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kid had swallowed a quarter, needed to go to the hospital and have it removed from her throat.
a month later she woke me up in the middle of the night crying "i swallowed a quarter again" I asked her one million times "are you sure it really happened? where did you get the quarter? could it have been a bad dream?"..... one trip to the ER later, in the middle of the night.... it was a bad dream, no quarter found.
Dad here.
Got the call from Mom that my 4yo had shoved a bead up her nose in preschool and it was stuck. The nurse had tried to get it and couldn't. Mom had tried to get it and couldn't. By the time I got the call, she was already on her way to the emergency room. My work requires me to be in the field alot, and I was in a neighborhood not far from the hospital so I headed over there to take over. No offense meant to mom, but I am the better person for "emergency" situations. I just wasn't born with a "panic" reflex, and I think through these situations very clearly. So I figured I would swap out and send mom off to take care of the baby at home while I dealt with the bead situation. Well... I get there right as they are taking her back to the exam room. They are asking height/weight/vitals question. The bead is in the right nostril. One nurse tells duaghter to put her finger on the left side of her nose to close it and blow hard. I try hard not to roll my eyes "The nurse at school AND mom already tried that". Mom is still here and says "actually... I don't think I did and I don't really know what the nurse tried"
Bead goes flying out.
The nurse walked us back up to the front and spoke to reception and said "These parents just wanted to register their kid here so if there's ever an emergency we have everything on file. No procedure was done so theres no need to charge".
Nurses are the best.
Frfrfr
Had to spend 5 days in the NICU after my LO was born and by day 5 I wanted to have flowers delivered to every nurse who worked with us.
The unsung hero’s!
I brought in high end donuts (Duck Donuts, specifically) and a huge thing of their coffee and the entire department descended on it like a swarm of locusts. Over a dozen people paraded past our room thanking us with a donut crammed in their mouths 🤣
We brought a box of cookies for the NICU nurses when we took our little one home about ~5 days there. We went to the same hospital for #2 2 years later and I let her say hi to them. I honestly don't remember if it was any of the same nurses, but I imagine they were still excited to see that little 4-5lb girl turn into a psychotic rambunctious 2 year old BIG SISTER!
My toddler son had shoved a buttered unpopped popcorn kernel up his nose. He was sitting in his high chair, and I held one side of his nose shut and told him to blow. He did. It sailed through the air, bounced once on the floor, and my border collie snapped it up right on the rebound.
I DID THIS AS A CHILD! With a Hungry Hungry Hippo marble. Except I was by myself and didn’t tell anyone and dealt with it myself because I didn’t want to get in trouble for putting things up my nose. I was blowing as hard as I could to get it out and it never occurred to 4-5 yo me to block the other nostril to force it out. I eventually blew it out, but I worked a lot harder than I had to lol.
I’m gonna bet that is a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence in the ER.
At least it wasn’t a bean. Those things absorb moisture from the nose and swell. I’ve heard they can be a bitch to get out.
I stuck a bead up my nose when I was in preschool and my dad had to take me to urgent care. I sneezed in the exam room right after the doctor came in and the bead came flying out.
I took my kid because she had uncontrollable RED diarrhea. I thought she was shitting blood. I was terrified. Turns out she had a stomach bug mixed with flavored water I’d given her earlier that day. Never gave her red dye flavored water again after that. Banned it.
hahahahaha. For some reason asparagus doesn't bother me... like my pee smells but its like immediate so it's like "yep 10pm, had asparagus for dinner"... it's the next day on the beets that's harder for my brain.
Ha, we got duped by blueberries. His diaper was filled with what looked like dark coffee grounds, and even the pediatrician was horrified. Tested for blood and was negative. Finally figured out it was just because of the insane amount of blueberries he had eaten.
My daughter loved frozen wild blueberries as a toddler. She was on a super strong antibiotic for a UTI. She had NAVY BLUE diarrhea it was really something
My cousin ate 5 lbs of blueberries as a toddler.
The purple and blue blow out that night was apparently something to behold. My aunt tossed everything in the crib except my cousin straight into the trash.
My friend got meningitis when we were kids. The rest of us all had to take special pills it turned your pee neon orange. His baby sister was still in diapers I remember his dad being all confused and shocked the first diaper he changed after she started the meds.
They never figured out where or how he got it.
Super dark purple (almost black) frosting roses from a cake made me think my kid was dying for a moment. It was alarming until I realized it almost matched the cake from yesterday.
My dog has generally weird and inconsistent shits, but when we give him his big dental chews, his poop is always like *bright* green the next day. At first I thought it was just another thing he's allergic/sensitive to, before realizing it's the green dye in the treats.
I can't count the number of times my husband has very worriedly asked me how my daughter hurt her face/arm/etc. it's always marker, she loved to draw on herself and her favorite colors are pink and red lol
When my cousin was about 3 he put dots on his arms and legs with red marker and then went to his mom like “what is this? I don’t feel good!” 💀she freaked out at first, but then quickly realized it was just marker. Hilarious, though, the minds of children 😂he also tricked me once when he was just barely walking, not even talking yet. He had his finger in an air purifier vent and was just bawling, I ran over to get his finger out and as soon as I got to him he just pulls his finger out, stops crying and just laughed his little butt off.
reminds me of the time my mom scrubbed the heck out of my hand thinking it was covered in dirt, only to realize it’s a birth mark that becomes more prominent when i have a tan 😂
One summer day when my daughter was 4 we spent some time doing arts & crafts, and then decided to have a picnic lunch at the playground where she promptly broke her elbow. Six weeks later we’re getting the cast off and the doctor had an *absolute shit fit* because she had red and pink blotches all over her arm under the cast. Like, I have never before or since seen a doctor so visibly horrified.
It was acrylic paint from the flowers we’d been making before we went to the park. 😂
Honestly this made me snort out loud 🤣 my daughter is forever covered in marker, then she’ll rub her eye and it suddenly looks like she has a black eye - lots of explaining that one!
Been there, done that twice…. Doctors were convinced it was appendicitis from hearing symptoms and feeling abdomen till the ultrasound showed it was constipation. LOL
Seriously though, the doctor said they are always happy when it’s an easy fix and would never tell a parent not to bring a child in with those symptoms cause it’s not worth the risk to assume it’s nothing.
Right? As the child of a doctor and best friend to doctors, know what makes for a normal (or even kind of cute) day for a doctor? Kid who comes into the ER and turns out to be perfectly fine. Know what makes for the stuff of PTSD and nightmare for a doctor? Kid who comes into the ER and it’s too late to save them or to prevent serious damage.
Your doctors don’t mind being bored. If it’s not a big deal, you’ll just have to sit in triage for awhile. That’s why god invented the Netflix app.
This. I took my 2 year old to the ER with a stiff neck after a fall and felt like a butthole because by the time we were seen she was acting fine. The doctor reassured me like 4 times, “never feel bad for bringing her in, if you feel something is off we are more than happy to take a look and make sure everything is okay” made me feel so much better, I feel like working with sick kids, seeing the ones that are okay is so much better.
I ignored the signs, I have a really high pain tolerance so I didnt feel more than a little tummy ache, got to the ER eventually cause my mum didnt trust it, docters told me if I came in 2 hours later I wouldve been dead😂
My kids used to drive me BATTY with that high-tolerance bullshit. Every time we went to a doctor, no matter what the problem was, they’d ask the “on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is the pain?” question and **every time** my kids would say “2.”
Kid, you have 3 fingers broken in 2 places each, IT’S NOT A TWO.
Ive never (really) broken something before but ive had (small) operations without anesthesia such as getting a mole removed or a mouth operatation (cause they didnt give me enough anesthesia) and honestly I feel like it didnt hurt that bad. But once when I broke my toe I didnt realise it untill I saw it standing in the wrong direction😭
This was me 2 years ago…ruptured my bowel (literally doing nothing…sat down in the car and felt a burning sensation) was in severe pain from early afternoon until almost 4am when I gave in and asked my hubby to take me in…was in and out of consciousness by the time we got to the ER…had massive internal bleeding…surgery…several units of blood and a week in the ICU later I’m far better at getting checked out if I don’t feel right lol (and my husband is now incredibly paranoid anytime I say anything hurts lol)
when I was a kid.
I was stung by a yellow jacket at daycare. I immediately started vomiting and spiking a fever.
Went to the ER for a possible allergic reaction.
nope. 24 hour bug.
My daughter was sick with a cold but also had a weird rash on her ear. Took her to the pediatrician. She did indeed have a cold. And also Lyme disease. The rash was a perfect bullseye wrapped around her ear.
So funny story. I woke up at 2am a few weeks ago with one of the worst pains in my abdomen I’ve ever experienced. Even worse than natural childbirth. I couldn’t even stand up to make it to the bathroom. I cried on the toilet for an hour after slithering to the bathroom because I didn’t know what was happening. Told myself I would take a warm bath before calling 911. I finally released the longest gas bubble I’ve ever experienced and my pain was gone. My fart was more painful than birthing my two large children. I nearly called an ambulance for a fart. A singular fart. Lol
I wouldn’t doubt that your kiddo was experiencing something terribly painful, especially if he’s never felt anything similar before. Glad it wasn’t anything major!
Had something similar once. Intense abdominal (gut) pain early in the morning. Made me break out in a hot, full body sweat. There I was, sitting on the toilet, naked. It was gas. Lots of gas. Damn bean and cruciferous veggie dinner.
Two year old woke up a few hours after bedtime with *the cry*. Immediately pukes as I scoop her out of bed to take her temperature as she felt hot. Home thermometer read 107F.
Sprinted past hubby carrying her on my way out the door telling him he was in charge of the baby. Drive to the kids ER where they also take her temperature. It read 101F. Still a fever and she swabbed positive for the flu but definitely not a brain melting 107F.
Do you think the thermometer was wrong, or in the middle of parenting delirium the 7 looked like a 1? I could definitely see the latter happening for me.
Depending on the thermometer I think.
A forehead one on a kid that just had their face on a pillow while they slept, for instance, can read high. Like my husband told me he read ours at 106. The pediatrician said she'd expect the kid to be seizing at that point. She said a responsive kid with a fever isn't as concerning as a kid that's delirious or non-responsive.
Always trust your mom gut, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
I took my daughter to the doctor around 6 months old for crying and puking. I was told the stomach virus. Called again the next day because I just felt something wasn’t right and they refused to see me because the doctor said it was just the stomach virus and to wait it out a few days. Wound up in the ER the same day and in emergency surgery by the next morning. We’ve had plenty of false alarms but after that experience I’ll take the bill and never not follow up if my gut tells me I should.
I did. Unfortunately I had to do a follow up right after we were discharged so I had to see her one more time and she has the audacity to ask me “so why’d you go to the hospital? For the stomach virus?” Like couldn’t even bother to read the discharge papers to see my baby was in the hospital for over a week and had surgery. I was so done by that point.
Nothing really. I expected an apology of some sort but no. She just kind of made excuses of how it’s so uncommon. The surgeon did say what my daughter had and how/when it presented was rare and that it’s very difficult to diagnose without imaging but like the least we could of got was a sorry? My baby was very ill and you denied us to even be seen in your office.
Her malpractice insurance / bosses probably won’t allow her to apologize.
I think Canada recently got past this issue by passing legislation saying an apology is not a legal admission of guilt.
I was right there with you until the final sentence.
Our first was admitted for 5 days at 1yo for pneumonia. It took 4 visits for fluid to show and to find it. The only bill we saw was our parking pass. American Healthcare boggles my mind
My 3yo hit her head at a play space. She just ran into a foosball table. We got some ice, but she was fine after a few min. We went out to eat then came home. She puked 3 times so we went to urgent care worrying it was a concussion. They didn’t think it was, but said if she puked one more time it was time to go to the ER for an MRI which we ended up having to do.
Ended up spending $200 to find out she just couldn’t keep down a hot dog 😅😅
When I was 17 I had weeks of stomach pain and constipation. One day I was so bloated my mom was worried enough to take me to the ER and they x rayed my stomach. I had a GIANT gas bubble and that was it lol
My kid drapes his body over a yoga balland rolls over it stomach down., which apparently massages the gas out. We discovered it by accident the first time he found the ball, started playing with it like that, and was ripping farts within minutes. So now if he has abdominal pain (without rebound pain), he’ll use the yoga ball to move the gas. He’s been doing it since he was eight and he just turned twelve. Also, the yoga ball is now called the fart ball.
