Help..Pediatric Doctor Wanting to Do a MRI on My 18 Month Old??

Weeelllll....

I am a firm believer that mommies know when something is wrong. If you feel he needs one, let him have it. If you don't, then say no. This may sound simplistic, but I truly believe it. Remember, you are paying the doc--not the other way around.

Blessings,
H.

My daughter was choked by her umbilical cord when she was coming down the birth canal and she was bruised really bad. and had busted veins in her eyes that looked like they were bleeding.. they were thinking about doing an MRI before we went home but they decided not too. I kind of wish they had of because she is a late bloomer also!!..I always think it's because of that.. she didnt sit up on her own until almost 11 months she was army crawling before she was sitting up she is now 13 months and is just now crawling on her hands and knees, but is pulling up. She has had to be put under to get tubes in her ears and it's not as scary when it happens.. i was scared to death but they don't give them very much and they are awake faster than you think!.. Don't be scared which i know it is hard to say than do, but i think the MRI would be a good thing especially if he is slower than the other two.. if i had the chance to get one for my daughter i would! hope this helps!
K. :)

I know how scary it can be to hear your little one will need to be put under anesthesia. My oldest was just 12 months when he needed to be put under for a glaucoma test on his eyes, and I was terrified. We came out great, he was just a little fussy and hungry for the rest of the day, which I was told was normal.

It is always scary when a Dr just wants to " see " something. But I agree. He is your late bloomer however, if he did have something that could have been corrected and you didn't do it because of fear, you would never forgive yourself. They don't put them to sleep like for surgery but more of a conscience sedation. It really is neccessary for a child to have an MRI and they do it everyday. Many adults even have it because of fears or inability to lay still. GOod luck and do it the sooner rather than later, you'll just spend all that time worrying.

My daughter had an MRI done when she was 4 or 5 months old. It's been awhile, but I seem to remember it was a very short procedure. They may not even have to put him all the way to sleep. A little sedation may be enough. Talk to your doctor about it. The idea is that they have to stay still and that is the only reason they have to use anesthesia. Make sure your doctor addresses all your worries before you do it, but I think he will be fine.

The reason that my daughter had it was because of being hypotonic (I think that is the word, very low muscle tone).

M.

A.,

I know you have had a lot of responses. Ask the doctor why he wants to have an MRI done.

As for the MRI, I am an xray tech and at my hospital we give our pediatric patients a sedative to help make them sleepy. It keeps the child calm, and prevents motion. An MRI unlike an xray is a lengthy exam. A two year old does not understand, that he or she needs to hold still. It is also a very noisy machine that can be scary to a toddler. We allow our parents to remain with their toddlers at all times.

They are never, put to sleep like as if they would be going to surgery.

I hope this helps, and fill free to email me with any questions.

A.,
My son had to have an MRI when he was 2 years old because he started having seizures and the doctor wanted to see if there were neurological problems.

We went in and he had to drink this nasty tasting fluid to make him go to sleep. Once we got that down he fell asleep pretty quickly.

They then put him on the table and placed his head in this pillow with little styrofoam beads in it. They filled it with air or something but it kept his head from moving.

The procedure was painless and quick. the worst part was getting him to drink the sleep medicine.

Not sure if this is the same process they will put your baby thru but if you have questions ask your doctor or his nurse to explain everything to you, step by step.

Dear A.,
I am a mom of three beautiful children myself. I adopted all three of my children, two girls and one boy. Our youngest, Brien had the same thing weak muscles in his neck and after physical therapy he is like brand new and doing great. Our middle child, Mia, at a very young age, we found out she has a blood disorder which is in remission, but she had to be put to sleep at six months old. I was terrified but the doctors reminded me that they would ONLY put her under if it was necessary. And it was. She did fine. She had an MRI done and also a bone marrow test done. I trusted in God and prayed lots and, all is well. Just have faith. I know it's terrifying but, the tests need to be done.

Good luck and my prayers are with ya'll,

God Bless,
A.

