Son's pinky smashed in bathroom door 1st night of WDW trip!

[2poohbears]

I've been meaning to post this as a reminder to other parents so that hopefully no one goes through what we just did...Be careful of the doors in the hotel rooms. After this incident, we put suitcases to hold the bathroom door open so that the boys couldn't move the door at all...

We left home on JAN 29th, at 3am, and drove 11 hours to get to WDW for our week long trip. We were all really excited, but also pretty tired after eating dinner in ASMovies food court area. When we returned to the room, I called my mom to let her know we made it okay, and while I was on the phone, my 3 y/o twins decided to play near the bathroom door (which was closed). One of them opened the door to the bathroom, and I asked him to please close it and told both boys to get away from the bathroom. Well, as bad luck would have it, as Michael closed the door, Tommy fell over and his left pinky was in the side where the hinges are located when the door closed. I thought he was going to lose the tip of his finger - it looked so terrible and was hanging... We called 911 and medics were in our room within minutes. They bandaged his finger, told us it wasn't as bad as it looked and sent us to the ER. A hotel employee allowed us to follow her to the hospital (as we had no idea where it was located). We were in ER until 11:30 pm...my poor baby was so tired he fell asleep just before the doc finished putting the 9th stitch in his finger. We planned to take it easy the next morning, let the boys sleep in if they wanted, and hang out at the hotel to see how Tommy was doing and decide whether to return home. Well, Tommy was the 1st one up the next morning...he sat straight up in bed and said "Mommy - I awake. Les go see Mickey Mouse!" So - off we went to the parks. We returned to the hotel for daily naps, and he was on Tylenol/Motrin for a few days as well as an antibiotic (the hotel was able to fax our prescription to a local pharmacy, which delivered it by lunchtime---this was really helpful). Tommy never complained even once... although I'm sure his finger must have hurt. I guess the characters and attractions were enough of a distraction that he didn't think about it much until naptime/bedtime. We stayed the whole week, wrapping his finger really well and putting a brace on it so he wouldn't knock it on anything. His stitches were removed last Monday and he's doing fine...and talking non-stop about Mickey, Buzz, etc. DH and I decided we'll bring the boys back in May to enjoy the parks again...hopefully, with no accidents/illness this time, so that both boys can fully enjoy the parks!

So --- just remember to watch out for those hotel doors! I put safety plugs on the outlets, but didn't even think about the doors when we arrived. Learn from our mistake, please!

 

[sdoll]

Your poor little guy! He sounds like a tough one.
What I really should say is poor Mommy. I have decided that these kind of things hurt us far longer than they hurt the kid. They are ready to run and play soon after a major incident while our hearts don't beat normal for a few days. I wish I was as tough as my son sometimes.
Glad your boys enjoyed everything! It must be great seeing the excitement in double.

 

[ilovepooh]

Thanks for sharing the tip! Glad your son was ok, and got to see Mickey Mouse!

 

[daisyduck123]

I'm so glad your trip went so well.
Your poor little guy! He sounds like a real trooper! I don't think I would've managed so well!

 

[I'mNoPrince]

When DD was smaller we stayed at a new place to us down at OCMD .

It was beach front and when we opened the door all she saw was the beach and took off running. Well the glass doors were real clean and then they had some blood on them. It was just a small cut above the eye and didn't need any attention.

But this is another hazard if the little ones are not use to sliding doors and clean glass.


Glad everything worked out I know how hard it is to enjoy yourself knowing the little ones are hurt and working through it.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Poor baby! That must have hurt. I'm so glad he's healing and was still able to enjoy his trip. But isn't it amazing how resilient kids really are? If it happened to me, I'm sure I would have whined about it for the whole trip. But kids? They just cry a little and move on.

When my youngest DS was 4 we were driving to Southern California (about 7 hours from our house) for a week's vacation. We started out in the evening, drove about 1/2 way and then stopped at a hotel. DS was sleeping with me. I woke up in the middle of the night and could just feel the heat radiating from his body. He had a fever of 104! The next morning, the hotel clerk directed us to a medical clinic. He had a double ear infection! We got him started on antibiotics and told him we might skip Sea World the next day. He insisted that he wanted to go and see the whale. I told him we would rent a stroller for him and he said no, he'd rather walk. The next day his fever was gone so we went off to Sea World. He walked around all day, saw all the show and exhibits. He's 8 now and still talks about the whales at Sea World. Kids never cease to amaze me!!!

 

[Oceana]

That sounds terrible

My DS 3 managed to bust his chin open at the pool. Our experiance was not as good as yours.