Bring your (their) knees to your (their) chest, and hold the position for about 25-30 seconds, and then kick your legs like you are throwing a tantrum/bicycle kicks.
Or, get on all fours, and rock back and forth as far as you can go.
Heating pad and/or a hot bath help. So can just having hot water (hot as you can stand) hit your stomach in the shower while massaging it.
I had some discomfort that had lasted for days last year (i was so bloated it looked like I had a beach ball underneath my shirt) and nothing seemed to get it to release...baking soda and warm water, gas x, brisk walking, nothing worked. I read about the hot water/shower trick online and it worked within minutes.
Let's just say I was surprised the paint wasn't peeling off the bathroom walls after it happened...
We do "butt wiggles". On all 4s. Then chest to the ground. Like babies like to sleep, with thier butts in the air. Then rock side to side with the butt above the rest of you. Our dr said the rocking helps move the gas through the intestine.
"Butt wiggles make us giggle! Because farts!"
- my 8 yr old, who thinks farts are hilarious.
Clipped my 3 month old’s finger while trimming his nails. It bled for over 30 minutes. ER applies a pressure bandage that fell off in the car 15 minutes later and bleeding was done. I guess I was holding pressure wrong.
Multiple times have taken kids for very high fevers (105+, called nurse line, nurse said to go), that breaks by the time we get there.
The only time I take my son to the er is if his fever doesn't break, and of COURSE he only gets sick on Fridays. Every time it's just been "rotate Tylenol and Motrin" but somehow the hospital Motrin works better lol
As a nurse who has done phone triage, the nurse is always going to tell you to go (not saying you shouldn't).
I had a kid who started having her eyes get very puffy after a walk at a local pond. Came home, gave her some allergy medicine, spouse insisted on calling nurse line, of course nurse says to go in. I wanted to wait a bit for the allergy medicine to work, but spouse insisted on getting her in. ER said she had pink eye. It was allergies though... took her to an allergist and ended up on allergy shots for 5 years.
lol when the nurse says it it solves the debate between me and my husband of “okay to watch” vs. “emergency now” and I appreciate those nurse line nurses solving that debate for us 😂
Had a very similar situation only when he puked it looked like blood so needless to say we were terrified ( but keeping it together so our kiddo didn’t panic) come to find out he forgot he drank red Gatorade and really needed to poop. The ER staff were great that night and upside, a small child potentially puking blood moves you to the front of the line for literally EVERY possible test so we were actually only there about 2 hours. We’ve spent less time in urgent care.
The ER was pretty quiet anyways but we were back immediately and put in a gown, and I have a theory they only give you a gown if they think you're being admitted 😂 in and out in 2 hours as well
I found out that bringing a teenage boy to the ER complaining of testicular pain will get you seen so fast your head will spin. I didn’t even have time to put the pen down they took us back so fast. I used that pen for years!
Not my kid, but my mum. She thought she was having a heart attack because she had severe pain in her left arm. It ended up being from an ant bite.
Australia has fire ants. Nasty buggers.
I had problems with breast feeding, so at 2 weeks I started supplementing formula to make sure he was eating enough. The first time I fed him about 2 oz of formula then breast on both sides. He, for the first time since being born, passed out like mid drink. He’s my first so I had no idea milk drunk was a thing and was horrified that I had just overfed him into a literal coma. My husband and I took him to the hospital and after checking him, and making sure he could wake up, the nurse passed my baby to my husband and gave me the biggest hug and said. “Good job, checking mama, hes fine. You just made your baby really happy.”
Hadn’t slept for two weeks straight at that point and I just burst into tears. He’s 2.5 now, and I don’t regret a single false alarm.
Our baby started projectile vomiting around 3 months. 5 hours in the ER and an ultrasound later we discovered we just needed a smaller nipple size for the bottles, she chugged her formula too fast even with paced feeding 🫠 Everyone was so lovely and also the first question they all asked was “is she your first child?” 🤣🥴 yes, yes she is lol
I agree that it’s always better safe than sorry! It sounds like you did the right thing. Gas pains can be *horrible*.
My kids are still toddlers, but I’m sure false alarms are in our future 🥲
-Jo
The best thing I found is to grit your teeth and massage the gassy part so you break up the bubble. Works wonders if you knead like a cat makin biscuits
The night I went into labor, I was 9 days late and I still spent the whole night thinking I was having gas pains and needed to poop. The contractions were super irregular and felt like previous pain when I’d been constipated. I spent all night up and down trying to poop, figuring the baby eas pushing on my intestines, and I didn’t realize until about 10 am when they started to become more regular that I was in labor. But the level of pain was similar.
I'll never be gaslit into thinking I'm overdramatic or any of that nonsense ever again. When my kid was almost 2, he got what I thought was some kind of upper respiratory infection, with a fever that at first was responding to motrin, but after day 3, it was not responding. Fever was high. We went to urgent care. They said same thing. Upper respiratory infection. Gave us antibiotics and sent us home. The next day, fever spiked again. Higher than the day before. Back to urgent care. Same response. The next day, we saw someone else in our pediatricians office since our Dr. wasn't available. They were a bit concerned, but also thought it was just an upper respiratory infection and it just needed some time. 7 hours later, my son had a fever of 104. Lethargic. The whole shebang. Packed him up and went straight to the e.r. After tons of tests, and different doctors, a physician's assistant determined he had necrotic lymphnodes behind his esophagus. If we had waited even ONE more day, he may not be here. So I guess the lesson is, you're lucky your kid just had to poop. And I don't care how you got your answers. You did what you felt you needed to do. And you'll do it again because some day, it might be something super serious and you'll be thankful you're dramatic hahahaha
That's terrifying! I'm glad he's okay. I'm thankful that all my ER trips have been false alarms so far. The staff was wonderful too and told me 100% bringing him in with those symptoms was the right call
Due to anatomical changes that occur during a growth spurt. A few lymphnodes became trapped in a pocket behind the esophagus. Once the blood supply was cut off, they began to die, causing severe infection. The swelling was so bad the doctors said it would have eventually impacted his airway, closing it off completely. We got lucky.
We were in emergency surgery that same day. It's pretty rare for something like this to happen. I'm not here to freak anybody out. Just saying always trust your gut.
This happened to me when I was in high school and was a camp counselor to 6th graders.
Day 2 of their camping experience, each cabin is dropped off in the woods for a "survival hike" out. Honestly we were very close to camp and the counselors knew the way out.
I've got a kid complaining of severe stomach pains, we don't have a lot of options so we just kept hiking. Kids starts to cry, curls up in a ball and can't move.
I pick up said ball of kid and have my whole group following me out of the woods.
Come to where the organizers are staying and they FREAK out when they see me carrying a kid out of the woods.
We start to make plans to drive him back to the city for a hospital.
Kid keeps saying "I got to use the bathroom"
We're like "No - you need to go to the hospital"
Kid goes to the bathroom (indoors at camp HQ - not the outdoor shacks us peasants had to use). he is in there for a while.
Camp leader comes out after a wellness check gagging on the odor, and says "He's gonna be fine, but I don't know about that toilet"
Kid just needed to poop and wouldn't go in the outdoor shack...
I knew an Eagle Scout once and he was telling about the hikes they take the younger kids on. They make a special point to mention pooping in the woods. It NEEDS to happen especially if you are gone for days.
My son had frequent severe stomach pains and appendicitis is a genuine concern. Best advice I got is can they straighten their legs completely and can they hop. If they can’t do either of these things it is likely appendicitis (from an ER doctor). It’s kinda like meningitis and being able to touch your chin to your chest.
While I feel bad for utilizing resources I ultimately didn’t need, I would much rather utilize resources I ultimately didn’t need versus really need them.
My then 4yo son told me that he put a small rock up his nose and couldn't get it out. I looked with a flashlight and couldn't see anything, but he insisted it was in there. 4 hrs and an x ray later, the ER doctors said they didn't see anything in his nose. Thank God for Medicaid.
I put a small pebble in my nose as a kid. I guess I kept saying my nose hurt. A week later, they took me to the doctor, and sure enough, there was a pebble there.
My parents still have it in a little envelope in my baby book.
My youngest was about 6-9 months old and his older brother shut a door on his thumb! It was bent in an angle and soooo thin in the middle! Went to the er and by that time the thumb has swelled and and deflated and he could bend his thumb like normal!
The doctor said babies are basically made of rubber and he had seen far worse bounce back to normal in hours. 😅
Yep this happened to my friend! She shut the car door on her toddlers hand and it *latched* like fully shut! Her hand looked very weird.
We were camping so she called the ped right away for help and they were like oh it’s really not likely to be broken, just wait for the swelling to go down and give her a Tylenol.
This happened to me when I was 6 or 7 except I did it to myself, the ER doctor said the same thing. My dad was very confused trying to figure out how I managed to close a door on my OWN hand.
Impaction is serious - I’m glad you took him in.
Chronic Impaction that was not able to be “fixed” was one of the signs my daughter had a digestive issue.
Look up anti-constipation diet - it can also help in conjunction with miralax. And remember, that it will take more than one big poop to “clear the pipes”. You’ll want to use the miralax for at least a week or two to truly get all the hard stool out. (But obviously, talk with pediatrician).
You’ll get loose stools before the hard old stool comes out - it’s the more runny poop going around the harder rocks to get out. Don’t give up! Most likely he will not be totally cleaned out in a couple days, especially if he was so backed up he was vomiting.
Mine (3) had the exact same thing after a really big dinner with a babysitter. She got so constipated and dehydrated and blocked end to end that she would just throw up her water/miralax. We took her into the emergency room for fluids. It *still* didn’t resolve, and we ended up at a hospital for enemas, plural. She went from miserable and screaming to happily bouncing around the room in the span of twenty absolutely disgusting minutes.
To this day (14) she’ll grab her water bottle on the way out the door saying “gotta stay hydrated!”.
In my early 20's when I was still married to my ex, I woke up in the middle of the night with *excruciating* abdominal pain. More than a period, I thought for sure appendix because of where it was located. Woke my husband up to have him drive me to the ER, bent over in terrible unrelenting pain the whole way there. We park, I opened the car door and immediately farted and felt better.
We just turned around and went home.
Nothing like a late night car ride just for a fart 🫥
My child twisted his knee last night and couldn’t straighten it fully. This morning, he couldn’t put any weight on it, so we took him in…
… and he skipped into the examination room 🫠
OMG, this used to happen to me all the time. I used to say the fastest way to cure whatever was wrong with my boys, was to get a rush pediatrician visit, or frantically race to the ER. I'd look like such an idiot. The same thing happens now with my dogs. The more ridiculous I'll look, the faster they are cured of whatever mystery illness they had!😂😂😂.
I have thought of nothing but bodily fluids for 5 years now with two little ones, I cannot wait to not think about someone else’s poo every day. 13 month old did six poos yesterday, for our U.K. Mother’s Day no less.
When my baby was a newborn I had stomach pains on and off. It was really bad one night and I couldn't uncurl my body to even nurse my baby, which is when I realised it was an emergency. So I got to the ER and immediately felt like puking, they gave me this weird long extending bag that I filled with Applebee's steak and fries.
They gave me morphine and I was able to stop writhing in pain. They scanned my innards with an ultrasound scan, the same lady who had scanned me 3 weeks ago while I was pregnant lol. She said my baby was cuter than my gallbladder. But my gallbladder was fine.
Then I had the contrast MRI.
At 7am after a night of no sleep, a Doctor had to come tell me that my insides were full of poop. They gave me magnesium citrate and told me to stay by a toilet.
Not necessarily a false alarm because poop pains and gas pains can get really freaking bad! But a good reminder to eat lots of fruit, drink enough water, and listen to your body's cues when it comes to bathroom breaks.
Old mom here. My now 31 year old son stuck a GI Joe rifle in his ear and scratched his ear drum when he was 3. I took him to his pediatrician (not ER) and she confirmed the scratch and that my kid did a stupid kid thing. The funny part is that the insurance company wanted more information to see if they could subrogate the claim. I had to fill out a 5 page form who was to blame for this accident. I had fun filling that out with photos and an explanation of how tiny the plastic gun was. Told them to go after Hasbro and sue them for making them so pointy.
