Dentist appointment yesterday

Lilian had to get a potential cavity taken care of yesterday. They coated her tooth with a plastic substance to make sure it doesn't get worse. I was nervous of course, because this office has a policy of not letting parents in the back with their children. And since I am a stay at home mom, Lilian and I are rarely apart, so I thought she might be a little nervous. Well right before her procedure they call us in the back to give us a run down of the procedure. Right before the dental asst. starts, she pushes a paper in my direction with a pen and asked me to initial the bottom. I asked what it was. She said it's a consent form for them to use a "papoose" Blanket....."umm, ok. What is that?" Her words "It's just a blanket to refrain the baby from hurting her self or anyone else." She said blanket, the form said blanket.......it's not a damn blanket. When I got home and looked up images of this said "blanket" I was upset. It's pretty much canvas straps they put around the babies chest/arm area to pin her down during the procedure . When I visited this website that showed what a papoose blanket looked like for babies, a video started playing of a news anchor interviewing a pediatric dentist on his view of the use of such restraints on babies and children, he said "Papoose restraints and blankets should only be used for extreme cases and disabled children, not everyday procedures. Doing so is traumatic for the patients and often times fosters a fear of the dentist. It's a efficient way for dentist to restrain patients rather then doing it themselves or having a parent involved."
When I heard this I was upset. I was misled. I am not going back. I am traveling out of the county to a pediatric dentist that allows parents to be involved and doesn't restrain a baby in such a aggressive way.
Lilian's procedure took about 35 minutes. When she came out her eyes were puffy beyond recognition. She was inhaling very sporadic and intense as if she cried for a long time and very hard, and when she did inhale her whole body shook. I cried instantly. What did they do? I just grabbed her quickly, she layed her head on my shoulder and we walked out. I didn't say a word to anyone, just left. While she was in the room getting her tooth fixed, my mother got her a balloon because she loves them so much, it made her feel a little better. I am still upset. I feel like I let my little one down. My husband wasn't too happy once he heard the ordeal. Here is Lili as soon as we walked out of the office. That's a mosquito bite on her forehead by the way.




On to a different subject. I am chopping off my hair...yup and it's getting colored. So we are going from long as hell, undyed hair to short, completely colored hair.....wonder what Lili will think of her new mommy.