Tongue Injuries

16 month accidentally bit her tongue, drawing blood

May 2002

My 16 month old daughter accidently bit her tongue when she was playing in her crib last night. It really hurt and some blood came out from her mouth. Right now she refused to eat anything. I called the doctor, but he only advised to give my daughter "baby tylenol" every 4 hours. I did it but my baby still refuse to eat even her favorite food. What can I do? an anxious mom

My son bit through his tongue when he was nine months old. After going to the hospital and deciding that he had stopped bleeding and it would be better if he didn't have any other trama, the doctors and us decided that we would let it close by itself. We did the tylonal thing and he could drink for about a day, and eat nothing. After the first day, he started to drink, and about 3 days later he started to eat normal foods. I would suggest letting your child tell you when she is ready to eat again. Make sure that she is getting some milk or protein in a drink and watch her weight. If it starts to drop at all or it is longer than 3 days, I would call the doctor again. Good Luck kristi

My daughter bit her tongue during a playground accident when she was about 16 months old. I was astounded at how quickly the tongue healed. Like yours, she didn't really want to eat anything for a day or two. She would drink cold juices and milk. By about the third or fourth day things were back to normal and there were no residuals. Hope this helps.