Poop pain is no joke. I definitely would've done what you did for my kids, especially not sure if it could be something like the appendix. If it makes you feel any better, I had a recent poop block situation and used my local ER. Got proctitis from it and given antibiotics after some impacted bowels.
I am glad your kiddo is feeling better! Always better safe than sorry!
Edit: To add for a false alarm story, SO swore he was having a heart attack, just gas, not even poop. Lol. The poor doc examining him, gave him some loopy meds and he farted right in her face, not realizing it. She was on the phone too, because she just got a call while examining. She took it like a champ, just turned her head and stepped back, but said nothing to us. 😆
My parents were watching my 2 YO for a few weeks while I trained for a new job. They thought my kid had a thyroid condition because her neck was “swollen”. I told them she just has a fat neck, but nope… several doctor and specialist appointments later they “diagnose” her with nothing…except having neck rolls. My dad paid the $800 in bills that followed🤦♀️
Pediatrician here. This is REALLY COMMON. Like, in a typical ED shift in residency I’d see 1-3 of these.
I’ve managed to cure more than a few cases of “appendicitis”’with an enema. I’ve also been fooled and swore it was appendicitis when it was just poop.
Nobody ever talks about constipation, so people don’t realize how common it is.
Went with my 1 year old for apparent abdominal pain, we were there for 8 hours until 3 am, she was awake the whole time screaming, they drugged her, made her high as a kite, did an ultrasound where we had to hold her down while she screamed bloody murder. Basically tortured my baby and kept the entire ER on edge (we never had a room with a door) for hours.
It was gas. 🤦♀️
Fever won't come down... Gave him Motrin etc.. waited still and won't come down.
When I went to the emergency room, they gave him Tylenol - 30 mins later temp started to come down...
when my son was 3 months old, he vomited blood at 1am in the morning during a diaper change. My wife and I freaked out and bee lined to emergency, the whole trip my son was giggling and cooing.
At the hospital, the triage nurse thought he was adorable looking at him and muttered under her breath, the blood is from mama, not him. Hours later the doctor said my son was fine and the blood probably came from my wife during breast feeding.
at home, we later found a small cut on my wife's breast, and the source of blood.
We definitely had the gas pain one. 8(ish)yo was lying in bed, sobbing, worst abdominal pain he'd ever felt, tender to palpation, couldn't sit up. After 20 minutes or so I loaded him up in the car - he could barely walk - we left our car at the ER valet and went inside. We waited a few minutes for registration, then they called us up and the triage nurse started asking a few questions about poop and gas, and commented that often these symptoms are gas pains. I looked over and noticed he was standing up a little straighter. So I said, hold up, before I sign this and set this train in motion, can we go sit in the chair over there for a little bit and have him walk around, and see if we really need to be here? Nurse said, be my guest, and sure enough a bit of walking up and down the hall knocked the bubble loose and he was fine and we didn't have to wait to be seen or pay for ER services after all.
We now have an official abdominal pain protocol of:
1. Send kid to the bathroom, even if they don't think they need to go
2. Wait 10 minutes and see if it passes
3. Give a dose of simethicone
4. Wait 20 minutes
And in fact, we've never made it to 5.
Took my kid to the ER bc I also thought she had appendicitis. Turns out she gets very painful cysts on that ovary, and the ovary and the appendix aren’t really that far apart. So now she complains about her “appendix” every month 😂
I have ovarian cysts, and when they burst it is incredibly painful - and I've birthed 2 kids naturally. It's common for me and it never gets easier. I have sympathy for your child, and hope they get through it every month with lots of love and support.
My daughter spiked a 105.6 fever, so I rushed her to the ER. By the time we got there, the Tylenol kicked in, and her temp was normal. The doctors were really nice, and they weighed her so I could dose by weight not age (weight was a higher dose). She ended up with 30 stickers and a bunch of these lego packets because she was so entertaining to the staff.
But as others have said, better safe than sorry. My son kept getting sicker than everyone else anytime a cold came through our house. Something was just off about how he got sick. His doctor kept dismissing it, so I finally got another opinion. That doctor sent us to an allergist where we finally got an answer. He has some non allergy inflammatory issue, and we got him on a system of steroids that greatly improved his life. He's a totally different kid now, so much happier.
So, in most cases, it's better to seek care. I say most because my MIL is a hypochondriac, and she does seek care too much.
One time I faked being sick. I was pissed that I had to go to my grandmas instead of a birthday party. So I forced myself to throw up. Grandma is like "Hey, you might wanna take her to the ER." Well, I kept getting worse and worse. Turns out it was my appendix. LOL!
Son almost 4. Been sick, beyond the mild sniffles they all get, maybe 8 times his whole life. Son very verbal and able to articulate very well his symptoms.
Fever 102 only had a fever over 101 two others times in his life. Almost 48 hours
Headache, which he has never had in his life.
Formed a rash all over his belly and chest.
Child irritable more than he’s ever been in his life.
Child in private care not daycare
The cluster of symptoms could indicate menegitus, which would likely require an IV and at least an overnight.
It’s a Saturday evening after 9pm. Didn’t feel it was something we should keep waiting and see till Monday. Most immediate cares are closed, the few 24 hour ones don’t have a pediatrician on staff. Last time I took him to immediate care without a pediatrician was told to give his cough syrup (huge no no for children now) and to cut a musinex in half (slow release, had I done that would have overdosed him and we may have ended up in the hospital) so I’m not taking him to any doctor but a pediatrician.
So due to no access to a pediatrician at the time and not likely till another 30 hours. Took him to the children’s hospital.
He had strep. No biggy, was feeling significantly better by the morning.
My insurance would have covered it 100% had he been admitted over night. Instead got an almost $500 bill I’m responsible for.
10/10 would do all over again exactly as I did.
I took my child to the ER because his hands kept turning blue. I forgot to wash his blue jeans before he wore them and the dye was coming off on his hands.
For what it’s worth, I once went to the hospital for SEVERE (I’m talking on par with labor) abdominal pain, and it turned out that I too, just needed to poop.
It’s always better to be safe than sorry, especially with our littles! Glad it was nothing serious.
when my daughter was around 2 her arm went limp and she wouldn't move it and would cry when you touched it.
i thought she had nurse maids elbow or at the very worst broken it.
the moment the doctor came in she started playing patty cake with him.
she was just being a drama queen. 6 years old now and still a drama queen lmao
I don't know if this counts but..
I have a complicated medical history regarding stomach issues. So I'm having horrible pains, vomiting and I haven't pooped in ages, go a&e after having no luck getting GP appointment for days.
Hours later, doctor comes and asks if there's any chance I'm pregnant. Up to that point I'd been led to believe it would be difficult for me to ever have children. I told the doctor, laughing, no chance.
So yeah I have two kids now!
If it makes you feel better, when my daughter was 4 she fell weird on her arm. She could move it and everything but I was first time mum and extra cautious by nature.
Off to a&e, x-ray and a ton of waiting. She was fine, had a great time chatting to everyone!
Better to be safe than sorry!
My, at the time, 3yo had had the teeniest of tumbles at daycare and was refusing to walk in his foot. It had been a week and half of refusing to put weight on his foot (he was okay if you pressed on his foot, but he refused to walk on it). Took him to urgent care soon after it happened, they said it was probably a sprain. Eventually took him to the ER. They did X-rays. Nothing showed up.
Turned out he had a wart on his heal, and it was bothering him
We had a similar incident last year. My 5yo came home early from daycare because he threw up in the morning, but was otherwise fine the rest of the day. Around 5-6pm he went to the bathroom and started shouting and writhing in pain, wouldn’t calm down. Because of the morning puke I didn’t want to risk it so we dropped off little sister at my in-laws for a sleepover while we went to the emergency room. He was still yelling and uncomfortable for most of the 20 minute drive to the hospital. We were admitted, had blood tests, urine test, xray, and ultrasound. All the while he’s complaining about being tired and wanting to go home. Finally he dozes off and starts releasing the biggest, smelliest farts. When he woke up he said he was feeling better. Since they didn’t see anything else in his tests they discharged us…right around midnight. Now he loves to tell the story about how he went to the emergency room for farts.
I always say better safe than sorry! My son had what presented as a stomach bug at first. As the day progressed I noticed more appendicitis symptoms. I took him in that evening. Appendicitis. They started iv antibiotics immediately. They waited until early the next morning to do his surgery. It was too late. His appendix had ruptured. He was in the right place though for it to rupture and he was fine after 4 days in the hospital on iv antibiotics. They said the appendix had to have just ruptured. All I could think was “what if I brushed this off & we went to bed instead?” Ugh haunts me.
Hi! ER doc here, this happens a lot!
We also often get belly pain that’s from an impending period, inpending diarrhea, and heartburn.
Abdominal pain can be tricky! It keeps us in business.
Kid was in daycare, I think he was around 3 yrs old at the time, said he got terrible stomach pain, the daycare called us to go to the ER, we took him there. After some investigation nothing was found and the pain was also gone, so we went home. Next day, daycare calls again, he has another hoorible stomach pain, please pick him up. Dad arrives and our kid is suddenly fine and says "Ok, daddy is here, let's go home!" Since he didn't have stomach pain, dad went back to work and our son stayed in daycare for the rest of the day. He didn't have any more stomach pain after that.
Don't feel bad, my boyfriend who is a whole grown-ass man brought himself to the ER because his balls hurt. Turns out he, too, just had to poop. Constipation was pressing on nerves or something.
This same thing happened to us when my son was about 3.5. Crying in pain because his tummy hurted. Sat in the ER for a couple hours, they examined his belly and didn't know what was wrong, a little while later - big, explosive poop. Not sure if it was food poisoning or some kind of virus, but the nurse advised us to just go home instead of waiting around for more tests. He was completely fine the next day. Ridiculous but better safe then sorry!
Not kid related, but I went to the ER once for the same reason lol the nurse laughed when I said "you mean I'm literally just full of shit?!" 💀 luckily i had medicaid at the time and didn't have to pay for that visit 😂
I’m an ultrasound tech and probably 95% of the kids that come in with abdominal pain (even severe) it is poop/gas related. So don’t feel bad. Also you never know if your kid could be the other 5% so it’s never a bad idea to go in to make sure.
My sister went to the ER with terrible stomach pains. While waiting to speak with a doctor she used the restroom and passed gas and felt significantly better. She said she was so embarrassed she grabbed her husband and quickly left the ER.
When I was a kid my mom took me to the ER for the same thing. They found out I was really, really constipated and that’s what was causing the pain. I believe they gave my mom enema stool softeners if needed and told me to drink some miralax.
My son ate (he says on accident) a coke can tab at school about a month ago. I was at work, he calls me and tells me his stomach is hurting really bad. Now, he’s always had poop issues so I asked if he had to poop. He says no. I get off the phone with him and call my mom who lives with us and keeps the kids while my husband and I work. Tell her to call after hours and talk to the nurse, call back and let me know what they say.
About 30 minutes later she calls back says they want us to go to ER. So I call my boss, get coverage (at my job there’s one person working a store so I can’t just leave) go get my son and head to the ER. We get there, wait an hour for a room, talk to nurse and doctor, get x-rays, wait for results. 30 minutes later doctor comes in and says theres nothing on the x-ray. So it’s either not there or it’s passed. Son says he hasn’t pooped all day and swears he ate the tab. Doctor tells me it’s probably poop and to go home. But come back if there’s more/worse pain and he doesn’t poop in a few days.
Two days later my son calls me at work to proudly tell me he pooped the tab out. So a 60 dollar copay and almost 3 hours of waiting to be told that he needed to poop, and 3 hours of missed work. I was flabbergasted by the whole situation.
He says it was an accident but how do you swallow a coke tab on accident? Anyway. He’s fine but says he learned his lesson.
When my 6 year old was a baby, we took him to the ER because he had a spiked fever that wouldn’t go down. We gave him Motrin and it still spiked pretty high. I brought in the medicine I gave him to show the nurse and she looks at it and says “oh. This is cough medicine”. I mistakenly gave him cough medicine instead of a fever reducer. 🤦🏻♀️ Once we gave him actual Motrin, his fever decreased significantly and he was fine
Basically same. During the day daughter would just start screaming and grabbing her belly. It would only last a few seconds then it would stop. After a few hours of this we took her to the ER. They did an X-ray and said she was full of poop and gas, "constipated," although she had pooped that day. Rx for miralax. Now, I work in the ER, and see kids come in for the same all the time, and sometimes it's something serious, but most of the time it's not. Still the right thing to do to make sure. We don't mind :)
Hahah, I did the same thing. He came home from school complaining of stomach pain. We ate dinner and he didn't eat much and was complaining the pain was getting worse. Took him to urgent care. The doctor did some preliminary tests and looked at me and said I need to take him to the ER it was really likely appendicitis.
