As parents we spend do everything possible to keep out kids safe. When I designed my boys rooms I made it a point to child-proof and check for dangers. When travelling on a holiday sometimes we forget that the house or hotel that we are staying out does not have the same child-proofing.
Recently we went to Hong Kong on a family vacation to visit the “grandparents”. All of us were staying in one room. Daddy and Zayden on the bed. Myself and Xavion on the floor. On night 4, after tucking Zayden in two times and making sure he was far away from the edge of the bed, I went to sleep. At 11:45pm he started screaming loudly. My first reaction was ssssshhhhh. Don’t wake up your brother what is wrong.
Zayden had fallen of the bed and was bleeding. Zayden had never fallen off the bed before at home so this was not a concern of mine while travelling. No big deal – kids fall Odf the bed all the time. Well this was different. He fell off the bed and hit the sharp nightstand and sliced open his lip.
I knew right away we needed to get stitches (although others disagreed with me) and the stitches needed to be done by a plastic surgeon. We raced to the hospital. Sure enough six stitches were required and the emergency room doctor gave me the option of calling the plastic surgeon in the middle of the night – which I readily agreed to.
And although Zayden was lying there on the hospital bed, when I told him “Mommy wants to take a picture” – my little baby still smiled. Definitely the son of a blogger.
Zayden had to get 6 stitches, which would be removed in seven days.
Now since we were on vacation, the stitches were done in Hong Kong, but needed to be removed in Singapore.
Once the stitches were removed, there was still a noticeable scar. Since the scar was on his lip, the Singapore plastic surgeon told us that the lip is one of the fastest places that heals and the scar would disappear on its own. Either way, I had him prescribe me “Dermatix” – which has great reviews for aiding in the healing of scars.
Some “Super Tips”:
1. Know where the hospitals are located near your holiday hotel/house. Also, know the phone number of the emergency services (for example most of Asia is “999”, but in the US it’s “911”).
2. Make sure you carry your insurance card/ insurance form with you when you travel. Or at least have a copy online that is easily accessible.
3. When in doubt get a second opinion.
4. Try to child-proof your living quarters. It was my mistake for not putting a pillow next to him – I was just trying to save space on the bed.
5. Don’t panic in these situations. Just make sure you get your child to the hospital and get him/her treated.
6. Anytime your child has a face injury make sure you consult a plastic surgeon. You don’t want your beautiful baby to carry around scars for the rest of their life.
7. Even if you are in a random third-world country, try to get internet access to Google what other parents have done in the same situation.
I hope this helps some of you out there. Good Luck & Happy Travels.
-xoxo-
SuperMommy
