Friday, December 17, 2010

The Adventures of Toddler Bumps and Bruises

It seems I no longer have a baby in my house, but rather a toddler.  He isn't walking independently yet, but will use anything he can to walk from one place to another.  He rarely crawls anymore.  I keep waiting for the day where he will let go of what he is holding onto and take a step, but that hasn't happened yet.  We did have a brief step or two as he walked from my husband to me one night, but we aren't counting it since he had momentum and we aren't really sure one of us weren't providing support.  Anyway.....

All of the toddling means that there is also a lot of falling.  Falling on the ground.  Falling on to a toy. Falling into a chair.  Falling into a cabinet nob. Falling into the high chair.  Falling. Falling. Falling.   And with all of this falling?  Comes lots and lots of bruises. 

I am so tired of the bruises and don't feel like I have an adequate method for dealing with them.  I usually throw some ice into a baggy, wrap it in a paper towel, and plop ourselves in front of "Super Why" or "Sesame Street" for 10 minutes while I ice the spot on his face that is turning several different shades of red and purple. 

There has to be a better way to get them to sit still and get iced.  I know it isn't the worst thing for him to watch 10 minutes of television now and then and I feel like I try to make it interactive with me talking to him about it and moving his body the way they tell him to on the show, but I guess I thought that maybe one of you have a better solution. 

I would love to be able to read books, but haven't figured out how to do it with one hand (since the other is holding the ice).  Frankly I am lucky if I have one hand because many times I am holding his head steady with the other.   I tried singing, but that didn't work.  It seems like he needs something more distracting.

So what do you do when your child get a bump or bruise that needs to be iced?  HELP!

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