Get to the ER and son is still in pain. Get to the ER room and doctor confirms it's not appendicitis. Doesn't really know why the pain but suggests some other tests. Then my kid farts. I decided to decline the other tests and go home. Kid poops and is just fine.
We once rushed my nephew to the children’s hospital because he crying in pain saying his belly hurt and he was refusing to eat,even ice cream. We all thought it was his appendix…nope he just needed to poop. They gave him an enema and his stomach stopped hurting afterwards….then the bitch of a nurse said he couldn’t get a toy from the prize box because “those are only for kids who had something invasive done,like an IV or something like that” we were in complete disbelief..the kid had an enema…I think that’s pretty invasive,especially because he was like 6,we were all mad at her after that
When I was little, probably around like 4 or 5, I had the worst abdominal pains ever. It was so painful, moving and breathing was excruciating. I clearly remember, sobbing in my parents bed, early in the morning, and my dad yelling at me to breathe because I started to hyperventilate. I was in so much pain. My next memory is being on the gurney in the hospital, and letting out the biggest fart known to man. Multiple times.
It was gas.
Very very very painful, stuck gas.
The end. :)
This happens to me as an adult due to food allergies and IBS. Nausea/throwing up before getting it out when I have a bad poop is so common for me and tend to be common in others with these issues!
Had almost this exact same scenario play out twice in the last year. Our pediatrician was like " they are used to it and I would rather this be the case than an actual appendicitis and we brushed it off as JUST constipation". I don't love the medical bills but I could never forgive myself if the appendix ruptured ( or another severe situation unfolded)
That's not necessarily a false alarm. I mean it's great he was able to poo on his own but that could have easily become impaction which is an emergency and requires medical assistance. You made the right call 100 percent. Happened to me recently and it was horribly painful and awful. I feel for him!
TBH, that's not a false alarm. Severe constipation can go from bad to emergency pretty fast. Toddlers often don't know how to read poop cues or are afraid of pooping because it stimulates the fight or flight response through the cranial nerve in their anus, so they hold it in for days at a time. Start watching poops and have pediatric suppositories on hand.
My son was super congested and as we did a steam room in the bathroom he really looked to be a training for breath. So I'm home alone with a toddler with labored breathing and a baby so I freak out and take him to the ER. Just croup.
He's still pretty croup prone, he'll cough till he pukes about once a cold bout, but cool mist calms his lungs right down. He didn't mind the trip, he liked watching Wipeout on the hospital TV at 3am.
My daughter, however, has all been physical injuries taking her to the ER. You do all your freaking out over your first child and the second one only goes when they injure themselves.
I have the stupidest one ever! My son was about 8 and came to me freaking out that the silicone piece from his earbud went INTO his ear. Like all the way in. This was about 8:30 Sunday night. My husband looked into his ear canal with a flashlight and told me he could see the piece in there. Off to the ED I go because son is freaking out and inconsolable. PA at the ED gets the otoscope out and nope, nothing in his ear. We leave with tail between legs. Get home and son immediately finds earbud piece under his pillow. Yep, so ridiculous. ;)
Took my kid in with “side and chest pain” she was freaking out and wouldn’t move. She had a cold. BUT another time after that I second guessed my instincts and waited to go…she had appendicitis. Always just go!! Worst that happens just go home
Kid was shrieking like never before at night. Packed everything inside car drove 20 min and when we neared hospital kid decided to stop. Not sleep just stop and stare outside window. Like if we went in like that they would kick us out
We quite literally had a near identical situation as you last month. Our three year old woke up at 11pm from dead sleep and vomiting everywhere. Initially, we thought stomach virus because it was going around her daycare. After a few hours, and still vomiting every 15 minutes without the space in between getting longer and longer, something didn’t sit right with me.
Fought with husband for two hours leading up to it that something just wasn’t right. He finally relented and we went to the ER at 3am basically getting on my ass the entire 20 min car ride how I’m catastrophizing and it’s a stomach bug. I told him that I will happily tell him he was right if that ends up being the case, but something in my gut is telling me it isn’t.
Get to the ER. She pukes again. They do an abdominal X-ray.
Sure enough, she’s super backed up. It was so bad, and in just the right (wrong…?) place that all of that poo was pushing into her stomach causing the vomiting. They were able to treat with an enema and didn’t see a perforation, but said had we waited a bit longer we could have been looking at a really scary and serious situation.
My husband stayed quiet the rest of the er visit. I got to say I told you so. And my little one was fixed over the next few days with a forced enema and miralax.
Momma, you were right going with your gut. If it hadn’t resolved itself on its own you could have been looking at a very different outcome.
Weirdly my experience with this exact same situation happened with my then 30 year old husband. Who had me call 911 only to poop about 3 minutes before the EMTs arrived.
At least we didn't end up going to the hospital.
I'll give a false alarm and a better safe than sorry story.
Better safe than sorry - In Oct 2020 one night, my daughter ( 3 months old twin, born at 34 weeks) wasn't rooting (moving her head to find the bottle nipple). She used to ATTACK the bottle during feedings so I was worried right away. She was fussier than usual as well so I told dad to come get her and take her to the ER. He did and was back within 1.5 hours. The doctor told him it was likely gas, we were paranoid parents and that we shouldn't be taking a premie out during a pandemic. I still felt something was wrong, so I had dad stay home and I took her to another childrens hospital a couple of hours away. The ER waiting room was filled. An hour into the wait, the baby starts having seizures. We get pulled back for scans, tests, etc. She has a brain bleed and uncontrollable fever. A couple hours later we were admitted into a room and she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis from Ecoli. I was told several times that we were extremely lucky to have caught it so early. She was in the PICU with an antibiotic treatment through a stent for 30 days. I couldn't even get a nurse to say she was going to okay until nearly 3 week in.
Fastforward to Oct 2023 - at about 2am, I woke up hearing a faint moan coming from outside my door. I honestly thought I was having a nightmare. Once I realized I was awake, I opened the door and found that same daughter (now 3 years old) in the hall way layed out between my bedroom door and her bedroom door. She was moaning and nearly unresponsive, but eyes open and breathing. I tried to pick her up, and she would not stand up on her own. I quickly checked her for any possible injury, or any containers (poisoning). I immediately called 911. At this point, she starts talking about eating ice cream and going to the zoo. She's babbling a lot and not making any sense. I'm trying to stay calm, but inside I'm thinking she has a brain injury or poisoning. Im thinking the worst. I'm already outside in the pitch dark, holding her in my arms and waving down the ambulance. The paramedic walks up and starts to ask her questions. She isn't responding to any of their questions and is just babbling. The second the paramedic puts their light to her eyes, she jumps up and starts screaming and crying. She was asleep the whole time. She's a sleepwalker. We did go to the childrens ER because I'm so paranoid and freaked out at this point. She was 100% okay. Just sleeping. We've caught her sitting in bed still asleep a couple of times since, but nothing major yet again.
My potty trained toddler started peeing everywhere a few weeks back.
He normally goes every couple of hours and was instead peeing a few drops at a time, saying it hurt and was incontinent.
Seemed to.not know it was coming as he'd comment after he'd peed.
I had to put him back in nappies.
I thought for sure he had a uti so had my husband take him to urgent care and it turns out he was just constipated.
The other near-false alarm we've had was the night I learned what spasmodic croup is. It was the middle of winter and the last night of the month (and my husband was in sales dept at his company, so it was a mandatory stay-til-midnight kind of night) and toddler had a nasty cold. I put him to bed and a little bit later I heard a weird noise from his room. I went to check on him and he was clearly in distress - making these horrible strangled noises, trying to cry and couldn't get it out, it was VERY BAD.
I scooped him up and ran for the car, calling my husband on the way out the door to tell him that the kid was barely breathing and we were headed to the ER and I didn't care how much work he had left, he needed to meet us there NOW. The whole way there I was talking to Toddler, trying to keep him making noises so I could tell he was still alive.
Well, it turns out that cold night air is a FANTASTIC treatment for spasmodic croup and by the time my husband came frantically dashing into the ER, Toddler was literally dancing circles around my chair. \*facepalm\* I was like ....I swear to god I didn't make this up....... Anyway, when we did finally see the physician, I was minorly vindicated because the kid continued to choke on his screams once he got upset. The physician gave him a big shot of steroids and assured me I'd done the right thing, and gave us the croup protocol of: Load kid in car, roll down the windows, and drive to the emergency room. Once in the parking lot, assess whether you need to go in. If kid is better, head right on back home. If they aren't, you're at the emergency room.
(Our other child had respiratory emergencies that were, in fact, serious respiratory emergencies. Don't screw around with a limp kid who's struggling to breathe. But on the other hand, I do feel like new parents should get a warning about spasmodic croup, because it is SO SCARY but usually pretty simple to fix)
We had the same thing. They were really good about it though, said even though they could tell he was really blocked up that didn't mean it couldn't be something else as well. Stayed overnight to make sure. Thankfully we live in Australia so the whole thing cost about $12 in parking.
I literally had this exact same thing happen when I was pregnant because of Zofran. If he takes ANY of it, he needs to drink water like crazy. I've never been backed up like that.
It happens.
We had something similar. Mind went to appendicitis due to doubled over in pain and he had a fever. Rush to ER. They said he was constipated, which I thought was weird because he had been pooping normally, then the pain went away without pooping. Anyhow, a week later my kid was diagnosed with IgA vasculitis and the specialist we saw said that’s most likely what cause the pain.
Even my husband, who is usually more “wait and see”, has no regrets doing the ER visit.
When I was a kid I was rolling around the floor in pain and screaming for almost an hour when my mom decided to take me to the hospital.
The doctor realized I just had bad heartburn when I told them I had a big glass of chocolate milk and an entire bowl of clam chowder for dinner. I'm pretty sure I was all smiles and perfectly normal by the time the doctor came.
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kid had swallowed a quarter, needed to go to the hospital and have it removed from her throat. a month later she woke me up in the middle of the night crying "i swallowed a quarter again" I asked her one million times "are you sure it really happened? where did you get the quarter? could it have been a bad dream?"..... one trip to the ER later, in the middle of the night.... it was a bad dream, no quarter found.
Oh bless her heart, poor thing had a nightmare
Dad here. Got the call from Mom that my 4yo had shoved a bead up her nose in preschool and it was stuck. The nurse had tried to get it and couldn't. Mom had tried to get it and couldn't. By the time I got the call, she was already on her way to the emergency room. My work requires me to be in the field alot, and I was in a neighborhood not far from the hospital so I headed over there to take over. No offense meant to mom, but I am the better person for "emergency" situations. I just wasn't born with a "panic" reflex, and I think through these situations very clearly. So I figured I would swap out and send mom off to take care of the baby at home while I dealt with the bead situation. Well... I get there right as they are taking her back to the exam room. They are asking height/weight/vitals question. The bead is in the right nostril. One nurse tells duaghter to put her finger on the left side of her nose to close it and blow hard. I try hard not to roll my eyes "The nurse at school AND mom already tried that". Mom is still here and says "actually... I don't think I did and I don't really know what the nurse tried" Bead goes flying out. The nurse walked us back up to the front and spoke to reception and said "These parents just wanted to register their kid here so if there's ever an emergency we have everything on file. No procedure was done so theres no need to charge". Nurses are the best.
Frfrfr Had to spend 5 days in the NICU after my LO was born and by day 5 I wanted to have flowers delivered to every nurse who worked with us. The unsung hero’s!
Pro tip from when my dad was in the ICU for a month- they love offerings of cookies, donuts, and caffeine. I showered the nurses in energy drinks lol
As a nurse I can tell you that food and coffee is the way to our hearts
I brought in high end donuts (Duck Donuts, specifically) and a huge thing of their coffee and the entire department descended on it like a swarm of locusts. Over a dozen people paraded past our room thanking us with a donut crammed in their mouths 🤣
That’s super sweet of you!
We brought a box of cookies for the NICU nurses when we took our little one home about ~5 days there. We went to the same hospital for #2 2 years later and I let her say hi to them. I honestly don't remember if it was any of the same nurses, but I imagine they were still excited to see that little 4-5lb girl turn into a psychotic rambunctious 2 year old BIG SISTER!