Hi, A.! Sounds like you have your hands full! I know the feeling. I have a 3 year old and 15 month old twins. It is NUTS! I am happy to hear that your little one is making such impressive progress! I have a friend whose first child had similar issues. Her specialists never advised an MRI because she made such progress with physical therapy alone. I think that my next question for the specialist wanting to do the MRI would be to find out what exactly he will be looking for on the MRI. Also, if something is found, what will they do about it? Will the results change the current therapy plan that you are undergoing? If the specialist wants to do it only for information sake, I would probably be hesitant. If, however, the results may reveal something that needs to be treated, it may be best to do it. I hope that is helpful! Best of luck to you and your babes!

My son was born with a dark birth mark on his back right over the spinal area. So he had to have an MRI to be sure that the mark was not attaching to the cord. He was 14 months old. They are put to sleep because of the no moving issue but he came out of it very nicely. They make sure he takes a bottle before releasing him. My husband and I were allowed to sit in the room but with ear plugs. The machine itself is very loud but doesn't actually touch your little one. My little one had to have oxygen tube just in the general area of his nose, but not everyone does. They had several different monitors to read all his vital signs.

It is scary but the process was not bad. Afterwards you will laugh at yourself for being so scared (I did). I found just having someone there like my mom and my husband to hold my hand made the difference. Keep your head up and we will all say a prayer.

Our son is now 2-1/2 and has had 3 MRIs for a cystic lesion with a 4th to be scheduled in December.

I'm always very nervous going into them, but they typically have a team of people there to ensure nothing goes wrong and we have never had any problems.

I'm not a huge fan of the facility at OU, although they may have updated it since last November when we were there. The staff were great, it was just in an old part of the hospital. Mostly, it was just a huge change after having the first two done while we were in Nashville at Vanderbilt where it doesn't look much like a hospital.

As far as what to expect, usually they had us stay with him through all the prep (getting the IV, etc.) and then we would walk with him into the actual MRI room and hold his hand and talk to him while they gave him the anesthesia. Then we go out into the waiting area (take a good book or a few magazines) while they do the actual scan. Depending on what they are doing it can be about 45 minutes - 1-1/2 hours. As soon as they get him back in the recovery room they'll come get you and you are typically there with him when he wakes up.

My son had his first one around his 1st birthday and has never been freaked out by any of it. Hopefully this next one will be the last for us.

Yes, my son had an MRI when he was just about the same age -- to see if the head bones were growing, or had they already closed off. I think they are called sutures. We both survived ... Tony did better than I did! He was given some oral liquid medicine to make him drowsy -- it's better to do it right than have to repeat it or have the doctor say, "Let's wait until he's a little older" and if there was a problem....

I'm sure they will send you to a Pediatric Neurologist (is that the specalist?) to help with it -- maybe not.

Frankly, though, although all children progress at their own rate of speed, it appears your son needs some extra help. Better to do it now, see what needs to be done, and then, because small children are like sponges, if he does need a bit more help, then you can go down that path. We had a Physicial Therapist, Occupational Therapist, -- it seemed just about everyone helping with my son -- born at 29 weeks and didn't come home for 3.5 months.

(This was a long time ago.... did he catch up? Yes, he did, but with lots of intervention -- he never was good at eye/hand co-ordination until he started playing video games and we used a balloon to practice catching rather than a ball..... it comes down slowly and it's big enough to see! I tried to teach him how to crawl -- once someone watched me and told me I had my legs and arms wrong, it went a lot faster!)

You and your son will be fine. It's scary -- but physicians don't do things because they need more practice or because they want to.... if he suggested it, then do it!

God bless you, your husband and THE triplets!

It is probably because the babies were preemies. My son was a preemie baby and he had many tests to go through. The jist of it is that if you catch a problem before they are 2 yo there are less evasive measures to take to correct the problem and minimal if no long term problems.
Hope this helps.

My daughter has had several MRI's and its a very mild anesthesia. He will still respond if you talk to him or follow directions if you were to say to sit up or lay still. He is just in a deep sleep. That was our experience. Our hospital is very good at figuring their weight and the range of meds needed and they start with the lowest dose, if that works then they proceed to the test if it takes more then they give it. I was able to stay right with her the whole time, I just put on a lead apron and held her hand through the whole test. She didn't know the difference (since she went to sleep in my arms and then I laid her on the table) but it made me feel better to have a hand on her. I hope that helps! Good Luck! Also, before you leave ask them when the test will be read and is there a number you can call for results. We were able to call back to the radiologist directly and get results the next day instead of waiting by the phone on the doctor.

