Nursemaids elbow

[Anonymous]

It happened to DD at 18 months, she's 7 now and it hasn't happened again.

[Anonymous]

it happened to mine at 18mo at the beginning of covid so we REALLY didn't want to go to urgent care (it was after hours). While we waited for pediatrician call back, we watched a youtube video and fixed it ourselves (its super simple). he stopped crying immediately and the ped said "while i wouldn't have felt comfortable telling a parent to do that, i'm really glad you did)

its happened 2 times since then, fixed within seconds each time and pain is immediately gone

[Anonymous]

Happened to my daughter twice. Once she was about to fall backwards off our bed and I nursing the baby and awkwardly grabbed her arm as she tumbled back. I felt HORRIBLE.

Then about a year later, she was playing with her cousin and he grabbed her arm as she tried to run away and it happened again.

[Anonymous]

My younger daughter has had it at least two times. I suspect three. I didn’t know about it and the pediatrician told us it’s most common ages 1-4 and to hold her by her upper arm when we help her on stairs, cross the street etc

The first time DH was lowering her from his shoulders and she lurched backward so he twisted / grabbed her in an awkward way. The second time she stood up in the crib unwilling to use that arm. We have no idea what happened. Pediatrician tried the maneuver, thought she felt a pop, and DD happily was playing / using that arm so we assume that was it. Another time I’m also not sure what happened - she was playing and got up in a weird way or reached for something. She wouldn’t let my older DD or DH touch her arm. The pediatrician had recommended I watch some YouTube videos / learn the procedure. So I decided it was worth trying. I did the procedure and DD went on with her day as if nothing had happened. I didn’t feel an obvious pop but either it fixed the problem or convinced her it was all better.

[Anonymous]

Does putting it back hurt? This sounds like such an awful injury, yet not at all at the same time!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does putting it back hurt? This sounds like such an awful injury, yet not at all at the same time!

No - or maybe a tiny bit but you just make one fast motion with their arm and the crying stops instantly. Its not like a painful resetting that upsets them more

[Anonymous]

Happened to my son many times in a row at 8 months. It was right after he learned to roll over in his crib and he was clearly rolling over his elbow wrong and popping it out of place. Ended up going to an ortho and he was in a cast for 3 weeks while it healed. He hasn’t had problems since (he’s 19 months now) but the ortho said we need to be careful regarding recurrences until he’s 5 or so. It’s relatively rare for it to happen in kids under a year. Fwiw it happened to me a few times as a little kid, too.

[Anonymous]

There are factors that make some children more predisposed to nursemaid’s elbow.

https://www.chla.org/blog/rehab-therapies-and-audiology/nursemaid-elbow-101-causes-symptoms-and-treatment

An urgent care doctor told me that if it happens repeatedly, it’s better to fix it right away yourself than to prolong the pain by taking your child to a doctor. There are videos on YouTube. One of my kids only had it happen once, but the other is super, super flexible, so it happened quite a few times to her, and the more often it happens, the easier it happens. She didn’t outgrow it by age 5 like most kids do so our pediatrician sent us to an orthopedist. The ortho said that she would outgrow it, but she just hadn’t yet. He taught her a method to fix it herself if it happened at school. She was to extend her arm fully, straight out in front of her body, palm up, then bend at the elbow, bringing her hand toward her shoulder.

The important thing to know is that if you need to take your child by the arm (they start to fall or are about to step into traffic or you’re trying to help them up out of a seated position on the floor), you need to take hold of the upper arm rather than the lower portion of the arm or the hand so you’re not applying any force to the elbow.

[Anonymous]

My daughter had it so many times between ages 2 and 4. No long term affects. She went on to be a gymnast. But, it sure did suck during those years. We were so careful and still ended up with ER and doctor visits. Once we understood what we were dealing with, we always went to the pediatrician because he knew just how to pop it back in while the ER made such a big deal of xrays and evaluations.

[Anonymous]

Just once at 9 months. No idea how it happened it never happened again! She's almost 5 now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does putting it back hurt? This sounds like such an awful injury, yet not at all at the same time!

When I took my DD to after hours ped first time it happened they said children usually scream when they put it back in. But she fell asleep waiting for the doctor and slept through the procedure. She briefly whimpered in my lap. The other two times she was scared to let us try, but the procedure itself didn’t seem to bother her much if at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. I don’t do strollers. They walk or I babywear (and I nanny for twins). I have been a nanny for a 15 years and only had this happen once (1yo threw a fit on the national Mall and tried to dash into traffic). The kid is in elementary now and never had any further issues with that arm. It’s rare but it’s not a big deal.

Ok? We aren't all super nannies. Parents should do whatever is best and safest for them and their kids in the moment. If that means the older kid walks and the younger one who has a history of running off rides in a stroller, so be it. My mom had three kids within 5 years and there was a time that my younger sister was on a leash because that was the only way she could manage errands with all of us (this was pre-online shopping and she was a SAHM so we went everywhere with her).

I don't think PP's saying that. I think she's just saying it's not common, and so OP shouldn't feel like she must go back to using a stroller. That's not the same as saying OP shouldn't use it.

[Anonymous]

This is why I have to have runners in a harness. They NEED to be walking and moving, not be strapped into a stroller, but I can’t compromise on safety.