My 6 year old keeps having nose bleeds in the night...what could it be?

My little brother used to have that happen and it turned out to be an allergy to his feather doona. When mum gave him blankets it stopped.

Frequent nosebleeds in a child are not uncommon, and usually not a cause for concern. Often the child will simply grow out of the phase.

Having said that, an evaluation with a pediatrician at your convenience (no rush) is probably in order to rule out any underlying factors. Also, some doctors and parents opt to treat this by burning the blood vessels in the nose--called cauterization. This can be done with heat, laser, or chemicals.

Weather changes, especially hot dry air, can definitely be a factor in these bleeds, as can allergies to cats, dust, mold, pollen, etc.

Some ways to help prevent this include:

* Use a humidifier or vaporizer in the child's room
* Have the child evaluated (and possibly treated) for environmental allergies
* Use a saline nasal spray (such as Ayr) to keep the nose moisturized. They also make an ointment/lotion that lasts longer and can be used at night.
* Avoid nose picking (sometimes difficult in a 6 year old!) and blowing the nose
* Make sure there are no hard surfaces in the child's bed-toys, headboards, etc. A nose who's membrane's are already weak will bleed more easily when bumped.
I hope I've answered all your questions. If not, please ask and I'd be glad to clarify.

Nosebleeds, medically know as "Epistaxis" are common in children and fortunately not usually associated with any serious underlying problem. Most of the time nosebleeds stop on their own without any specific treatment. With age the tendency for nosebleeds decreases.

What causes nosebleeds? An obvious cause is nasal trauma or injury, including picking the nose. We also know, like with your son, that the tendency to have nosebleeds increases during the winter months when the dry air irritates the inside lining of the nose resulting in bleeding. Interestingly, there seems to be a family tendency. In other words children with recurring nosebleeds often have relatives who have had the same. We also know that children with large adenoids, nasal allergies and chronic sinusitis tend to have more nosebleeds. High blood pressure (rare in children ) is also associated with a nosebleeds. In very rare circumstances, frequent or excessive nosebleeds may reflect a bleeding problem such as low platelet counts or lack of certain blood clotting factors (i.e. Hemophilia). In these cases there is a generalized bleeding tendency (cuts tend to bleed more than normal etc) making it relatively easy to distinguish a normal child form one who has a blood clotting problem. Again, let me reiterate, most children with Epistaxis are otherwise normal.

There are two aspects to treatment: Trying to stop a nosebleed and trying to prevent it. While most nosebleeds stop on their own within a few minutes, compressing or clamping the nose between the thumb and index finger will help. Contrary to what most people do, the head should be tilted forwards and not backwards. Tilting the head backwards will cause the blood trickle down the child's throat possibly resulting in coughing, choking or swallowing of the blood. In most children gentle nose compression or pressure will stop the bleeding easily. If the bleeding persists, medical attention should be sought as application of certain medications and/or inserting of nasal packing (cotton) gauzes will likely be needed. Certain children with recurrent nosebleeds may need an evaluation by an ENT doctor who will look for any bleeding site (a weekend blood vessel) and burn or cauterize it with silver nitrate application.

Prevention of nosebleeds is the other aspect of treatment. Obviously avoidance of trauma and wearing appropriate face protection during sports is important. Also, you should try to teach your kids not to pick their nose. During the winter months, make sure that the humidity in the house is adequate (about 40%). A humidifier can be used to bring the humidity up to this normal level. Another approach is to apply petroleum gel (Vaseline) or nasal saline lubricating gel into the nostrils at night. By keeping the inside lining of the nose moist, this treatment can also help prevent nosebleeds.

Id' give him some yogurt as it has vitamin K in it naturally. And then I would do something that can help them stop when they occur and if you do it at other times, it seems to make them occur less often.

What you do is press with the tip of each index finger or use your second and third finger if it's more comfortable for you, or him, and press on the sides of the nose, on the face, right above where the nostrils flair out. There is a natural little dimple or hollow spot there and it's often sensitive to the touch if you are having nose bleeds a lot. Press there to stop the bleeding. It works much better than those hang your head back, or front between your knees, or squeeze your nose and all that. And if you do it several times throughout the day it helps prevent them in the future.

My husband was a Shiatsu teacher and that was a very popular remedy for nosebleeds. For hiccups, press the center of the palm with a thumb :-)

Lets try putting some mittens on that little booger picker tonight when he goes to sleep.

has this happened only during the winter months when the inside air is heated and dry? could be the membranes in his nose are drying and cracking, causing bleeding. run a cool-air vaporizer in his room at night.

does the child take allergy meds? even over the counter meds can cause the same drying, cracking, effect. cut back on dosage (with Dr's permish)

if neither are the case, the child may be picking his nose in bed. talk to him about that and make sure he has his own stash of kleenex under his pillow for when his nose gets clogged.

Get a humidifier, dry air causes nose bleeds. If after awhile you see no improvement, see a doctor. Most likely it is just dry air though. My little brother and my dad both had that same problem.

The air conditioning. It use to happen to my brother and my mom had to use fans instead of the air conditioner at night to avoid him from getting one.

But it could be something more serious than that. Might want to get your child checked with his/her doctor to make sure.

dry air, espcecially if you have forced hot air heating. try putting a humidifier in the room, you can get it for like $15 at walmart

Maybe he's "exploring" by putting weird things in his nose. My brother and I use to do the same thing with our ears. Only we were smart enough not to stick it in too far.

If he's taking ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, etc.) that could cause nosebleeds or make them worse.

It could be that the air is to dry. Try using something like water boiling on the stove or stand in the bathroom where you and your child can breathe in the hot steam and have the shower on hot all the way and just let it steam up your bathroom and you two just sit in there for awhile like 10-15 minutes.