DH got lost on the way to the clinic and no one offered good directions... they told him to go to the Winn Dixie that had apparently closed many months before

He endded up with only 6 stitches and much like your kid Mickey Mouse was all he needed to feel just fine in the end... kids!


julie

 

[seashoreCM]

"Mickey will kiss your finger and it will feel better."

Maybe we will have to revert to such crude things as putting crayon writing on glass panels to keep kids from trying to run through them. (Most of us don't carry "duck" tape in our suitcases.)

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[all4fun]

Poor thing!! It sounds like he handled like a champ though. Glad to hear you got help quick.

Just thought I'd mention that someone on the boards here has mentioned just throwing a towel over top of interior doors to prevent them from closing all the way.

In the past, Ive brought those little door stoppers like THIS and they work great too. Mine are plain white though - I found them at the dollar tree.

hth.

 

[northriver]

I'm so glad you trip turned out ok! Gosh kids can really take a beating sometimes, it is amazing that he popped right up and asked to hit the parks. I'm am also relieved to hear that the medics came so fast and that the CM's were so helpful getting you to the clinic as well as getting your perscription filled.

I *think* DD is too little to open the door on her own, but we will keep a close eye on the door, and I'll try to find one of those door things that a pp mentioned to add to my "travel toddler proofing kit".

 

[hollyb]

Poor guy!!! Glad to hear it didn't ruin his trip. How scary for you and your DH. Happy to hear it all worked out.

 

[momtoBrandon&Jacob]

OMG, my stomach was in knots reading your post. That poor little guy! I'm so glad everything turned out ok for the BOTH of you.

When my son was 19 months, he was being chased around the house by my then 2.5 year old and ended up bashing his forehead open by the corner where the two walls meet. Ended up with about 9 stitches. By the time we got the ER, he was laughing and reading Sesame Street books in the waiting rooms.

 

[2poohbears]

Poor thing!! It sounds like he handled like a champ though. Glad to hear you got help quick.

Just thought I'd mention that someone on the boards here has mentioned just throwing a towel over top of interior doors to prevent them from closing all the way.

In the past, Ive brought those little door stoppers like THIS and they work great too. Mine are plain white though - I found them at the dollar tree.

hth.

I thought about one of those door stoppers, but I don't think that would have helped in our case. You see, his finger got smashed in the side of the door where the hinges are located. The door stopper only stops the door from smashing fingers on the side that has the door handle on it. This is why we shoved suitcases in front of the door so they couldn't open or close it at all.

We would have needed something like this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/86198/363755/117.html#readmore

or this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/86198/206759/117.html

 

[MinnieGi]

Sorry to hear that happend to your little one! Glad it turned out okay and he had a great time at WDW!!! Those little ones certainly are troopers! My 2yo DS has had stitches twice once in the forehead and the other on the chin. He also fell asleep like your son on the table as the ER Dr. was stitching him up. I on the other hand passed out! As someone else said they seem to handle it better than us parents!

 

[all4fun]

I thought about one of those door stoppers, but I don't think that would have helped in our case. You see, his finger got smashed in the side of the door where the hinges are located. The door stopper only stops the door from smashing fingers on the side that has the door handle on it. This is why we shoved suitcases in front of the door so they couldn't open or close it at all.

We would have needed something like this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/86198/363755/117.html#readmore

or this:
http://www.onestepahead.com/product/86198/206759/117.html

Right, but because it prevents the door from closing it also prevents the hinge side from closing all the way as well. A finger might still get pinched but it wouldn't be completely smashed at least.

I am kind of anal about putting suitcases away, lol. I just don't like stuff like that sitting around because sure enough, I'll probably trip over it. But hey, if it works for you... more power to you!

Those other two products are great for at home, but unfortunately they don't look very practical for travel since they have to be installed.
Sure would be nice if hotel rooms already came with child proofed outlets and special latches for doors, wouldn't it?

Oh and guess what, now ds is tall enough to unlock the deadbolt. So I'm curious, how do you all keep your curious LO's in the room once they can do this? I've actually had to chase ds down a hotel hallway once when dh left the room to go get something from the car and ds decided he wanted to go too.

 

[Whosemom]

sad but true - we always try to know where emergency care is where ever we go for vacation. Parents can't fore-see every finger-smashing, head-bashing, viral-infecting opportunity, try as we might. And we don't call our boy "Crash" for nothing. LOL. (although last major incident involved me and a walnut on the path...)

 

[Daytona99]

Oh, poor baby. That happened to my cousin when she was 2 - took the tip of her finger off. Yikes! We always put a towel over the top of the doors -