We have a two year old who split his head recently. He's not a conscious scab picker yet but he's decided at bed time that when we put a plaster / strips / dressing / surgical_whatever on it overnight to stop him from conscious or unconsciously rubbing or scratching it, he pulls the plaster off at the earliest opportunity. What might have started out as a minor rejection of surgical products has now turned into a game and without fail he's taking it off although he doesn't in the day. So far we've tried a range of products of varying stickiness, surgical tape around his head McEnroe style, cutting his nails back so he can't pick, and of course revocation of pudding rights.
However we're still failing. Any tips, as this thing whilst not (yet) infected is not getting a chance to heal.
Cuffs?
Duct tape.
Glue
Mrs said no to duct tape. Can you buy that skin glue they use in A+E? Struggling to find it and obviously it's problematic in the hands of incompetents.
Zip-tie cuffs?
Search for liquid bandage or liquid skin.
Won't normal steroplast plasters fend him off?
Leave it, it'll heal and leave a very small scar, or just use superglue. It's pretty much the same stuff as skin glue. Personally I find the glue dries, tightens and is pretty itchy.
Time to deploy the Cone of Shame*
*Available from all good veterinarians (and probably most crap ones).
Germolene skin glue is the proper stuff, but it's basically superglue - stings when you put it on though.
Those tiny little boxing gloves that normally hang from the rear view mirror on eighties Ford Cortinas.
Mittens?
Leave it and when it continues to bleed/hurt they will realise to leave it alone
get some plasters he thinks are cool
Minions or Batman
[quote=FunkyDunc ]Leave it and when it continues to bleed/hurt they will realise to leave it alone
have you met many two year olds?
I used to hate plasters, still do. Rarely use them. I find scabs work well.
Sudacrem?
the skin glue Drs use is just regular superglue packaged for the medics. It stings a bit but works a treat
Make sure the wound is absolutely clean if you are tempted to glue it.
But I second the cone of shame suggestion!
Thanks all. Some quality suggestions in there - boxing gloves would work. I'll chase the surgical glue thing but I have heard/read that surgical stuff is formulated differently to superglue due to the burning/itching ( http://www.realfirstaid.co.uk/superglue/).
Following on from the sudacrem recommendation which I've heard is better on cats, I may try putting vaseline around the edge of the plaster - try picking that slimy thing off ya little herbert!
Cool plasters won't work - he'll treat them as stickers and I'll have to peel them off the furniture.
you've tried -pudding, have you tried +pudding?
tell him extra pudding is available if the plaster is still there in the morning
I realise he may not quite be up to understanding the concept at 2.
scratch mittens didn't really work for us with our 5 yr old & his eczema, we had to troll through various eczema creams until we got one that worked
Having been a fan of self super glueing Stanley knife cuts rather than spending hours in casualty I can confirm via research and family medical practitioners that medical super glue is a little different.
Basically similar but with a kinder solvent. The pound land stuff has a solvent that can cause irritation but can also burn the skin making healing harder.
Depends on the cut though. For a Stanley knife cut the glue is on the surface of the skin anyway so a bit of burning makes no odds to healing.
I've used normal superglue with out too many issues. Though said family medical practitioners did call me an idiot for doing so.
Seemed to work and worth a risk v hours in A&E. Not sure I'd recommend trialling on a 2 year old though.
It's what superglue was invented for. [url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanoacrylate#Medical ]Medical cyanaoacrylates[/url] have a different composition to reduce irritation.
If all else fails, yogurt pots and sock mitts.
