Child head injuries - I swear…the table jumped out at him!

I don’t think I will ever forget the sight and the ‘sound’ of when my baby first rolled off the lounge. Fortunately he was not seriously hurt, but if you had witnessed the event and saw how my husband and I reacted you may have thought quite differently!

Then there was the time he fell off the bed, crawled into the cornice of the wall, bungy jumped down the back step or ‘face planted’ into some furniture! I now know that the ‘first time is the worse time’ and every time something happens, especially with baby number 2, I am now far more in control and less over reactive (my husband, not so!).

With child head injuries, identifying and understanding what constitutes a serious head injury, requiring immediate medical attention, and what is only a minor head injury, requiring tender loving care is a fine line and one that you understand far better over time, but for those of you who are seeking some simple guidelines, please read on.

I have found that the injuries requiring ‘tender loving care’ follow the same pattern of events; the sound of a ‘thud’, a moment of silence and instant look of ‘shock’, an ambitious attempt on my count to make my baby laugh, failing this, minutes of squealing and streams of tears, ceasing when a favourite drink and toy is offered. Crisis adverted!

It can be difficult to tell if a head injury is serious or not and if in doubt you should always seek medical advice.

Especially never hesitate to call an Ambulance (000), if your child shows any of the following signs:

Loss of consciousness, especially if longer than 30 seconds.
Drowsiness and does not respond to your voice.
Has other significant head injury signs, such as unequal pupils, arm and leg weakness.
Has something stuck in their head.
Has had a fit or convulsion.

Additionally, you should immediately contact your doctor and seek medical advice if your child shows any of the following signs:

Has lost of consciousness for less than 30 seconds.
Has vomited twice or more.
Has a headache.
Has a large bruise, lump or cut on the head.

In the event that your child has not lost consciousness, and is alert and interactive, may have a small bruise or cut on their head, but otherwise seems to be acting ‘normally’ apply a cold pack to the injury and pressure to any slight bleeding. If your child is sleepy, let them sleep but you can wake them every hour to check how they feel or that they are reacting as per normal to familiar things. It is important to monitor your child and at any point you feel that things just aren’t ‘normal’ never hesitate to seek medical advice.

Now, thankfully all my experiences have been very minor and apparently child head injuries statistics conclude that boys will fall more than girls. So, with that in mind, my little men and I are doing our bit for science!

157 Comments

- - a-edwards said
  - 01 Aug 2013
    8:40 am
Great advice. My daughter decided to give her fab dog a whizzy next to a corner of the kitchen bench. She was babysat at the time I arrived to pick her upand heard a massive pain cry.. Walked in n blood pissing down her face! Lucky it was nothing major but the amout of blood scared me!

- - rachkap said
  - 31 Jul 2013
    4:28 pm
Accidents do happen and it’s always good to know what to do!

- - shlles said
  - 31 Jul 2013
    2:00 am
My daughter was hit in the head by a ball at school, I didn’t think it was bad just gave her an ice pack when she got home and kept an eye on her. The next day she had terrible balance and kept walking into things. She was acting strange so I took her straight up to the hospital where she was monitored for a while. Fortunately she was fine but they were concerned to begin with. After they made sure she was right to come home I still had to monitor closely, I was so worried I don’t think I slept but I checked on her constantly. They gave me some facts sheet which were handy. Can you believe getting a ball in the head could do that.

- - melzy99 said
  - 30 Jul 2013
    10:12 pm
I have always been too paranoid about this

- - sunava said
  - 29 Jul 2013
    4:17 pm
thanks for sharing,my bub falls now and then, it freaks me

- - kylie_tappin said
  - 29 Jul 2013
    12:50 pm
Great read! Very interesting and informative

- - mrsfritz said
  - 27 Jul 2013
    8:07 am
Interesting read, thanks for sharing this important information.

- - gigi said
  - 23 Jul 2013
    10:33 pm
That silence between the thud and the crying/screaming is the worst, I reckon….you’re just going ‘what the &* was THAT?” I remember calling an ambulance when my son was 1 and he walked straight into a door and got a lump straightaway on his head – I thought he had broken his skull because the lump came up so quickly so I completely panicked. Anyway the ambos of course were lovely and he was fine. And since then I’ve learnt not to freak out, especially if they go back to playing happily enough soon after. What I find stressful is when they hurt themselves in the evening, because then you don’t know if the drowsiness is just sleepiness or whether it’s consciousness related and you spend the entire night worrying and waking them to make sure they’re ok! Thank you for this, it is good to get a refresher on it all.

- - rachkap said
  - 22 Jul 2013
    2:39 am
Thanks for this very important post!

- - lil lucs mum said
  - 18 Jul 2013
    12:36 am
Can I just wrap my lil bear in bubble wrap and send him to bed til his 18!!? Lol…… Nawww really hate it when my little one hurts him self I just feel horrible but I guess it’s all part of growing up

- - kjgarner said
  - 15 Jul 2013
    10:16 am
When things like that happen, you think you are the worst mother in the world I know I did when my 2nd daughter fell and hit her head, but when we took her to the hospital they reassured us its what kids do, and sometimes its unavoidable and every mum thinks that.

- - jaimilayt said
  - 14 Jul 2013
    4:05 pm
Must read this! Recommended 🙂

- - sapshu936 said
  - 13 Jul 2013
    2:42 pm
very informative article – my little one crawls all the time and I have to be very careful with him…

- - hopefullyheidi said
  - 11 Jul 2013
    5:18 pm
I was always scared of head injuries. My son once stumbled into my bedroom and clocked his head very loudly on my square bedside drawer. Fortunately because it was dark it just sounded loud and all was well.

- - tobrien84 said
  - 04 Jul 2013
    10:06 pm
Head injury’s always scare me! Only 1 serious injury so far, daughter swinging on a chair and fell back onto the tiles and split her head open 🙁 rushed off to hospital and glued together but very scary! And YES she still swings on the chairs -_- sigh
- snoopy replied
  
  07 Jul 2013 , 8:34 am
  My daughter loves the swinging on chairs, and I am forever telling her off. I told her a bout a girl at school when I was in grade 4 or 5 and she used to do it until she tipped over in class, it was a very painful knock on her head and so embarassing and she never did it again.
- - ella12 said
  - 02 Jul 2013
    3:32 pm
Fantastic article. Head injuries leave me feeling so nervous.

- - belindas said
  - 02 Jul 2013
    12:42 pm
My boys have caused me to prematurely start going grey! They are constantly falling over and hitting there heads or causing some sort of injury to themselves or each other! Boys are so rough and much more physical especially in the way they play so its inevitable that they will hurt themselves its good to know what constitutes a visit to the hospital! Great article wish I had read this 4 years ago it would of saved me all of those trips to the hospital and doctors with our first born :))

- - pudsmine said
  - 01 Jul 2013
    10:03 pm
i would agree boys are more prone then girls until i had my daughter lol

- - meltingmoment said
  - 01 Jul 2013
    8:45 pm
I do agree with the statistics that boys seem to fall my than girls. My nephews are constantly covered in knocks and bruises. Saying that my two have had their fair share of tumbles when they were little.

- - naz4321 said
  - 30 Jun 2013
    11:39 pm
this is the great article every one has to read it specially mums with small babeis and kids