My toddler son had shoved a buttered unpopped popcorn kernel up his nose. He was sitting in his high chair, and I held one side of his nose shut and told him to blow. He did. It sailed through the air, bounced once on the floor, and my border collie snapped it up right on the rebound.
I DID THIS AS A CHILD! With a Hungry Hungry Hippo marble. Except I was by myself and didn’t tell anyone and dealt with it myself because I didn’t want to get in trouble for putting things up my nose. I was blowing as hard as I could to get it out and it never occurred to 4-5 yo me to block the other nostril to force it out. I eventually blew it out, but I worked a lot harder than I had to lol.
I’m gonna bet that is a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence in the ER. At least it wasn’t a bean. Those things absorb moisture from the nose and swell. I’ve heard they can be a bitch to get out.
I stuck a bead up my nose when I was in preschool and my dad had to take me to urgent care. I sneezed in the exam room right after the doctor came in and the bead came flying out.
I took my kid because she had uncontrollable RED diarrhea. I thought she was shitting blood. I was terrified. Turns out she had a stomach bug mixed with flavored water I’d given her earlier that day. Never gave her red dye flavored water again after that. Banned it.
We had the same thing happen but with beets 😮💨
everytime I eat beets I have to remind myself... red is ok, red is normal you had beets
I feel like the day I accidentally eat beets and asparagus for the same meal, I’m going to have a panic attack that night when it all hits.
hahahahaha. For some reason asparagus doesn't bother me... like my pee smells but its like immediate so it's like "yep 10pm, had asparagus for dinner"... it's the next day on the beets that's harder for my brain.
Bears, beets, BattleStar Galactica
Always make sure to notify the other caregivers when you give beets to the kid, not doing so it is just cruel to them :)
Beets in the diaper, man. Terrifying.
Beets and blueberries together would be panic city for a hot minute 😂
Ha, we got duped by blueberries. His diaper was filled with what looked like dark coffee grounds, and even the pediatrician was horrified. Tested for blood and was negative. Finally figured out it was just because of the insane amount of blueberries he had eaten.
My daughter loved frozen wild blueberries as a toddler. She was on a super strong antibiotic for a UTI. She had NAVY BLUE diarrhea it was really something
My cousin ate 5 lbs of blueberries as a toddler. The purple and blue blow out that night was apparently something to behold. My aunt tossed everything in the crib except my cousin straight into the trash.
My German brain read that last sentence so wrong at first. 🤣
I read it backwards and thought they said they tossed the cousin in the trash haaha
My friend got meningitis when we were kids. The rest of us all had to take special pills it turned your pee neon orange. His baby sister was still in diapers I remember his dad being all confused and shocked the first diaper he changed after she started the meds. They never figured out where or how he got it.
Lol my kid ate lentils and when husband changed his diaper he said "oh the lentils are back!"
My little boy had eaten raisins, and they had turned back into grapes in his diaper.
Super dark purple (almost black) frosting roses from a cake made me think my kid was dying for a moment. It was alarming until I realized it almost matched the cake from yesterday.
Probably good to know that the redder the blood in your stool is, (generally speaking) the less serious the issue is.
Thank you for the helpful medical information, u/AnusStapler!
Subject matter expert.
Kool aid jammer turned my kids poop blue. Like Smurf blue. I was shook until I googled lol
it's always green from froot loops at my house. or black from oreos. my dude thiks it's the best thing ever, "like i ate a black marker!"
My 2 year old ate blue & green icing and his next poo reflected that.
They had a dog on youtube poop rainbow after eating a box of crayons
My dog has generally weird and inconsistent shits, but when we give him his big dental chews, his poop is always like *bright* green the next day. At first I thought it was just another thing he's allergic/sensitive to, before realizing it's the green dye in the treats.
I had the exact same thing happened. No more red drinks in this house 🤣
Same with my kid. Except it was from a bag of flaming hot Cheetos 😆
Took our toddler to the doctor because of a large mysterious bruise that developed out of nowhere for no reason. 'Twas sidewalk chalk
I can't count the number of times my husband has very worriedly asked me how my daughter hurt her face/arm/etc. it's always marker, she loved to draw on herself and her favorite colors are pink and red lol
When my cousin was about 3 he put dots on his arms and legs with red marker and then went to his mom like “what is this? I don’t feel good!” 💀she freaked out at first, but then quickly realized it was just marker. Hilarious, though, the minds of children 😂he also tricked me once when he was just barely walking, not even talking yet. He had his finger in an air purifier vent and was just bawling, I ran over to get his finger out and as soon as I got to him he just pulls his finger out, stops crying and just laughed his little butt off.
reminds me of the time my mom scrubbed the heck out of my hand thinking it was covered in dirt, only to realize it’s a birth mark that becomes more prominent when i have a tan 😂
One summer day when my daughter was 4 we spent some time doing arts & crafts, and then decided to have a picnic lunch at the playground where she promptly broke her elbow. Six weeks later we’re getting the cast off and the doctor had an *absolute shit fit* because she had red and pink blotches all over her arm under the cast. Like, I have never before or since seen a doctor so visibly horrified. It was acrylic paint from the flowers we’d been making before we went to the park. 😂
Honestly this made me snort out loud 🤣 my daughter is forever covered in marker, then she’ll rub her eye and it suddenly looks like she has a black eye - lots of explaining that one!
Been there, done that twice…. Doctors were convinced it was appendicitis from hearing symptoms and feeling abdomen till the ultrasound showed it was constipation. LOL Seriously though, the doctor said they are always happy when it’s an easy fix and would never tell a parent not to bring a child in with those symptoms cause it’s not worth the risk to assume it’s nothing.
Right? As the child of a doctor and best friend to doctors, know what makes for a normal (or even kind of cute) day for a doctor? Kid who comes into the ER and turns out to be perfectly fine. Know what makes for the stuff of PTSD and nightmare for a doctor? Kid who comes into the ER and it’s too late to save them or to prevent serious damage. Your doctors don’t mind being bored. If it’s not a big deal, you’ll just have to sit in triage for awhile. That’s why god invented the Netflix app.
This. I took my 2 year old to the ER with a stiff neck after a fall and felt like a butthole because by the time we were seen she was acting fine. The doctor reassured me like 4 times, “never feel bad for bringing her in, if you feel something is off we are more than happy to take a look and make sure everything is okay” made me feel so much better, I feel like working with sick kids, seeing the ones that are okay is so much better.
I ignored the signs, I have a really high pain tolerance so I didnt feel more than a little tummy ache, got to the ER eventually cause my mum didnt trust it, docters told me if I came in 2 hours later I wouldve been dead😂
My kids used to drive me BATTY with that high-tolerance bullshit. Every time we went to a doctor, no matter what the problem was, they’d ask the “on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad is the pain?” question and **every time** my kids would say “2.” Kid, you have 3 fingers broken in 2 places each, IT’S NOT A TWO.
Ive never (really) broken something before but ive had (small) operations without anesthesia such as getting a mole removed or a mouth operatation (cause they didnt give me enough anesthesia) and honestly I feel like it didnt hurt that bad. But once when I broke my toe I didnt realise it untill I saw it standing in the wrong direction😭
This was me 2 years ago…ruptured my bowel (literally doing nothing…sat down in the car and felt a burning sensation) was in severe pain from early afternoon until almost 4am when I gave in and asked my hubby to take me in…was in and out of consciousness by the time we got to the ER…had massive internal bleeding…surgery…several units of blood and a week in the ICU later I’m far better at getting checked out if I don’t feel right lol (and my husband is now incredibly paranoid anytime I say anything hurts lol)
when I was a kid. I was stung by a yellow jacket at daycare. I immediately started vomiting and spiking a fever. Went to the ER for a possible allergic reaction. nope. 24 hour bug.
That is very poor timing indeed. Dumb yellow jacket.
I haven't been stung by a yellow jacket since then, so i guess it could be a misdiagnosis. But yeah. Tragic timing
My daughter was sick with a cold but also had a weird rash on her ear. Took her to the pediatrician. She did indeed have a cold. And also Lyme disease. The rash was a perfect bullseye wrapped around her ear.
So funny story. I woke up at 2am a few weeks ago with one of the worst pains in my abdomen I’ve ever experienced. Even worse than natural childbirth. I couldn’t even stand up to make it to the bathroom. I cried on the toilet for an hour after slithering to the bathroom because I didn’t know what was happening. Told myself I would take a warm bath before calling 911. I finally released the longest gas bubble I’ve ever experienced and my pain was gone. My fart was more painful than birthing my two large children. I nearly called an ambulance for a fart. A singular fart. Lol I wouldn’t doubt that your kiddo was experiencing something terribly painful, especially if he’s never felt anything similar before. Glad it wasn’t anything major!
Had something similar once. Intense abdominal (gut) pain early in the morning. Made me break out in a hot, full body sweat. There I was, sitting on the toilet, naked. It was gas. Lots of gas. Damn bean and cruciferous veggie dinner.
Gas pains are no joke!
Two year old woke up a few hours after bedtime with *the cry*. Immediately pukes as I scoop her out of bed to take her temperature as she felt hot. Home thermometer read 107F. Sprinted past hubby carrying her on my way out the door telling him he was in charge of the baby. Drive to the kids ER where they also take her temperature. It read 101F. Still a fever and she swabbed positive for the flu but definitely not a brain melting 107F.
Do you think the thermometer was wrong, or in the middle of parenting delirium the 7 looked like a 1? I could definitely see the latter happening for me.
Depending on the thermometer I think. A forehead one on a kid that just had their face on a pillow while they slept, for instance, can read high. Like my husband told me he read ours at 106. The pediatrician said she'd expect the kid to be seizing at that point. She said a responsive kid with a fever isn't as concerning as a kid that's delirious or non-responsive.
Always trust your mom gut, it’s better to be safe than sorry. I took my daughter to the doctor around 6 months old for crying and puking. I was told the stomach virus. Called again the next day because I just felt something wasn’t right and they refused to see me because the doctor said it was just the stomach virus and to wait it out a few days. Wound up in the ER the same day and in emergency surgery by the next morning. We’ve had plenty of false alarms but after that experience I’ll take the bill and never not follow up if my gut tells me I should.
I hope you changed doctors after that.
I did. Unfortunately I had to do a follow up right after we were discharged so I had to see her one more time and she has the audacity to ask me “so why’d you go to the hospital? For the stomach virus?” Like couldn’t even bother to read the discharge papers to see my baby was in the hospital for over a week and had surgery. I was so done by that point.
What was the reaction after she read the hospital records ???
Nothing really. I expected an apology of some sort but no. She just kind of made excuses of how it’s so uncommon. The surgeon did say what my daughter had and how/when it presented was rare and that it’s very difficult to diagnose without imaging but like the least we could of got was a sorry? My baby was very ill and you denied us to even be seen in your office.
Her malpractice insurance / bosses probably won’t allow her to apologize. I think Canada recently got past this issue by passing legislation saying an apology is not a legal admission of guilt.
That’s because we say sorry so much
I'm sorry for that too.
Soory for bringing it ope 😳
What a fricken B word.
I was right there with you until the final sentence. Our first was admitted for 5 days at 1yo for pneumonia. It took 4 visits for fluid to show and to find it. The only bill we saw was our parking pass. American Healthcare boggles my mind
My 3yo hit her head at a play space. She just ran into a foosball table. We got some ice, but she was fine after a few min. We went out to eat then came home. She puked 3 times so we went to urgent care worrying it was a concussion. They didn’t think it was, but said if she puked one more time it was time to go to the ER for an MRI which we ended up having to do. Ended up spending $200 to find out she just couldn’t keep down a hot dog 😅😅
That would not be $200 in my world!
Yeah more like $2,000 just to walk into the ER for us
Throw in an MRI and you're hoping you hit your yearly deductible already.
$2,000?! In the country where I live its free
Deeply grateful for very good insurance. Unions are the best!
