Moms- What Should I Do? ER or Wait Until in the Morning to Go to the PED?

2 of my 3 daughters injured themselves in the genital area... one was running through a snowy, slushy yard, and slipped.... and landed on a branch with a stub pointing up... she was bleeding, and screaming! We called our doctor (small town... he just met us at the back of the clinic and examined her). He cleaned it up, and just said to watch it.

The other one slipped on a jungle gym and essentially "racked" herself.... no real bleeding, but some bruising...

With both girls, it hurt to pee for a few days... the one that was bleeding moreso... with the second one, I had her use a squirt bottle (like a peri-bottle after you give birth) to squirt on her genitals while she was urinating... that diluted the urine, and washed it away quickly so it didn't burn so much. (I wish I had thought about a squirt bottle for the first one.... that would have made it much easier for her.) I don't remember how old they were, but they were grade school age at that point.

Most likely, there is some bruising, but not much other damage. If she can urinate, that will help... have her use a squirt bottle (or you help her with that) so it is easier to pee, and she doesn't try to withhold it for fear of hurting. A cold compress might help her be more comfortable, also.

If it is still bothering her in the morning, I'd call the doctor. Not seeing it ourselves, though, it is hard to tell if that warrants an ER visit.

If she is feeling better and is not bleeding I think you can wait, I think is normal that it hurts, after all she did hurt her self but since is not bleeding and she is not crying I think you can wait.

Call the on-call pediatrician. That's what the answering service is for...

No bleeding and she IS peeeing, so I'd watch and wait.

However those are not your only 2 choices-- you could talk to the on call nurse or doctor for her ped. Just call the doctors office number and LISTEN CLOSELY to the voice message. One of the options should be for an on call nurse or doctor, it'll probably connect you either to a triage nurse or to the answering service. If it's the answering service they'll get your name and phone number, child's name and DOB and the problem tonight and either page the on call doctor or connect you. If they page the doctor be sure and let them know if the doctor doesn't call you back in 20 minutes.

ANYTIME you can't decide whether to go to the ER, the on call doctor (or even one of the "nurse lines") is a good option. They either tell you that yes, you do need to go in, or give you tips on getting through the night and what you need to watch for, or let you know that whatever freaky thing (like night terrors! Freaked me out!) you're worrying about is actually fairly common and not something to worry to much about.....

I'd wait. put some ice on it, she did the female equivalent of racking her self .

I'm in the wait and see camp. tylenol, Cool compress and the squirtbottle for potty time see the way to go. I would give her lots of fluids too and set an alarm so you can check her in 3 or 4 hours. waker her up and get her to pee, even if you have to give her koolaid or something as a treat to get the fluids in her.

I doubt she could have gotten enough force to really really injure herself jsut sby pogo-ing.

Wait it out. If there's no bleeding and it hurts only a little now, I'd say she just bruised it. It'll be sore for a couple days probably but I don't know I'd worry with the doc unless she suddenly can't pee or something.

Follow your gut though Mama. :)

Call your pediatricians office, they will have either a service answering and have the doc on call give you a call back or they will say to call the hospital and have them call the on call doc to call you back.

If it's not bleeding, give her some Motrin (this will help with swelling if there is any), maybe ice it for a 10-15 min and I'm sure it will be fine by morning.

I would take her-if the area starts to swell and she can't urinate-it's not going to be good in the morning

When I was young, about 9 or 10, I fell on the center bar of my bike right on my privates. It hurt really bad, I did have a little bleeding, but we did not go to the doctor. It hurt to pee for a day or so but it healed fine. I am not a doctor but I know that was a hard hit and I was ok. I would call, not take her in. Usually a phone call can help just as much. You can look at her and see how red she is and if there is a cut or anything. Hope she is ok. :o)

Maybe she just bruised herself some, but not seeing any bleeding does not mean there is no injury inside. You could try giving her some Tylenol or Motrin for pain and then monitor her overnight. But nobody on here can say for sure what is the best thing to do if they are not doctors and can't examine her.