BEST way to remove splinters without sedating your child?

[gypsydoodlebug]

I'm sweating. DD is sweating. The neighbors think I'm beating my child because of the amount of screaming and sobbing. Seriously.

The cause?

Two splinters. Jeez. They're big, too. Like half a tree trunk stuck in her fingers.

Do any of you seasoned mommies and daddies have a secret way to remove them? It took us THREE DAYS and the promise of a new My Little Pony (plus half a freezer full of ice) to let us remove one from her toe last month.

Anybody? I had to give up. Daddy's upstairs trying now and Mommy's hunting down the bottle of Xanax in the pantry...

 

[dhcoffey]

Don't know how heavy of a sleeper she is but that's what we did with my oldest DD, 14, when she was about 3 or 4. She was like yours. I was afraid the police were going to be called. Once she zonked out, we removed it, no problem.

Hope this helps or at least you can get the nasty splinters out some way!!

Heather

 

[kkmcan]

Call a friend over or another relative to remove it for you. Our son got a large splinter in his toe last year at the lake. He cried and screamed and squirmed and kicked while my husband and I tried ice, toys, threatening, pleading with him to sit still etc, etc, etc. My brother in law was in his cabin next door. He came over to see what the commotion was. We told him. He asked if he could help us. We said- go for it! Our son sat so still for him and he got it out in 10 seconds!

Try it!

 

[gypsydoodlebug]

Don't know how heavy of a sleeper she is but that's what we did with my oldest DD, 14, when she was about 3 or 4. She was like yours. I was afraid the police were going to be called. Once she zonked out, we removed it, no problem.

Hope this helps or at least you can get the nasty splinters out some way!!

Heather

Hmmm... she's three-and-a-half. This might work.

OK, they just came downstairs and she's holding up her index finger. You'd thought it had been amputated.

 

[stinkerbelle's mom]

You could try soaking them to see if they come out too.

Good luck! Maybe you should just sit outside & let the neighbors see what you're doing if you're that worried.

I remember being in the position your dd's in now! Yikes!!! to all!

 

[OceanAnnie]

I'm no expert. But this is what has worked for me in the past. Let the child soak in the tub for a bit. Soak the site. After a nice calming bath turn on a favorite cartoon. Explain you're going to look at the splinter with your finger. Sometimes you can work it out a little bit with your finger once it's softened up by soaking. Have the tweezers ready if needed. Let the child know if you are going to use them. Tell him her not to watch you, watch the show.

I tell my kids to squeeze my arm if it hurts. For some reason that helps.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

If any part of the splinter is sticking out then put clear tape over it and try to get the end of the splinter to stick to the tape then peel the tape away in the opposite direction that the splinter went in (so you are pulling the splinter out of the skin).

We just went thru this with DD8 and tape worked better then soaking and tweezers for us.

Good luck!

 

[tluvstink]

I used to put anbesol on it first. Wait a minute or two and the skin will be numb. But it doesn't last long so you may need to reapply.

 

[KTSMOM]

If any part of the splinter is sticking out then put clear tape over it and try to get the end of the splinter to stick to the tape then peel the tape away in the opposite direction that the splinter went in (so you are pulling the splinter out of the skin).

We just went thru this with DD8 and tape worked better then soaking and tweezers for us.

Good luck!

My DH did something very similar to this but with a bandaid. Just used the sticky part of the bandaid and placed it on the piece of splinter tht is sticking out and then was able to pull it out.
Hope all goes well!

 

[JadenLayne]

Humm, any new My Little Ponies out there? I remember these days well. The funny part, John-Cole has NEVER had a problem with shots but splinters were THE DEVIL!

 

[pumba]

I just removed one the other day........I always told the kiddos if I hurt them I would give them a quarter....(probably more now with inflation) but I would soak it first in a sink of warm water.....let it get really spongey on the skin.......then I would do the losening up the dead skin on the outside and then whammo......I get it and the kids dont get hurt......and I have not lost a quarter yet......hahaha

 

[Nicolepa]

Don't know how heavy of a sleeper she is but that's what we did with my oldest DD, 14, when she was about 3 or 4. She was like yours. I was afraid the police were going to be called. Once she zonked out, we removed it, no problem.


Heather

Yup, that's how we do it as well. Once they start snoring we go and take them out. That is the only way my 5yo will let us do it.

 

[Poohnatic]

I used to put anbesol on it first. Wait a minute or two and the skin will be numb. But it doesn't last long so you may need to reapply.

Winner! I've used this one on wimpy siblings when we were kids, my dh when he got a metal shaving in his finger and the kids many times. That's why I always have anbesol in the medicine cabinet. Good stuff.

Suzanne

 

[Frye7127]

At one time, my son got splinters coming and going. He still thinks I get them out with cotton balls.

I just put cotton balls around it, work it out a little with a needle, and then use my fingers with the cotton balls and tweezers to work it the rest of the way out. Those cotton balls are miracles.

 

[fan_of_small_world]

To everyone who answered the OP's question:

I have struggled with this with DS (8!) since his first splinter. You would think that I'm performing brain surgery with no anesthesia when I try to get one out. (Oh, and don't even get me started on getting vaccinated, and when he was an infant he screamed so loud when I trimmed his fingernails that I closed all the windows.)

Tomorrow, I will be getting Anbesol and cotton balls (to hide the needle - LOVE that tip!), and making sure that bandaids are now used as a first line of defense.

 

[PrettyInTink]

I know this may sound a little strange, but I swear it works. My mom always took the yolk of an egg and mixed it with salt until it made a paste (really thick). She then spread it all over the area and covered it with saran wrap and stuck my hand in a glove before I went to bed. Or an old sock if it was in my foot. The salt will lessedn the reddened area and draw out the splinter over night. Even if it doesn't come all the way out it will come out enough to grab it with tweezers and pull it out painlessly. It always worked for me. Anytime I get one now this is what I still do. HTH!

 

[Sherrypooh]

I always used masking tape. Put a piece of tape on the little sucker (the splinter not the child) before bed then it would "sweat" its way out of the hand/finger whatever.

 

[mickeyboat]

My friend used to take her sons' splinters out while they slept. She said the splinter fairy came at night.

We used duct tape one time when Emily got a bunch in the bottoms of her feet.

I don't worry too too much about splinters. Most of the time they will work themselves out. I just keep an eye on them, and make sure they aren't getting infected. Of course that advice is only good if they are really tiny splinters that aren't causing any pain. I got a huge chunk of wood in my finger a week ago, and I thought I was going to have to have it amputated.

Denae

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

I agree with the PP that someone else could do it...my sister is a pediatric nurse, but her kids would only let me take their splinters out. Weird.

For my own kids, I use a needle (tweezers grab too much skin, IMO) and just work it a little after soaking. It might hurt a bit but they usually come out fast.

My DS used to freak just getting his toenails clipped, so I know about drama!

Also, I admit to having said, "If you don't let me do it, the doctor will have to do it..."
GOOD LUCK...the perils of parenthood...