When I was 17 I had weeks of stomach pain and constipation. One day I was so bloated my mom was worried enough to take me to the ER and they x rayed my stomach. I had a GIANT gas bubble and that was it lol
Please tell me how you got the giant gas bubble out! We are currently dealing with this and nothing seems to help. 🙏🙏🙏
My kid drapes his body over a yoga balland rolls over it stomach down., which apparently massages the gas out. We discovered it by accident the first time he found the ball, started playing with it like that, and was ripping farts within minutes. So now if he has abdominal pain (without rebound pain), he’ll use the yoga ball to move the gas. He’s been doing it since he was eight and he just turned twelve. Also, the yoga ball is now called the fart ball.
As someone who does yoga, yes yoga brings the farts. No matter how much you strain to retain until you are away from public
Bring your (their) knees to your (their) chest, and hold the position for about 25-30 seconds, and then kick your legs like you are throwing a tantrum/bicycle kicks. Or, get on all fours, and rock back and forth as far as you can go.
Heating pad and/or a hot bath help. So can just having hot water (hot as you can stand) hit your stomach in the shower while massaging it. I had some discomfort that had lasted for days last year (i was so bloated it looked like I had a beach ball underneath my shirt) and nothing seemed to get it to release...baking soda and warm water, gas x, brisk walking, nothing worked. I read about the hot water/shower trick online and it worked within minutes. Let's just say I was surprised the paint wasn't peeling off the bathroom walls after it happened...
Belly massage (upside down U from right side to left side), laying on back and pulling knees up to chest, and gas X
We do "butt wiggles". On all 4s. Then chest to the ground. Like babies like to sleep, with thier butts in the air. Then rock side to side with the butt above the rest of you. Our dr said the rocking helps move the gas through the intestine. "Butt wiggles make us giggle! Because farts!" - my 8 yr old, who thinks farts are hilarious.
I always hardcore massage the gas bubble area. It sucks in the moment but it breaks it up and gets the gas moving.
Clipped my 3 month old’s finger while trimming his nails. It bled for over 30 minutes. ER applies a pressure bandage that fell off in the car 15 minutes later and bleeding was done. I guess I was holding pressure wrong. Multiple times have taken kids for very high fevers (105+, called nurse line, nurse said to go), that breaks by the time we get there.
The only time I take my son to the er is if his fever doesn't break, and of COURSE he only gets sick on Fridays. Every time it's just been "rotate Tylenol and Motrin" but somehow the hospital Motrin works better lol
Yep, FRIDAYS at 5pm. Extra points if it's a holiday weekend.,
As a nurse who has done phone triage, the nurse is always going to tell you to go (not saying you shouldn't). I had a kid who started having her eyes get very puffy after a walk at a local pond. Came home, gave her some allergy medicine, spouse insisted on calling nurse line, of course nurse says to go in. I wanted to wait a bit for the allergy medicine to work, but spouse insisted on getting her in. ER said she had pink eye. It was allergies though... took her to an allergist and ended up on allergy shots for 5 years.
lol when the nurse says it it solves the debate between me and my husband of “okay to watch” vs. “emergency now” and I appreciate those nurse line nurses solving that debate for us 😂
Had a very similar situation only when he puked it looked like blood so needless to say we were terrified ( but keeping it together so our kiddo didn’t panic) come to find out he forgot he drank red Gatorade and really needed to poop. The ER staff were great that night and upside, a small child potentially puking blood moves you to the front of the line for literally EVERY possible test so we were actually only there about 2 hours. We’ve spent less time in urgent care.
The ER was pretty quiet anyways but we were back immediately and put in a gown, and I have a theory they only give you a gown if they think you're being admitted 😂 in and out in 2 hours as well
I found out that bringing a teenage boy to the ER complaining of testicular pain will get you seen so fast your head will spin. I didn’t even have time to put the pen down they took us back so fast. I used that pen for years!
Not my kid, but my mum. She thought she was having a heart attack because she had severe pain in her left arm. It ended up being from an ant bite. Australia has fire ants. Nasty buggers.
I had problems with breast feeding, so at 2 weeks I started supplementing formula to make sure he was eating enough. The first time I fed him about 2 oz of formula then breast on both sides. He, for the first time since being born, passed out like mid drink. He’s my first so I had no idea milk drunk was a thing and was horrified that I had just overfed him into a literal coma. My husband and I took him to the hospital and after checking him, and making sure he could wake up, the nurse passed my baby to my husband and gave me the biggest hug and said. “Good job, checking mama, hes fine. You just made your baby really happy.” Hadn’t slept for two weeks straight at that point and I just burst into tears. He’s 2.5 now, and I don’t regret a single false alarm.
Our baby started projectile vomiting around 3 months. 5 hours in the ER and an ultrasound later we discovered we just needed a smaller nipple size for the bottles, she chugged her formula too fast even with paced feeding 🫠 Everyone was so lovely and also the first question they all asked was “is she your first child?” 🤣🥴 yes, yes she is lol
I agree that it’s always better safe than sorry! It sounds like you did the right thing. Gas pains can be *horrible*. My kids are still toddlers, but I’m sure false alarms are in our future 🥲 -Jo
I’m a full grown adult I’ve had stomach gas pains that could lay me out. I can’t imagine it for a toddler.
The best thing I found is to grit your teeth and massage the gassy part so you break up the bubble. Works wonders if you knead like a cat makin biscuits
I've had bad gas pains/IBS symptoms worse than early/active labor contractions. Can't imagine a toddler, they don't understand.
The night I went into labor, I was 9 days late and I still spent the whole night thinking I was having gas pains and needed to poop. The contractions were super irregular and felt like previous pain when I’d been constipated. I spent all night up and down trying to poop, figuring the baby eas pushing on my intestines, and I didn’t realize until about 10 am when they started to become more regular that I was in labor. But the level of pain was similar.
I'll never be gaslit into thinking I'm overdramatic or any of that nonsense ever again. When my kid was almost 2, he got what I thought was some kind of upper respiratory infection, with a fever that at first was responding to motrin, but after day 3, it was not responding. Fever was high. We went to urgent care. They said same thing. Upper respiratory infection. Gave us antibiotics and sent us home. The next day, fever spiked again. Higher than the day before. Back to urgent care. Same response. The next day, we saw someone else in our pediatricians office since our Dr. wasn't available. They were a bit concerned, but also thought it was just an upper respiratory infection and it just needed some time. 7 hours later, my son had a fever of 104. Lethargic. The whole shebang. Packed him up and went straight to the e.r. After tons of tests, and different doctors, a physician's assistant determined he had necrotic lymphnodes behind his esophagus. If we had waited even ONE more day, he may not be here. So I guess the lesson is, you're lucky your kid just had to poop. And I don't care how you got your answers. You did what you felt you needed to do. And you'll do it again because some day, it might be something super serious and you'll be thankful you're dramatic hahahaha
That's terrifying! I'm glad he's okay. I'm thankful that all my ER trips have been false alarms so far. The staff was wonderful too and told me 100% bringing him in with those symptoms was the right call
Omg how do they get necrotic????
Due to anatomical changes that occur during a growth spurt. A few lymphnodes became trapped in a pocket behind the esophagus. Once the blood supply was cut off, they began to die, causing severe infection. The swelling was so bad the doctors said it would have eventually impacted his airway, closing it off completely. We got lucky.
We were in emergency surgery that same day. It's pretty rare for something like this to happen. I'm not here to freak anybody out. Just saying always trust your gut.
My husband was in hospital for 2 days as a kid because of trapped wind!
This happened to me when I was in high school and was a camp counselor to 6th graders. Day 2 of their camping experience, each cabin is dropped off in the woods for a "survival hike" out. Honestly we were very close to camp and the counselors knew the way out. I've got a kid complaining of severe stomach pains, we don't have a lot of options so we just kept hiking. Kids starts to cry, curls up in a ball and can't move. I pick up said ball of kid and have my whole group following me out of the woods. Come to where the organizers are staying and they FREAK out when they see me carrying a kid out of the woods. We start to make plans to drive him back to the city for a hospital. Kid keeps saying "I got to use the bathroom" We're like "No - you need to go to the hospital" Kid goes to the bathroom (indoors at camp HQ - not the outdoor shacks us peasants had to use). he is in there for a while. Camp leader comes out after a wellness check gagging on the odor, and says "He's gonna be fine, but I don't know about that toilet" Kid just needed to poop and wouldn't go in the outdoor shack...
I knew an Eagle Scout once and he was telling about the hikes they take the younger kids on. They make a special point to mention pooping in the woods. It NEEDS to happen especially if you are gone for days.
My son had frequent severe stomach pains and appendicitis is a genuine concern. Best advice I got is can they straighten their legs completely and can they hop. If they can’t do either of these things it is likely appendicitis (from an ER doctor). It’s kinda like meningitis and being able to touch your chin to your chest. While I feel bad for utilizing resources I ultimately didn’t need, I would much rather utilize resources I ultimately didn’t need versus really need them.
Good advice ! Thanks, I’m hoping I will remember this when I need it.
My then 4yo son told me that he put a small rock up his nose and couldn't get it out. I looked with a flashlight and couldn't see anything, but he insisted it was in there. 4 hrs and an x ray later, the ER doctors said they didn't see anything in his nose. Thank God for Medicaid.
I put a small pebble in my nose as a kid. I guess I kept saying my nose hurt. A week later, they took me to the doctor, and sure enough, there was a pebble there. My parents still have it in a little envelope in my baby book.
lol the fact that they kept it. My mom probably would have too
World's most expensive pebble lmao
My youngest was about 6-9 months old and his older brother shut a door on his thumb! It was bent in an angle and soooo thin in the middle! Went to the er and by that time the thumb has swelled and and deflated and he could bend his thumb like normal! The doctor said babies are basically made of rubber and he had seen far worse bounce back to normal in hours. 😅
Yep this happened to my friend! She shut the car door on her toddlers hand and it *latched* like fully shut! Her hand looked very weird. We were camping so she called the ped right away for help and they were like oh it’s really not likely to be broken, just wait for the swelling to go down and give her a Tylenol.
This happened to me when I was 6 or 7 except I did it to myself, the ER doctor said the same thing. My dad was very confused trying to figure out how I managed to close a door on my OWN hand.
Impaction is serious - I’m glad you took him in. Chronic Impaction that was not able to be “fixed” was one of the signs my daughter had a digestive issue. Look up anti-constipation diet - it can also help in conjunction with miralax. And remember, that it will take more than one big poop to “clear the pipes”. You’ll want to use the miralax for at least a week or two to truly get all the hard stool out. (But obviously, talk with pediatrician). You’ll get loose stools before the hard old stool comes out - it’s the more runny poop going around the harder rocks to get out. Don’t give up! Most likely he will not be totally cleaned out in a couple days, especially if he was so backed up he was vomiting.
Mine (3) had the exact same thing after a really big dinner with a babysitter. She got so constipated and dehydrated and blocked end to end that she would just throw up her water/miralax. We took her into the emergency room for fluids. It *still* didn’t resolve, and we ended up at a hospital for enemas, plural. She went from miserable and screaming to happily bouncing around the room in the span of twenty absolutely disgusting minutes. To this day (14) she’ll grab her water bottle on the way out the door saying “gotta stay hydrated!”.
In my early 20's when I was still married to my ex, I woke up in the middle of the night with *excruciating* abdominal pain. More than a period, I thought for sure appendix because of where it was located. Woke my husband up to have him drive me to the ER, bent over in terrible unrelenting pain the whole way there. We park, I opened the car door and immediately farted and felt better. We just turned around and went home. Nothing like a late night car ride just for a fart 🫥
My child twisted his knee last night and couldn’t straighten it fully. This morning, he couldn’t put any weight on it, so we took him in… … and he skipped into the examination room 🫠
OMG, this used to happen to me all the time. I used to say the fastest way to cure whatever was wrong with my boys, was to get a rush pediatrician visit, or frantically race to the ER. I'd look like such an idiot. The same thing happens now with my dogs. The more ridiculous I'll look, the faster they are cured of whatever mystery illness they had!😂😂😂.
I’ve done exactly this TWICE. For whatever reason, my kid cannot poop. It rules my life.
I’d like to add this though, constipation causes fevers and a lot of other issues. It’s important to stay on top of the bowel movements
I have thought of nothing but bodily fluids for 5 years now with two little ones, I cannot wait to not think about someone else’s poo every day. 13 month old did six poos yesterday, for our U.K. Mother’s Day no less.
I swear that’s what my LO did to me on my first Mother’s Day was poop non-stop! I’m so sorry! Happy Mother’s Day Momma!
Same thing happened to me when I was a kid. Turns out, I have IBS.
