting it in her reach, I think I will do that too. I don't really care too much about her having bandaids on...that is one battle that I am ok with not fighting.

4 moms found this helpful

A.R.

answers from St. Louis on

Yes....my little one (6)..he loves band aids and he feels like the pain is going away immediately when he puts one on....I let him...no problem H....

3 moms found this helpful
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J.P.

answers from Chicago on

Yes! LOL My 4 yo daughter has been the same way for the past few weeks! She was using a stool to reach them herself and put them on, so I needed to hide them!

2 moms found this helpful

Y.C.

answers from Orlando on

YES!!!!!!!!!!
My daughter is 4, but she also suffer from eczema.
Every time she gets itchy she wants a band-aid, or every scratch as small as it can be.
I am ok specially because it helps her to stop scratching, but there have being times that she goes to school with up to 10 band-aids!
One of her school works from last week they had to hand paint flowers but because she had band-aids in 2 fingers from each hand, her flowers...well, had very few petals, ha!
I also use to buy the cute ones and she would get exited to open them to see what it was, but it was getting very expensive, so we start buying the generic brown ones.
Funny because she still gets exited:
her:"what it is?"
me: "is just brown"
her: "yay, brown!"
next one, the same and the next the same, etc.

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B.M.

answers from Los Angeles on

My almost 4 year old drank a glass of milk too fast yesterday and told me he had a tummy ache and needed 4 band aids. I live with it. It's a phase. It could be a LOT worse!

2 moms found this helpful
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A.S.

answers from Boca Raton on

I wonder if it's her way of getting attention . . . especially since you work in health care (for creatures bless your heart!).

Treatment = attention.

??

PS: My kids were not big fans of band-aids when they were little because they hated having to rip them off. :O

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A.M.

answers from Phoenix on

No, my kids never really got an addiction to band-aids. I think the reason for that is because everytime they'd get a teeny tiny scratch or boo-boo, I'd shout, "OH NO, time to amputate, daddy get me the saw." Or I'd try to pull the limb off (jokingly of course) and they'd run away laughing. Now that they are older, they do come to me for band-aids but there is usually a real need for it along with some Neosporin. Once in a blue moon though I still try to pull off a limb!

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S.B.

answers from Chicago on

My 2 1/2 year old is like that. His finger hurts, so he needs a bandaid, but he won't leave it alone and within 2 minutes he has peeled it off and, of course, now he needs another one. He will go into the bathroom and get them himself, so I have to hide them or he'll go through an entire box in an hour!

2 moms found this helpful

R.B.

answers from La Crosse on

well my 3 1/2 yr old daughter has about 6-8 of them on her right now!

Good thing its just a phase!

1 mom found this helpful
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D.M.

answers from Chicago on

We have a strict "no bleeding, no bandaid" rule. They are pretty good about letting it go once I remind them.

My friend has a special "boo boo pack". It's just a small ice pack with Disney princesses on it, but her daughter is IN LOVE with this thing. It instantly calms her. Maybe try something like that.

1 mom found this helpful
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R.F.

answers from Houston on

Ha Ha my daughter almost 4 is addicted to band aids too. Thought I was the only one. She won't let us take em off either. She wants them to come off by their selves. I swear everyone that comes in contact w/her must think we beat her by all of her band aids. Good to know it's just a phase.

1 mom found this helpful
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J.P.

answers from Los Angeles on

Yes! My kids think that the Band-Aids makes it feel better. I refuse to put a Band-Aid on anything that is not bleeding. If it is bleeding, it keeps the blood from getting on clothing. That solved that.

1 mom found this helpful
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S.H.

answers from Killeen on

My 5 year old nephew has done this for years, no matter how hard we try to explain that band-aids don't fix everything.

1 mom found this helpful

M.J.

answers from Milwaukee on

Yes a phase, but I did reduce it a little by purchasing only the ugly tan colored bandaids instead of the cute characters.

1 mom found this helpful
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