Broken Nose

Abel is 18 months old and the most adventurous toddler. He loves to climb and explore. The only time I’ve seen him afraid was at the aquarium when we walked by a robot, yet very life-like, dinosaur. He’s had bloody noses and several bloody lips from his rough and tough explorations.

I guess it was only a matter of time before he broke something. While in childcare at the gym he climbed up the slide and apparently slipped and fell on his face. I didn’t see the interaction as I was in a spin class but from my understanding of what the kids told me he hit is face on the top of the slide (tunnel slide). When the childcare staff came to get me from my class he said there had been an accident. My heart skipped a beat as I made my way to the room to check on my baby. When I got there he was being comforted by the other worker and the only visible injury were a few small scratches on his nose. He cried a lot and wasn’t easily comforted but I thought he was just tired since we skipped his morning nap. However after a few minutes, and leaving the gym, I began to suspect he may have hurt it worse than I first thought. It started to swell and turn blue. He wouldn’t let me hold ice on it so I just gave him some Tylenol when we got home and tried to lay him down for a nap. He didn’t nap all day, he was fussy and not much would comfort him. So after consulting with Joe (who called our pediatrician) we decided to take him to the doctor for evaluation.

Joe took him to the doctor where they confirmed his broken nose. He apparently broke the cartilage right across the middle so it should heal fairly easily. The only thing we can do for him is continue to give him Tylenol and possibly a baby decongestant to help reduce swell and ease the pain.

He seems to be acting fairly normal despite the horrible black and blue eyes/nose.