My 15 month old son fell over a pillow and hit face down onto the carpet. The inside of his mouth has been gushing blood for about 1 minute. When I went to look in his mouth it seems he has cut the upper muscle that connects the top lip to the gums. He also has a redish/light blue bruise forming on the outside of his top lip. He is acting normal and has stopped crying, but everytime I go to look to see how deep the cut is he cries. Can anyone tell me what I should do? If I need to take him to the emergency room or wait until tomorrow and try to look again? Thanks for your advice.
First , stop looking , if its not bleeding anymore he's totally fine, the mouth heals so fast you wouldn't believe it.
N.:
If you have the bleeding stopped - you should be fine.
Call your advice nurse and see what they say. Since I'm not a doctor, I wouldn't want to direct you the wrong way.
He will cry because it's painful. If the frenulum libi (the upper lip NOT the under the tongue) is separated, i don't think they will do anything unless it goes into the gums.
Bruising is typical. Put ice on it. Keep him calm. Call the advice nurse.
Deep breaths, Mama. My 2 yr old had that happen a few times around that age as well. It looks VERY scary, but it actually should heal quite well in about a week.
Over the next few days, it will probably change appearance a bit. It might get crusty, or whiteish, which is the pus. Even then I wouldn't worry too much, as it is part of the healing process. But, if you are still concerned tomorrow, just call his doctor's office. I wouldn't do an ER visit for it.
My son split that same thing a few weeks ago. Bled like hell, but healed nicely in a day or so :-)
They rarely do stitches inside the mouth, but would want to make sure theres no infection in the next days. Also you might want to find a dentist to make sure the teeth werent damaged and need attention. Our son fell when he was 9 months old and bit the end of his tongue with a crooked little tooth so it sorta split it at the tip. We called him our forked tongue snakey boy for a while. It bled a long time, but didnt seem to bleed a lot of blood. It just kept bleeding tiny drips and spits for a couple hours so we took him to the ER. They werent too concerened until he suddenly threw up and gushed all this blood he had been swallowing and then went into shock. Turned out it WAS bleeding a lot, but we werent seeing it because it was going down his throat. So, they decided to do a stitch in his tongue. They gave him a shot of atropine to dry his mouth and set up for a specialist to come in for the stitches. He fell asleep while we were waiting and because he stopped chewing it and spitting, blowing rashberries and making it bleed more, it stopped bleeding on its own. The specialist came in and looked at it while he was asleep and they decided to leave it alone. He said he would rather not do stitches since they could leave the tip of his tongue deformed, so it was all for the best to not mess with it. He grew up fine, no problems, but to this day, the underside of his tongue has a scar. So, you need to know the teeth might need to be looked at, and watch for any more bleeding knowing he might be swallowing some. More than likely he is fine tho. Mouths sure do bleed a lot dont they!
Our son did that by falling onto the edge of a chair with his mouth - we called the doc on call and by the time he called back the bleeding had stopped and kiddo was fine. We happened to have (adult) dentist appointments 2 days later and schlepped kiddo along for the dentist to have a look-see, and everything had healed properly. I think you're ok, but don't hesitate to call your ped (or ped dentist) for an educated opinion if you're still worried. That's why they're paid the big bucks!
My lips are a mass of lumpy scars inside. Apparently I was a clumsy toddler. But they work just like they're supposed to, and none of the scars show on the outside.
I'd suggest that if your son is able to eat normally, he'll probably heal just fine. The mouth heals very quickly. It will probably help if you can get him to do three or four saline mouth rinses a day, particularly after he eats anything.
If he seems to have any problems, then don't hesitate to take him to have a doctor look at the damage.
Also, I recommend that you get some Arnica Montana homeopathic tablets, which are sweet and he'll like, and some Arnica cream or oil to apply topically. This can significantly reduce bruising and help black-and-blue injuries heal faster. If applied right after an owie, it can even prevent bruising from happening at all. I've used this on a severe hit to my face by a goat, and within four hours, no injury was visible except for a small tear in the skin under my eyebrow. Arnica is great stuff to keep in the first-aid kit.
very common to have happen. My middle child had this happen...a lot of times that part doesn't connect again...my sons looks fine now at 4 years so not sure if he did it really bad...but he bled for a while and then was fine.
My husband had this happen at a young age and still to this day it isn't connect but it doesn't bother him at all
Better safe than sorry. Have a Doctor look at it; it may be nothing, but it might be something. The ER may not be necessary, but the pediatrician or a neighborhood urgent care will do.
