Subluxed elbow & how to fix it :)

Naomi just had subluxed elbow this morning. Most of you out there probably won't know what that is, but it's commonly called "nursemaid's elbow" and usually happens when somebody lifts a toddler/young child by one arm. Their elbow "pops" out and they hold the arm limp and won't use it. It hurts a LOT!!

After numerous Emergency Room visits to have subluxed elbow taken care of between David & Marissa when they were little, I watched closely so I could do it myself. It is SO simple to do! I have been able to take care of it on our younger kids since that time. SO nice to be able to spare them the suffering of waiting to have their arm "fixed"! :)

This morning, Naomi climbed into one of our barstools and started crying. I didn't think much of it until she walked away, still crying and holding her left arm. I wondered if perhaps she was still young enough to have this happen to her. So I went over and fixed her arm. I *felt* the bone pop back in. As usually is the case, it took a few minutes for Naomi to realize that her arm really was okay. But she's just fine now, and none the worse for wear!

Anyway, here's how you do it. Hang onto this info... if you have little ones or plan to someday, you probably will need to know this! (These photos were taken later on... she wasn't smiling when I did this for real!)

First, put your thumb on the inside of the child's elbow.

Then, keeping your thumb in place, rotate their wrist so the palm faces up. This is when I felt the "pop" this morning. (Naomi was dancing to the "smooth jazz" music playing in the background)

Then just bend the child's elbow, bringing their palm up towards their shoulder. All better! :)