My son complained of leg soreness after preschool today, and when I checked them out, he had a splinter in the back of each leg (from sitting on a bench and sliding over). He was absolutely terrified of me trying to remove them (sobbing and begging me to keep my hands in his view (this part was a wee bit adorable)). He's had a couple splinters before and been upset, but this was heart wrenching. Normally, I would not be concerned and let them work themselves out, but one is halfway out and the other has a piece of thread from his pants sticking out of it; also, they are both somewhat red already. I gave up the fight, said I'd try in the morning, and put him to bed. Any ideas on how to draw them out without physically pulling them out with my fingernails or tweezers? I must admit that I even comtemplated removing them while he's zonked out--but I certainly don't want him to be more terrorized if it hurts him and he wakes up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
YAY! They are out! I just went in with a flashlight, some tweezers, and some neosporin (and actually had to come back out for scissors to snip the elastic at the bottom of him pants to scoot them up (ha ha)). It was so smooth--a little grumble on the deeper one of the two, but...ah...much better! I saved them to show to him in the am (hoping it will ease his mind and help him see how easy it was). Much appreciated thanks to all of you out there!!!
Medical need trumps child's want - infections can be VERY serious, and you want to get the foreign objects out, and out fully, in as timely a manner as possible. In a world of picking battles, this is one to pick and win. Good luck!
Duct tape really does work! Also, plain old elmers glue applied thickly, let it dry completely, then peel it off and the sticker comes with it.
I'd try to get it while he is sleeping. If that doesn't work, since they are sticking out, the elmers glue trick should work. Cover it in a think layer of glue. Let it dry. Peel off the glue in the direction it's poking out and most likely it will pull right out.
If they're getting infected you're not doing him any favors by letting him win this fight. He needs them out and some antibiotic on them. I'd get them out as soon as possible. If he needs to be held down while you do it then get some strong help and go for it.
I'd remove them while he is asleep with some tweezers if you can grab them without digging. He will feel a sense of relief just to have them out as I agree the anticipation of pain is the worse.
I'd definitely tweeze them out in his sleep. Especially if you don't have to dig in and a piece of it is already out. If he wakes up it will probably be like a bad dream and he'll be comforted and go back to sleep.
With splinter removal, the anticipation of pain is worse than any actual pain of sliding it out with tweezers. You can skip the anticipatory freakout(that you already went through once) if he's unaware. Do the easy one first.
give him a warm bath first, then it will be easier to remove. When my kids were little, my husband was in charge of splinters. I remember he'd take them out onto the back deck, and they'd sit at the table out there, and they'd scream their heads off while he took the splinters out! I'm sure the neighbors were really wondering what we were doing to them!
if you put a wet dressing on it .. it will make the skin softer and swollen.. and they might work themselves out.. like wet a piece of gauze and cover with a piece of medical tape.
my grandmother used bread soaked in milk.. with a bandaid on top.. the important thing is to keep it moist so it works it way out.. but if in the am.. it is still there.. you have to get it out with a needle and tweezers or it can get infected.. I have done this on screaming children not pretty but it has to be done..
Can you get him on board with the idea that taking splinters out underwater is a "magic" way to get them out without hurting? Tell him you talked to a special splinter doctor and this is what he said. You'll only try to get the splinters out while he's in the bathtub, holding his favorite toy. (and then hope it doesn't actually hurt so he will believe you again in the future!)
Since they are partially out, tweeze them while he is sleeping. If not we used to use baking soda paste (baking soda mixed with water). If you can not strong arm him to get them out, take him to the doc and let them be the bad guys. but you need to get them out, especially if they are red. Might need antibiotics as it is.
Good luck
Just read your So What Happened! That's great! So glad that worked for you! Being a parent is so funny sometimes!!! Who would've thought you would need to be sneeking around with a flashlight and tweezers at night to pull out splinters!!! LOL!! :)
Just had this issue with my 5.5 year old 2 weeks ago. She slid on a deck and got like 30 tiny splinters and is terrified of the needle and they were all imbedded in her hands!!
I wrapped her hand in a banana peel 2 separate times for 10 minutes. This brought about 1/2 of them to the surface.
Then we left the rest to 'come out' on their own for 24 hours. Then I put the baking soda/water paste on it and then iced it until her hand was numb and pulled them out. I made sure she had a magazine to look at and when she tried to look at it, I would remind her to look away.