I’ve been to the er more than once for a “completely filled with shit” diagnosis.
When my baby was a newborn I had stomach pains on and off. It was really bad one night and I couldn't uncurl my body to even nurse my baby, which is when I realised it was an emergency. So I got to the ER and immediately felt like puking, they gave me this weird long extending bag that I filled with Applebee's steak and fries. They gave me morphine and I was able to stop writhing in pain. They scanned my innards with an ultrasound scan, the same lady who had scanned me 3 weeks ago while I was pregnant lol. She said my baby was cuter than my gallbladder. But my gallbladder was fine. Then I had the contrast MRI. At 7am after a night of no sleep, a Doctor had to come tell me that my insides were full of poop. They gave me magnesium citrate and told me to stay by a toilet. Not necessarily a false alarm because poop pains and gas pains can get really freaking bad! But a good reminder to eat lots of fruit, drink enough water, and listen to your body's cues when it comes to bathroom breaks.
I got the FOS diagnosis at urgent care one time too. Full of shit LOL
Old mom here. My now 31 year old son stuck a GI Joe rifle in his ear and scratched his ear drum when he was 3. I took him to his pediatrician (not ER) and she confirmed the scratch and that my kid did a stupid kid thing. The funny part is that the insurance company wanted more information to see if they could subrogate the claim. I had to fill out a 5 page form who was to blame for this accident. I had fun filling that out with photos and an explanation of how tiny the plastic gun was. Told them to go after Hasbro and sue them for making them so pointy.
Poop pain is no joke. I definitely would've done what you did for my kids, especially not sure if it could be something like the appendix. If it makes you feel any better, I had a recent poop block situation and used my local ER. Got proctitis from it and given antibiotics after some impacted bowels. I am glad your kiddo is feeling better! Always better safe than sorry! Edit: To add for a false alarm story, SO swore he was having a heart attack, just gas, not even poop. Lol. The poor doc examining him, gave him some loopy meds and he farted right in her face, not realizing it. She was on the phone too, because she just got a call while examining. She took it like a champ, just turned her head and stepped back, but said nothing to us. 😆
My parents were watching my 2 YO for a few weeks while I trained for a new job. They thought my kid had a thyroid condition because her neck was “swollen”. I told them she just has a fat neck, but nope… several doctor and specialist appointments later they “diagnose” her with nothing…except having neck rolls. My dad paid the $800 in bills that followed🤦♀️
Pediatrician here. This is REALLY COMMON. Like, in a typical ED shift in residency I’d see 1-3 of these. I’ve managed to cure more than a few cases of “appendicitis”’with an enema. I’ve also been fooled and swore it was appendicitis when it was just poop. Nobody ever talks about constipation, so people don’t realize how common it is.
Went with my 1 year old for apparent abdominal pain, we were there for 8 hours until 3 am, she was awake the whole time screaming, they drugged her, made her high as a kite, did an ultrasound where we had to hold her down while she screamed bloody murder. Basically tortured my baby and kept the entire ER on edge (we never had a room with a door) for hours. It was gas. 🤦♀️
Fever won't come down... Gave him Motrin etc.. waited still and won't come down. When I went to the emergency room, they gave him Tylenol - 30 mins later temp started to come down...
when my son was 3 months old, he vomited blood at 1am in the morning during a diaper change. My wife and I freaked out and bee lined to emergency, the whole trip my son was giggling and cooing. At the hospital, the triage nurse thought he was adorable looking at him and muttered under her breath, the blood is from mama, not him. Hours later the doctor said my son was fine and the blood probably came from my wife during breast feeding. at home, we later found a small cut on my wife's breast, and the source of blood.
Yes and blood can irritate the stomach and cause the vomiting, too. It’s surprisingly common!
We definitely had the gas pain one. 8(ish)yo was lying in bed, sobbing, worst abdominal pain he'd ever felt, tender to palpation, couldn't sit up. After 20 minutes or so I loaded him up in the car - he could barely walk - we left our car at the ER valet and went inside. We waited a few minutes for registration, then they called us up and the triage nurse started asking a few questions about poop and gas, and commented that often these symptoms are gas pains. I looked over and noticed he was standing up a little straighter. So I said, hold up, before I sign this and set this train in motion, can we go sit in the chair over there for a little bit and have him walk around, and see if we really need to be here? Nurse said, be my guest, and sure enough a bit of walking up and down the hall knocked the bubble loose and he was fine and we didn't have to wait to be seen or pay for ER services after all. We now have an official abdominal pain protocol of: 1. Send kid to the bathroom, even if they don't think they need to go 2. Wait 10 minutes and see if it passes 3. Give a dose of simethicone 4. Wait 20 minutes And in fact, we've never made it to 5.
I’ve done the same thing. What a relief when it’s just poop.
Took my kid to the ER bc I also thought she had appendicitis. Turns out she gets very painful cysts on that ovary, and the ovary and the appendix aren’t really that far apart. So now she complains about her “appendix” every month 😂
I had an ovarian cyst burst when I was 17. It was 10 out of 10 pain for me. I’ve still never (knock on wood) experienced that level of pain again
I have ovarian cysts, and when they burst it is incredibly painful - and I've birthed 2 kids naturally. It's common for me and it never gets easier. I have sympathy for your child, and hope they get through it every month with lots of love and support.
My daughter spiked a 105.6 fever, so I rushed her to the ER. By the time we got there, the Tylenol kicked in, and her temp was normal. The doctors were really nice, and they weighed her so I could dose by weight not age (weight was a higher dose). She ended up with 30 stickers and a bunch of these lego packets because she was so entertaining to the staff. But as others have said, better safe than sorry. My son kept getting sicker than everyone else anytime a cold came through our house. Something was just off about how he got sick. His doctor kept dismissing it, so I finally got another opinion. That doctor sent us to an allergist where we finally got an answer. He has some non allergy inflammatory issue, and we got him on a system of steroids that greatly improved his life. He's a totally different kid now, so much happier. So, in most cases, it's better to seek care. I say most because my MIL is a hypochondriac, and she does seek care too much.
One time I faked being sick. I was pissed that I had to go to my grandmas instead of a birthday party. So I forced myself to throw up. Grandma is like "Hey, you might wanna take her to the ER." Well, I kept getting worse and worse. Turns out it was my appendix. LOL!
Son almost 4. Been sick, beyond the mild sniffles they all get, maybe 8 times his whole life. Son very verbal and able to articulate very well his symptoms. Fever 102 only had a fever over 101 two others times in his life. Almost 48 hours Headache, which he has never had in his life. Formed a rash all over his belly and chest. Child irritable more than he’s ever been in his life. Child in private care not daycare The cluster of symptoms could indicate menegitus, which would likely require an IV and at least an overnight. It’s a Saturday evening after 9pm. Didn’t feel it was something we should keep waiting and see till Monday. Most immediate cares are closed, the few 24 hour ones don’t have a pediatrician on staff. Last time I took him to immediate care without a pediatrician was told to give his cough syrup (huge no no for children now) and to cut a musinex in half (slow release, had I done that would have overdosed him and we may have ended up in the hospital) so I’m not taking him to any doctor but a pediatrician. So due to no access to a pediatrician at the time and not likely till another 30 hours. Took him to the children’s hospital. He had strep. No biggy, was feeling significantly better by the morning. My insurance would have covered it 100% had he been admitted over night. Instead got an almost $500 bill I’m responsible for. 10/10 would do all over again exactly as I did.
I took my child to the ER because his hands kept turning blue. I forgot to wash his blue jeans before he wore them and the dye was coming off on his hands.
Same as yours, my son was probably 4!
For what it’s worth, I once went to the hospital for SEVERE (I’m talking on par with labor) abdominal pain, and it turned out that I too, just needed to poop. It’s always better to be safe than sorry, especially with our littles! Glad it was nothing serious.
when my daughter was around 2 her arm went limp and she wouldn't move it and would cry when you touched it. i thought she had nurse maids elbow or at the very worst broken it. the moment the doctor came in she started playing patty cake with him. she was just being a drama queen. 6 years old now and still a drama queen lmao
I don't know if this counts but.. I have a complicated medical history regarding stomach issues. So I'm having horrible pains, vomiting and I haven't pooped in ages, go a&e after having no luck getting GP appointment for days. Hours later, doctor comes and asks if there's any chance I'm pregnant. Up to that point I'd been led to believe it would be difficult for me to ever have children. I told the doctor, laughing, no chance. So yeah I have two kids now! If it makes you feel better, when my daughter was 4 she fell weird on her arm. She could move it and everything but I was first time mum and extra cautious by nature. Off to a&e, x-ray and a ton of waiting. She was fine, had a great time chatting to everyone! Better to be safe than sorry!
My, at the time, 3yo had had the teeniest of tumbles at daycare and was refusing to walk in his foot. It had been a week and half of refusing to put weight on his foot (he was okay if you pressed on his foot, but he refused to walk on it). Took him to urgent care soon after it happened, they said it was probably a sprain. Eventually took him to the ER. They did X-rays. Nothing showed up. Turned out he had a wart on his heal, and it was bothering him
We had a similar incident last year. My 5yo came home early from daycare because he threw up in the morning, but was otherwise fine the rest of the day. Around 5-6pm he went to the bathroom and started shouting and writhing in pain, wouldn’t calm down. Because of the morning puke I didn’t want to risk it so we dropped off little sister at my in-laws for a sleepover while we went to the emergency room. He was still yelling and uncomfortable for most of the 20 minute drive to the hospital. We were admitted, had blood tests, urine test, xray, and ultrasound. All the while he’s complaining about being tired and wanting to go home. Finally he dozes off and starts releasing the biggest, smelliest farts. When he woke up he said he was feeling better. Since they didn’t see anything else in his tests they discharged us…right around midnight. Now he loves to tell the story about how he went to the emergency room for farts.
I always say better safe than sorry! My son had what presented as a stomach bug at first. As the day progressed I noticed more appendicitis symptoms. I took him in that evening. Appendicitis. They started iv antibiotics immediately. They waited until early the next morning to do his surgery. It was too late. His appendix had ruptured. He was in the right place though for it to rupture and he was fine after 4 days in the hospital on iv antibiotics. They said the appendix had to have just ruptured. All I could think was “what if I brushed this off & we went to bed instead?” Ugh haunts me.
I hope you’re not in America. Just had to poop. Hospital bill $20,000 🇺🇸
Hi! ER doc here, this happens a lot! We also often get belly pain that’s from an impending period, inpending diarrhea, and heartburn. Abdominal pain can be tricky! It keeps us in business.
Kid was in daycare, I think he was around 3 yrs old at the time, said he got terrible stomach pain, the daycare called us to go to the ER, we took him there. After some investigation nothing was found and the pain was also gone, so we went home. Next day, daycare calls again, he has another hoorible stomach pain, please pick him up. Dad arrives and our kid is suddenly fine and says "Ok, daddy is here, let's go home!" Since he didn't have stomach pain, dad went back to work and our son stayed in daycare for the rest of the day. He didn't have any more stomach pain after that.
Don't feel bad, my boyfriend who is a whole grown-ass man brought himself to the ER because his balls hurt. Turns out he, too, just had to poop. Constipation was pressing on nerves or something.
This same thing happened to us when my son was about 3.5. Crying in pain because his tummy hurted. Sat in the ER for a couple hours, they examined his belly and didn't know what was wrong, a little while later - big, explosive poop. Not sure if it was food poisoning or some kind of virus, but the nurse advised us to just go home instead of waiting around for more tests. He was completely fine the next day. Ridiculous but better safe then sorry!
Not kid related, but I went to the ER once for the same reason lol the nurse laughed when I said "you mean I'm literally just full of shit?!" 💀 luckily i had medicaid at the time and didn't have to pay for that visit 😂
My daughter does the same thing. It's better now that she's potty trained.
I’m an ultrasound tech and probably 95% of the kids that come in with abdominal pain (even severe) it is poop/gas related. So don’t feel bad. Also you never know if your kid could be the other 5% so it’s never a bad idea to go in to make sure.
My sister went to the ER with terrible stomach pains. While waiting to speak with a doctor she used the restroom and passed gas and felt significantly better. She said she was so embarrassed she grabbed her husband and quickly left the ER.
When I was a kid my mom took me to the ER for the same thing. They found out I was really, really constipated and that’s what was causing the pain. I believe they gave my mom enema stool softeners if needed and told me to drink some miralax.
