When Your Child Gets Frostbite
Frostbite is the result of exposure to extreme cold and can be a very serious situation that will need immediate medical attention. Frost nip is a less intense condition than frostbite and it usually happens on the face, feet and hands. Frost nip will be painful or it will make your extremities go numb. The skin will look rather waxy and white or it will be a purplish color.

When you child gets frostbite or even frost nip, your first concern is to call for emergency help or get them to the hospital emergency service. If you do have to wait for help you need to start a treatment for your child as soon as you get them indoors. Once you are in a warm place and will remain there you can begin to thaw the frostbite area but if you must be right back out in the cold do not thaw the area because if it does thaw and then refreezes it will result in permanent damage.

To begin thawing the frostbite, remove any wet clothing and be very careful how you touch the frozen area. The whole body must be warmed, not just the frozen area so the temperature of the body is brought back to normal range. Warp the child in blankets and then for the frozen area use warm, not hot water, to thaw the frostbite area. Do not use anything that is a dry heat like an electric blanket, a blow dryer, an oven, a fireplace or a heating pad. The frostbite should thaw in thirty minutes using warm water.

If blisters appear do not break them and if the hands and feet were affected, after they have been warmed put dry cotton balls between toes or fingers. To keep the child from damaging the warmed areas that were frostbit, loosely wrap sterile bandages or gauze around the area and try to keep the child as still as possible.

There will probably be pain involved so you can give the child some ibuprofen for some relief or whatever your physician recommends that you give to your child in the case of pain.

As a precaution against the possibility of frostbite or frost nip, make sure that your child never goes outside for any length of time without wearing loose insulated and layered clothing. They should always have insulated or lined boots, mittens or gloves, and a warm hat. Heat escapes from the head and the first extremities to be affected will be the fingers or toes. Scarves are really good for keeping the neck area and face warm especially if the wind is blowing but keep the ends of the scarves tucked under the coat or jacket. When a child is running and playing, especially if the family dog is there, the ends of the scarf can easily get caught and end up choking them or it might be a temptation for the dog to play by biting the end of the scarf and playing a tug of war.