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Why you should never swing a small child by the arms

Parenting
 Photo; Courtesy

Any parent of a toddler will be familiar with the requests to swing them by the arms on a walk to the park.

While it might be fun for them most of the time, there's a very serious reason you shouldn't give in to their request.

Young children’s joints are not completely developed and their ligaments are looser at this age, meaning the radius bone in the arm can be easily pulled from its joint.

The injury, known as Nursemaid's Elbow or Toddler's Elbow, is most common between the ages of one and four and can occur any time the arm is yanked - for example, if the child falls over when holding a parent's hand

It can also happen when arms are being pulled through sleeves while getting dressed.

But games like swinging them by the arms while you're walking are even riskier and should be avoided.

Nursemaid's elbow is treated by a doctor or nurse putting the bone back in the correct place, which can be momentarily painful.

Symptoms should go away quickly once the bone is back in the joint, but if it's happened once it can easily happen again.

Some children are more prone to their bones being pulled out of joint - and you should definitely not feel guilty if this happens accidentally.

If it happens to one of your children, it's likely their siblings would also sustain the injury if their arm were pulled.

So next time they ask for a swing, wait until you get to the real one at the playground - otherwise you might end up with a trip to A&E so a nurse or doctor can pop it back in

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