Hi A., let me just say congratulations on having triplets! What a wonderful blessing. I envy parents that have multiple births. Its got to be the greatest joy.
Anyway, I am writing in respond to your question about your son having an MRI at 18 months.
My husband and I are the proudd parents of a 3 1/2 year old girl. When she was 11 months old they diganois her with neurofibroma. Her first MRI was at 11 months. Its hard to see your child to have to go thru anything like that but I can assure you that it was not as bad as I was imagining.
The doctors were so good with her and knew how to handle her so that it wasnt so intense.She has about 4 MRI's s year and the doctors keep making it easier to sedate kids so that its not so scary for them.
Alot of prayer will help you and your husband get though the test. Your son will be fine and God will watch over him.
I hope that this brings alitttle comfort to you..
I will say a prayer to keep your son safe during his tests.
A. I also wanted you to know that our daughter was alate bloomer with her crawling, walking and talking. I think that it just depends on the child. When they're ready they will do those things that they want.Our daughter is so fulll of life that I dont think about where they should be in development becasue they will get there.
God Bless,
D. ps A child has a mind of their own.

I would just try and put into perspective that whatever trauma the anesthetic might be for you, the comfort you will feel knowing what's going on in that sweet thing's head will be worth it. I'm sure that it will be a very light sedative as he will only need to be under for 20-40 minutes (if it's a normal procedure.) Also, it will be so much easier for HIM to be asleep/sedated than to be strapped to a board and put inside a machine wide awake without his mommy around.

Hi A.,
When my son was about 7 or 8 months old, he had to have an MRI done and was put to sleep. Yes, it is a scarry thing, but, just believe in the good Lord, and he will be fine. My son has been put to sleep a couple of times since for different things, but, he does fine thorugh the procedure. He gets kind of nausiated afterwords, but, doctor told me that was normal with anyone that cant handle the medicine. Just talk to you baby before hand, kiss his head and tell him mommy will be there when he come out. if they will let you, walk with him to the door, and kiss him one more time. then while the procedure is done, go get a coke and come back. standing there worrying will only make you sick. when he comes out, if they will let you, which most of the time they will, pick him up and hold him and tell him mommy is there and your not going anywhere. I believe he will be just fine. Keep your chin up.

I haven't had to deal with an MRI, but my son had to have surgery at 6 mos. old where they put him to sleep for the procedure. It was scarier for Dad and me than for our son. He did just fine, and 2 year later, you would never know. I would not be overly concerned with the sedation. These professionals do this all of the time. Besides, from what I hear, it is much better that your son be asleep during the MRI than have to go through it awake - it sounds really scary even to an adult.

It sounds like you are scared to have him put to sleep. My son had to be put to sleep when he was 5 months old, and all went well. I wouldnt worry too much I am sure all will go well =)

My granddaughter has been having MRI ever since she was very young. She is a special needs child, and I thank God each day that these services are here to help diagnose different things for these children. They put her to sleep, do the MRI, she wakes up and we go home. Every child is different. Yours may want to sleep more when you get home, my granddaughter is ready to go full speed. Take your doctor's advice. Do it and get the answer you need. Why wait?

Good Luck
S. Miller

By the way, they did an IV for my granddaughter to put her to sleep, simply because she was so use to needles, she did not mind. Sometimes they have to drink something. Just follow your doctor's advice, he will know what is best for your son.

I had to deal with my daughter having an MRI when she was 16 mos old. It was scary but I am glad we did it. She has been diagnosed with Congenital Muscular Dystrophy at this point in time. She is also hypotonic. If your doctor suggests it I would do it because they are looking for any brain abnormalities and IF your child has any it's best to find out now so that you can make sure the therapies & treatments for him are working. My daugther has been in PT, OT & Speech since she was 17 mos old. The therapies have helped tremendously. Kayla was perfectly fine after the MRI. She was put to sleep and also given an IV. The IV is a precautionary measure. The tech performing the test offered to let me stay back and watch but I was too nervous and went out in the waiting room with my mother in law and older daughter to wait. Please feel free to contact me if you want to talk more. Hope this helps.