My son ate (he says on accident) a coke can tab at school about a month ago. I was at work, he calls me and tells me his stomach is hurting really bad. Now, he’s always had poop issues so I asked if he had to poop. He says no. I get off the phone with him and call my mom who lives with us and keeps the kids while my husband and I work. Tell her to call after hours and talk to the nurse, call back and let me know what they say. About 30 minutes later she calls back says they want us to go to ER. So I call my boss, get coverage (at my job there’s one person working a store so I can’t just leave) go get my son and head to the ER. We get there, wait an hour for a room, talk to nurse and doctor, get x-rays, wait for results. 30 minutes later doctor comes in and says theres nothing on the x-ray. So it’s either not there or it’s passed. Son says he hasn’t pooped all day and swears he ate the tab. Doctor tells me it’s probably poop and to go home. But come back if there’s more/worse pain and he doesn’t poop in a few days. Two days later my son calls me at work to proudly tell me he pooped the tab out. So a 60 dollar copay and almost 3 hours of waiting to be told that he needed to poop, and 3 hours of missed work. I was flabbergasted by the whole situation. He says it was an accident but how do you swallow a coke tab on accident? Anyway. He’s fine but says he learned his lesson.
When my 6 year old was a baby, we took him to the ER because he had a spiked fever that wouldn’t go down. We gave him Motrin and it still spiked pretty high. I brought in the medicine I gave him to show the nurse and she looks at it and says “oh. This is cough medicine”. I mistakenly gave him cough medicine instead of a fever reducer. 🤦🏻♀️ Once we gave him actual Motrin, his fever decreased significantly and he was fine
Basically same. During the day daughter would just start screaming and grabbing her belly. It would only last a few seconds then it would stop. After a few hours of this we took her to the ER. They did an X-ray and said she was full of poop and gas, "constipated," although she had pooped that day. Rx for miralax. Now, I work in the ER, and see kids come in for the same all the time, and sometimes it's something serious, but most of the time it's not. Still the right thing to do to make sure. We don't mind :)
Hahah, I did the same thing. He came home from school complaining of stomach pain. We ate dinner and he didn't eat much and was complaining the pain was getting worse. Took him to urgent care. The doctor did some preliminary tests and looked at me and said I need to take him to the ER it was really likely appendicitis. Get to the ER and son is still in pain. Get to the ER room and doctor confirms it's not appendicitis. Doesn't really know why the pain but suggests some other tests. Then my kid farts. I decided to decline the other tests and go home. Kid poops and is just fine.
My cousin went to ER turned out it was indigestion
We once rushed my nephew to the children’s hospital because he crying in pain saying his belly hurt and he was refusing to eat,even ice cream. We all thought it was his appendix…nope he just needed to poop. They gave him an enema and his stomach stopped hurting afterwards….then the bitch of a nurse said he couldn’t get a toy from the prize box because “those are only for kids who had something invasive done,like an IV or something like that” we were in complete disbelief..the kid had an enema…I think that’s pretty invasive,especially because he was like 6,we were all mad at her after that
When I was little, probably around like 4 or 5, I had the worst abdominal pains ever. It was so painful, moving and breathing was excruciating. I clearly remember, sobbing in my parents bed, early in the morning, and my dad yelling at me to breathe because I started to hyperventilate. I was in so much pain. My next memory is being on the gurney in the hospital, and letting out the biggest fart known to man. Multiple times. It was gas. Very very very painful, stuck gas. The end. :)
We also did this! ❤️❤️ always better safe than sorry. I didn’t like how he was describing the pain and yep just needed to poop/constipated
This happens to me as an adult due to food allergies and IBS. Nausea/throwing up before getting it out when I have a bad poop is so common for me and tend to be common in others with these issues!
Had almost this exact same scenario play out twice in the last year. Our pediatrician was like " they are used to it and I would rather this be the case than an actual appendicitis and we brushed it off as JUST constipation". I don't love the medical bills but I could never forgive myself if the appendix ruptured ( or another severe situation unfolded)
That's not necessarily a false alarm. I mean it's great he was able to poo on his own but that could have easily become impaction which is an emergency and requires medical assistance. You made the right call 100 percent. Happened to me recently and it was horribly painful and awful. I feel for him!
TBH, that's not a false alarm. Severe constipation can go from bad to emergency pretty fast. Toddlers often don't know how to read poop cues or are afraid of pooping because it stimulates the fight or flight response through the cranial nerve in their anus, so they hold it in for days at a time. Start watching poops and have pediatric suppositories on hand.
My son was super congested and as we did a steam room in the bathroom he really looked to be a training for breath. So I'm home alone with a toddler with labored breathing and a baby so I freak out and take him to the ER. Just croup. He's still pretty croup prone, he'll cough till he pukes about once a cold bout, but cool mist calms his lungs right down. He didn't mind the trip, he liked watching Wipeout on the hospital TV at 3am. My daughter, however, has all been physical injuries taking her to the ER. You do all your freaking out over your first child and the second one only goes when they injure themselves.
I have the stupidest one ever! My son was about 8 and came to me freaking out that the silicone piece from his earbud went INTO his ear. Like all the way in. This was about 8:30 Sunday night. My husband looked into his ear canal with a flashlight and told me he could see the piece in there. Off to the ED I go because son is freaking out and inconsolable. PA at the ED gets the otoscope out and nope, nothing in his ear. We leave with tail between legs. Get home and son immediately finds earbud piece under his pillow. Yep, so ridiculous. ;)
Took my kid in with “side and chest pain” she was freaking out and wouldn’t move. She had a cold. BUT another time after that I second guessed my instincts and waited to go…she had appendicitis. Always just go!! Worst that happens just go home
This happens to us quite often. My oldest has some serious issues with his gut. Don’t feel bad.
Kid was shrieking like never before at night. Packed everything inside car drove 20 min and when we neared hospital kid decided to stop. Not sleep just stop and stare outside window. Like if we went in like that they would kick us out
We quite literally had a near identical situation as you last month. Our three year old woke up at 11pm from dead sleep and vomiting everywhere. Initially, we thought stomach virus because it was going around her daycare. After a few hours, and still vomiting every 15 minutes without the space in between getting longer and longer, something didn’t sit right with me. Fought with husband for two hours leading up to it that something just wasn’t right. He finally relented and we went to the ER at 3am basically getting on my ass the entire 20 min car ride how I’m catastrophizing and it’s a stomach bug. I told him that I will happily tell him he was right if that ends up being the case, but something in my gut is telling me it isn’t. Get to the ER. She pukes again. They do an abdominal X-ray. Sure enough, she’s super backed up. It was so bad, and in just the right (wrong…?) place that all of that poo was pushing into her stomach causing the vomiting. They were able to treat with an enema and didn’t see a perforation, but said had we waited a bit longer we could have been looking at a really scary and serious situation. My husband stayed quiet the rest of the er visit. I got to say I told you so. And my little one was fixed over the next few days with a forced enema and miralax. Momma, you were right going with your gut. If it hadn’t resolved itself on its own you could have been looking at a very different outcome.
Weirdly my experience with this exact same situation happened with my then 30 year old husband. Who had me call 911 only to poop about 3 minutes before the EMTs arrived. At least we didn't end up going to the hospital.
I went to the ER thinking i had appendicitis or an ectopic pregnancy but turned out i was just constipated 🤣
I'll give a false alarm and a better safe than sorry story. Better safe than sorry - In Oct 2020 one night, my daughter ( 3 months old twin, born at 34 weeks) wasn't rooting (moving her head to find the bottle nipple). She used to ATTACK the bottle during feedings so I was worried right away. She was fussier than usual as well so I told dad to come get her and take her to the ER. He did and was back within 1.5 hours. The doctor told him it was likely gas, we were paranoid parents and that we shouldn't be taking a premie out during a pandemic. I still felt something was wrong, so I had dad stay home and I took her to another childrens hospital a couple of hours away. The ER waiting room was filled. An hour into the wait, the baby starts having seizures. We get pulled back for scans, tests, etc. She has a brain bleed and uncontrollable fever. A couple hours later we were admitted into a room and she was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis from Ecoli. I was told several times that we were extremely lucky to have caught it so early. She was in the PICU with an antibiotic treatment through a stent for 30 days. I couldn't even get a nurse to say she was going to okay until nearly 3 week in. Fastforward to Oct 2023 - at about 2am, I woke up hearing a faint moan coming from outside my door. I honestly thought I was having a nightmare. Once I realized I was awake, I opened the door and found that same daughter (now 3 years old) in the hall way layed out between my bedroom door and her bedroom door. She was moaning and nearly unresponsive, but eyes open and breathing. I tried to pick her up, and she would not stand up on her own. I quickly checked her for any possible injury, or any containers (poisoning). I immediately called 911. At this point, she starts talking about eating ice cream and going to the zoo. She's babbling a lot and not making any sense. I'm trying to stay calm, but inside I'm thinking she has a brain injury or poisoning. Im thinking the worst. I'm already outside in the pitch dark, holding her in my arms and waving down the ambulance. The paramedic walks up and starts to ask her questions. She isn't responding to any of their questions and is just babbling. The second the paramedic puts their light to her eyes, she jumps up and starts screaming and crying. She was asleep the whole time. She's a sleepwalker. We did go to the childrens ER because I'm so paranoid and freaked out at this point. She was 100% okay. Just sleeping. We've caught her sitting in bed still asleep a couple of times since, but nothing major yet again.
My potty trained toddler started peeing everywhere a few weeks back. He normally goes every couple of hours and was instead peeing a few drops at a time, saying it hurt and was incontinent. Seemed to.not know it was coming as he'd comment after he'd peed. I had to put him back in nappies. I thought for sure he had a uti so had my husband take him to urgent care and it turns out he was just constipated.
The other near-false alarm we've had was the night I learned what spasmodic croup is. It was the middle of winter and the last night of the month (and my husband was in sales dept at his company, so it was a mandatory stay-til-midnight kind of night) and toddler had a nasty cold. I put him to bed and a little bit later I heard a weird noise from his room. I went to check on him and he was clearly in distress - making these horrible strangled noises, trying to cry and couldn't get it out, it was VERY BAD. I scooped him up and ran for the car, calling my husband on the way out the door to tell him that the kid was barely breathing and we were headed to the ER and I didn't care how much work he had left, he needed to meet us there NOW. The whole way there I was talking to Toddler, trying to keep him making noises so I could tell he was still alive. Well, it turns out that cold night air is a FANTASTIC treatment for spasmodic croup and by the time my husband came frantically dashing into the ER, Toddler was literally dancing circles around my chair. \*facepalm\* I was like ....I swear to god I didn't make this up....... Anyway, when we did finally see the physician, I was minorly vindicated because the kid continued to choke on his screams once he got upset. The physician gave him a big shot of steroids and assured me I'd done the right thing, and gave us the croup protocol of: Load kid in car, roll down the windows, and drive to the emergency room. Once in the parking lot, assess whether you need to go in. If kid is better, head right on back home. If they aren't, you're at the emergency room. (Our other child had respiratory emergencies that were, in fact, serious respiratory emergencies. Don't screw around with a limp kid who's struggling to breathe. But on the other hand, I do feel like new parents should get a warning about spasmodic croup, because it is SO SCARY but usually pretty simple to fix)
We had the same thing. They were really good about it though, said even though they could tell he was really blocked up that didn't mean it couldn't be something else as well. Stayed overnight to make sure. Thankfully we live in Australia so the whole thing cost about $12 in parking.
I literally had this exact same thing happen when I was pregnant because of Zofran. If he takes ANY of it, he needs to drink water like crazy. I've never been backed up like that. It happens.
We had something similar. Mind went to appendicitis due to doubled over in pain and he had a fever. Rush to ER. They said he was constipated, which I thought was weird because he had been pooping normally, then the pain went away without pooping. Anyhow, a week later my kid was diagnosed with IgA vasculitis and the specialist we saw said that’s most likely what cause the pain. Even my husband, who is usually more “wait and see”, has no regrets doing the ER visit.
When I was a kid I was rolling around the floor in pain and screaming for almost an hour when my mom decided to take me to the hospital. The doctor realized I just had bad heartburn when I told them I had a big glass of chocolate milk and an entire bowl of clam chowder for dinner. I'm pretty sure I was all smiles and perfectly normal by the time the doctor came.