Poll: Baby's first ER visit

WinesNotWhines · February 2012

Bh's post reminded me of this (sorry bh!). How old was your kid when you first took him/her to the ER, and what was it for? And if one or more of your kids has never needed an ER visit, how old are they?

Hey Jellisy · February 2012

No ER visit yet for either DD almost 3 and DS 13 months. Although if we hadn't been camping this summer and far from a hospital, I may have taken her for a dog bite that she received on her face.

LindseyJW · February 2012

i think we are lucky...in 79 total months of kids (5yrs, 2mo + 17 months) we've never had to take either to the ER.

my BIL, however, who has three kids under 6.5, has monthly parking at his ER. it seems one of his brood is always breaking something, needing stitches, having a deadly allergic reaction to something.

we are just lucky, i guess.

northernvabride · February 2012

Can't remember if this was DD#1's first visit, or just the most memorable, but at 2 and a half, she stuck a bean so far up her nose that they could not remove it at the pedi, so off to the ER we went. DD#2 went at 10 months for an allergic reaction to penicillin. We went three times that week in fact, because she always had the most problems in the middle of the night when both Dr and Urgent care were closed.

MrsPhilDunphy · February 2012

Does Urgent Care count? We did that once when C had his first ear infection, accompanied by a scary high fever. It was the first time he was ever really sick. I want to say 9ish months?

I think we're pretty lucky because one of the offices in our pedi practice is open Sat & Sun morning for acute problems. That comes in handy for things that can't wait till Monday but aren't life threatening.

victoria1212 · February 2012

We have been twice- once for a bad case of croup and once because she would not stop screaming and had a fever of 104.

jess08200 · February 2012

We went when DS was about 10 months old. It was an ER visit because we were OOT at the IL's.

Otherwise we would have taken him to Pedi here in town. He had bad congestion and we wanted to make sure that it wasn't something else.

NicoNiko · February 2012

**Knocking on wood.** Not yet--kids are 2 1/2 and 18 months (today!).

vtkgirl77 · February 2012

I've never gone to the ER...but I think that's because we have Kaiser which has Urgent Care around the clock. We've been to urgent care numerous times. In fact, I took DD#2 to UC for an ear infection on Saturday night and I took DD#1 to UC for an ear infection last night.

LMH1209 · February 2012

DS went for the first time at 2 1/2 when he broke his arm climbing out of his crib. We actually called an ambulance because we just didn't know how to get him into the car. We were also concerned about his head and neck, although both ended up being fine.

DS actually went to two ERs that day. The ambulance took us to Inova Alexandria, where they checked him out generally, did x-rays, splinted the arm and gave him pain meds. They then sent us to the pediatric ER at Inova Fairfax to have the fracture reduced. (We drove between hospitals because DS had the splint and pain meds.)

Oh, and all of this happened three weeks before DD was born.

kafunder · February 2012

*KnockonWood* We haven't had to go yet at 17 months. I'm hoping all the trips to L&D and the ER I made while pregnant covered us in emergency room karma for a long time.

Jitterbug2668 · February 2012

DS was 10 days old. 22 hours of screaming led me to take him to the ER. All they said was... He's colicy. They failed to maybe think he had severe reflux.

tracy042206 · February 2012

We barely have even had to see the pedi on the weekend sick hours. Maggie is 4.5yo.

QueSrah · February 2012

Two+ years and (knock on wood) so far we haven't had to take T to the ER or urgent care. But BH's post made me realize I'd be the crazy person literally running my child to the ER (since we live across the street from a hospital and it might be just as fast to walk there as to strap an injured or screaming kid in the car and drive around the block and wait at a traffic light to get to the right driveway).

bh2720 · February 2012

the first time was a few months ago when he split his chin open when he fell against a stool after clearly disregarding the no running in the house rule!

then last night.

I'd be fine if we never needed to go back!!!

vml14 · February 2012

My DD was transported via ambulance last summer, when she was almost 2 years old. She drank milk, and she's severly allegic. Stayed about 4 hours, had a shot of epi and some other drugs, and came home.

My son hasn't had to go yet, knock on wood!

fatjavacat · February 2012

We just took DS 1 for the first time over the weekend (27 months) - He fell and busted his lip pretty bad. He didn't need any stitches, so it was pretty much a wasted trip....

