[~Megan~]

my dd, just turned 3, becomes absolutely hysterical whenever she gets hurt. She cries uncontrollably until she vomits. And is often on edge the rest of the day. If we can get her to nap it will help some but she is still changed the rest of the day.

Last weekend she burnt her hand badly and we saw those effects.

Just a while ago today she fell and scraped her knee and wrist, quite minor but she started shaking and crying so hard she was coughing and gagging.

This doesn't seem like normal behavior and I'm wondering what I can do to help her when this happens.

This time dh and I cleaned her with hydrogen peroxide then put calendula gel on the scratches and I gave her arnica.

I'm wondering if adding Rescue Remedy into the mix would help. I've heard that it has a bad taste though.

 

[4evermom]

She must be more sensitive to pain than some. My ds doesn't react that strongly but he hates having an injury touched. He is very protective of whichever part is hurt and wants to be carried if it is a leg or foot injury. He doesn't want bandaids because that would involve touching the area. Occasionally, I can talk him into a bandaid which I only try to do if it looks like a raw scrape that would really feel better with a protective layer. I don't even clean the area because ds would find it traumatic. Maybe talking calmly and reassuringly (which I'm sure you already do) followed by something distracting and soothing like a story would help, and don't worry about cleaning the wound til she is completely calm. Maybe practice slow deep breaths as a calming technique (practice when already calm, then progress to after exciting play for eventual use when hurt). I haven't tried this with ds but read the suggestion in The Happiest Toddler on the Block and I liked the idea of practicing relaxation techniques with young children.

 

[starlite]

Hmmmm ...

Sounds like she just needs reassurance and a good, long, mamma cuddle.

I think kids can be funny about certain things - they get ideas and run wild with them. For example (and this is going to sound gross!!) my DS who will turn 3 in August gets hysterically distressed about pooh. At first I thought it was painful for him - but that has been totally ruled out medically. One day - I was on the toilet and DS came wandering in to tell me something about Thomas The Tank Engine. He said; "C'mon mummy!" and I replied; "Mummy is doing a pooh." Then DS' face went deathly pale and his expression went grave and serious. All of a sudden he started to vomit - then he cried hysterically and told me that "Pooh smells!" repeatedly. He was very distresses ... even though I hadn't actually opened my bowels yet so there WAS NO SMELL!

He would behave much like your dd does at nappy change time (only for poohs - not wee) and for the rest of the day he'd seem kinda out of sorts.

We made such a big deal of this behaviour initially; Dragging him to doctor's and specialists who all said he was a normal with no bowel/stomach problems. This made the issue even bigger for DS... it actually validated his abnormal reaction to good 'ol #2! He would vomit and cry hysterically if he saw even a doggy doing it on the lawn.

Then we decided to provide reassurance and explain to him that EVERYBODY poohs. We made up a song about it ... and would sing it together on the change table. I would point out that animals and people all do it and that it's a good thing - not a bad thing. This seemed to help over time; He would play a game and try to think of as many people as he could who also did pooh. He found the thought of Nanny (MIL) doing pooh hillarious :LOL He was really surprised to learn that pooh was normal and, I mean, you'd think he would naturally know that!

... But as I said kids are funny things and sometimes what seems like an outrageous reaction to something trivial is just a normal part of being a toddler!!! It's easy to get distressed as parents and play up to these extreme reactions, but I think once you've established that nothing serious is wrong you need to step in and reassure/soothe/discuss with your child what they are reacting to. It takes months but if you are consistent the phase will pass.

 

[Dal]

Don't know if I'm repeated points already made...

Your dd is quite a bit older than Simon -- he's 14 months -- but he's had only one fairly bad fall (still not bad, but worse than his typical spills). It scared the bezeesus out of him and he seemed to grasp that he is vulnerable. He was off and very clingy that entire day and the following day. We were worried that he was hurt badly, but this didn't seem likely given how he fell, and sure enough, it was mainly the scare and shock of the fall that got to him. For awhile after this fall, maybe even up to a week, he was far more sensitive when he fell and got more worked up about it than usual. Maybe the same thing is happening to your daughter? I think a scraped knee does hurt pretty badly and may be very scary for your daughter as she is becoming increasingly aware of her vulnerability. So in short, it may be more about fear than about the pain.

 

[Mere]

Dd (3.5) has a really hard time with injuries as well; if she happens to injure herself when she's tired, then recovery takes an extra looooooong time (or sometimes she just has to go to bed).

We do use Rescue Remedy - I think it helps. She must feel like it helps too, because sometimes she even asks for it (we call it 'medicine' so maybe it's part placebo affect?). It does have a slightly bad taste, but I just put a few drops on her tongue and then immediately hand her a glass of water. That seems to take care of it.