by Michelle Stein posted in Parenting

Have you ever swung a young child around by the arms" They'll probably giggle and beg you to do it again (and again.) But I have a good reason why you shouldn't do it. Ever.
My family learned the hard way just how easy it is for a little kid's arm to pop out of place and end up with nursemaid's elbow.
Also known as radial head dislocation or a pulled elbow, nursemaid's elbow happens when the radius slips out of its normal place at the elbow joint. This typically affects children younger than 4, and it happens when the child is pulled up too hard by the wrist or hand -- like swinging him by the arms or lifting him by the hand to help him up a big step. It's common. And it's painful.
We were at my nephew's birthday party last year when it happened. Our then 2-old-daughter was facing my husband and holding his hands while shifting her entire body weight backward. My husband kept pulling her back up to a standing position, sometimes lifting her feet gently off the ground in the process. She thought it was great. Until it wasn't.
We had no idea what had happened when she started crying. Hard.
It was past nap time, so we figured she was overly tired -- or just mad it was time to stop using Daddy as a jungle gym. I held her in my arms until she eventually calmed down and fell asleep. (I guess just needed a nap, right" Or maybe she was coming down with something") But then she woke up, still whining. It wasn't until afte...