DS 2 - not yet, but he is only 4 weeks old...(knock knock knock on wood)

Artslvr · February 2012

We've done the ER visit thing on Sundays for normal stuff, because the pedi wasn't open.

Ummm - real ER like "emergency" type stuff - I think we've been two times with DD #1, twice with DD #2, and I don't think anything with DS yet. Cut on the head (staples in the scalp), cut on the face (near the eye - so scary - stitches for that one), c dif infection (four day hospital stay for that one), smooshed fingers (xray showed nothing broken), etc.

Though that doesn't seem quite right either because I could have sworn that we went three times in two months one year and we though they were calling to call CPS.

So it's probably been more. Stick out tongue I don't remember how old everyone was. You guys have really good memories.

Useonfire · February 2012

I hate this story, but it's DS's one and only ER visit to date. He was about 6 months old, and he had had a check-up at the Pedi that morning where he had received shots. They put a bandaid on him. When we got home, I put him down for his nap, not thinking about the bandaid. At some point, I realized that leaving the bandaid on him was not a great idea as he could take it off and put it into his mouth, but then I thought, What are the odds of that happening? When I went to get him up from his nap, I searched for the bandaid and never found it. At that moment, he started gasping/choking/making really weird sounds. I panicked and called 911. He wasn't exactly actively choking, but he was making weird noises so they suggested sending out some EMT's to look him over. By the time the EMT's arrived, it was clear to me that DS had swallowed the bandaid successfully and seemed to be fine. However, they wanted to be sure that he hadn't aspirated the bandaid and it was floating around in his lungs. So off to Inova Fairfax we went. DS did great on the ambulance ride, smiling and laughing with the EMT's. He had to get a chest x-ray (which was clear) but then we were released. DH combed through his diapers for days in search of the bandaid and it finally emerged on day 3!

RomeRomance06 · February 2012

DD was about 5 months old. She had vomited, was turning a really funky gray color and was super lethargic. Turns out she had a UTI. Weirdly, she never really had a fever or seemed hot and I thought she was teething before the vomiting, turning color thing. Otherwise we could've nipped that in the bud earlier. Poor thing. She also had croup about a month before that, but we ended up taking her to the pedi for that.

hippotree · February 2012

We were all in the ER after a car accident when the boys were 2 1/2 and 5 weeks

Other than that, we haven't been.

SoonToBeMrsDTS · February 2012

DD has never had to go (knock on wood!) but DS has been twice. He had a high fever at 5 weeks old and we brought him in because it was late at night. The second time was for stitches when he ran head first into an open drawer when he was 2. I have a feeling it won't be his last trip, he's a wild man.

JKM416 · February 2012

DD's was 21 months when we were in Disney World (it figures). It was 36 hours before we were going to fly home, and she was inconsolably cranky and crying and feverish (had started going downhill that afternoon, and after dinner it was really bad). We thought maybe it was an ear infection and didn't want to put her on a plane with one. There was a children's hospital with an ER somewhat nearby, and we luckily had a rental car. We were there for hours, and all the while DD was in great spirits and they must have wondered why the heck we had shown up. All checked out OK, and while she was still under the weather for our last full day at Disney, she was fine the day we traveled.

DH took her again a few weeks ago when she fell off our bed and split the inside of her bottom lip open, but they said anything they could do would probably just traumatize her more and to let it heal on its own. It wasn't really ER-worthy, but it was over the weekend. Besides, the Naval hospital ER is more like an urgent care.

DS1 got an ambulence ride to the ER at 14 months when he had a febrile seizure at 11:30pm and scared the living daylights out of us. It was a reaction to his flu vaccine. He had spiked a crazy fever that brought on the seizure, and it took a few hours and doses of motrin and tylenol before it went down enough for them to release him.

suecadence · February 2012

When DS was almost 1 he was wheezy and lethargic and so we took him into the pediatrician. They monitored his oxygen levels and sent us straight to the ER (in the same building) because they were low. He had RSV and ended up being hospitalized in the PICU and on oxygen for three days. It was awful! Luckily no trips since then.

AgrippaRidesAgain · February 2012

No ER visit for either kid yet. DS has been close a few times though. When he was DD's age, he fell and cut his upper gum on a cardboard box. It was still gushing blood 3 hours later, but we discovered that it was b/c he kept sucking his thumb and opening it back up. Wrapping his hand in a sock worked. He also almost went when he didn't poop for 5 days when we attempted to completely take diapers away. It was the weekend and the glycerin suppository hadn't worked. Before going, we gave him a pull up and he magically was able to go. :-/

DS will be 4 at the end of April.

ETA:

We probably should have gone when DD was 2 weeks old and turning blue from choking on spit up. I have no idea why we didn't. She cleared it on her own but then did it twice again that night. DH stayed up all night with her and we were banging down the pedi's door in the morning.

Sofka · February 2012

DD was about 18mo old, I was in my 3rd trimester, it was croup.

I posted about this, in Dec, when we were OOT, and she smashed her fingers b/w the door and the wall, and ended up needing surgery (when we came home).

DS has not been but he will be going, I am sure, active little boy is a huge understatement for him. He can climb onto tables, sinks, anything and everything.

NowDNAtoo · February 2012

DS's first trip was when he was 15 months old for a broken leg. DD hasn't had an ER trip yet at 22 months (knocking on wood).

smacb · February 2012

He was six months old. WE were in San Antonio (in the middle of a cross country drive.) He had a fever of 102 and vomiting.

mommmyz · February 2012

DS went when he was 6 months old for croup in the middle of the night. We called the on call pedi and they heard him and were pretty sure it was croup but he was wheezing pretty bad so they suggested we take him.

L'Etincelle · February 2012

My baby was 8 months old when he first had to go to the ER - for wheezing due to RSV.

2nd time was at 18 months old for a lingering high fever (high as in 105!) which required a catheter urine test Turned out to be roseola as evidenced by the rash that appeared the next morning when his fever broke.

My older son has been to the ER twice for nursemaid's elbow. Once at 2 years old, and once at 3 1/2 years old. Now the Dr.s have taught us how to pop his elbow back in place should it happen again. He is predisposed to this due to a mild version of a condition that causes loose ligaments. He should outgrow it by 6 years old.

amh_navyblue · February 2012

DD#1: Never been (she's almost 5 1/2)

DD#2: Once (she just turned 2) when she had "nursemaid elbow" (basically the elbow got out of joint) when she about 15 months old. I swear she is going to be our ER kid...the visit was actually pretty easy and quick (the treatment for that takes about 2 secs...of course that 2 seconds cost me $$, but oh well;), but she has no fear and takes life head on all. the. time. I can see her being the one to break a bone...or two...;)

2vthokies · February 2012

DD1: At 5 weeks when she wouldn't stop projectile vomiting and screaming. We knew she had reflux and was on Zantac, but that's where they dx her MSPI. Pedi was worried it was pyloric stenosis, but it wasn't. At 15 months when we were visitng my in-laws OOT. If was during the H1N1 scare and she spiked a really high fever (close to 105), so we called our pedi and they said she needed to go to the ER because they were concerned it might be the flu. After hours in the ER we never did figure out what it was. At 29 months because she was lethargic after days of on and off vomitting which we had assumed was the stomach bug. Turned out it was strep.

DD2: Never been so far (she's almost 17 months).

mbss · February 2012

Dd was 15 months and got a tube of Orajel. Thinking it was likely harmless and that she didn ingest much, I still called poison control to be safe. If i recall correctly, they told me orajel blocks hemoglobin and can be toxic. At even 1/4 of the tube could have caused serious complications. I had NO idea how much she got but those tubes are small so off we sped. DH was deployed and I was alone & a wreck. Needless to say there has never been any Orajel in our house since then.

lovelyophelia · February 2012

DS was like 3 months and some punk kids ran by us on a set of stairs. We both fell down. Turned out I was the one hurt and had a concussion.

jenarella · February 2012

13.5 months - dietitian rec'd formula with a higher mix of calories because he was so low weight. After slowly adding more and more for a few days, he started vomiting many times and ended up in ER for dehydration. (way more than usual from reflux). Syringing in liquids every half hour wasn't enough to prevent it

29 months- bad stomach virus, dehydration again. Stayed in hospital for a week to run additional tests and give his GI tract time to rest. Longest week ever.

And people wonder why we are paranoid about him getting sick! He usually gets things worse and stays sick longer than most. Every stomach bug he gets, wonder if it will mean another trip to the hospital.

Seems like there were more, but guess that's because we've been to hospitals more times for tests than I can count.

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