Hello!

157 Comment

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!

  • I have 2 energetic boys, and seriously, I can’t count with both hands how many times they bump or hurt themselves.

    Reply

  • my daughter slipped on the tiles head thud on them so scary i felt so terrible still do thinking about it. Great article.

    Reply

  • Babies rolling off the lounge or bed is so scary 🙁

    Reply

  • i will never forget the first time my son hit his head! he knocked his head and mouth and there was blood coming out of his mouth. i remember panicking, jumping in the car and driving to the doctors! i couldnt tell where the blood was coming from. i really dislike our hospital and my GP fits me in straight away all the time so opted for doctor surgery! when we got there she had a look and the blood was from his gums! nothing hurt, just a bit of a scrape on the gum. simply stopped by applying pressure to the area for a few seconds! didn’t i feel silly.

    Reply

  • A well-written article. Cuts to the head and face can bleed like crazy! Well applied pressure for several minutes (without looking at the wound in between) is really effective if the cut isn’t major.

    Reply

  • My 5 month old fell off the change table. Took her to the GP because of the blood coming from her mouth. He told us to take her to Emergency Dept. Did that, and then had to endure the paperwork as they tried to decide if it was a child abuse case…accidents happen (isn’t that why it’s called Accident & Emergency Dept.?) She split her lip which accounted for the blood and she was otherwise fine.

    Reply

  • One of my twins fell from our 4WD onto the gravel road on her head when we were on holiday’s and she seemed alright but being only 4 months old we took her to the hospital and she was on observation for 8 hours… But she was fine just had a few scratches on her head. I felt like the worst parent in the world. I know to watch them like a hawk now though.

    Reply

  • Brilliant article I remember those injuries and my absolute panic!

    Reply

  • great article to read as my son recently had a head injury and i didnt know what to do so i took him to the hospital just to make sure everything was alright it was but it made me feel better but now i know what to look for thankyou

    Reply

  • I never forget my son falling off my bed. It was the loudest bang and we were so worried. Thanks or sharing sometimes we need quick reminders as we can be irgeforgetful.

    Reply

  • It’s nice to know that we all react in a similar way…

    Reply

  • great article i remember that reaction of utter terror thinking how could they not be hurt falling off the couch.But fortunately kids are made of hard stuff.

    Reply

  • I had a horror incident myself when my daughter was about 10 months and fell off the change table and landed directly on the top of her head. I was far more upset then she was (she was absolutely fine oddly enough) and still to this day can’t believe it happened.

    Reply

  • I don’t know why their head gets all the damage.

    Reply

  • A useful and informative article

    Reply

  • When my son was a baby he rolled off the bed onto floorboards. He was fine but I’m still haunted by the sound of his scream.

    Reply

  • Very helpful info, thank you. Thankfully, my kids have never had any major injuries. They’ve both fallen off the couch, bed, chairs over the years, but they seem to have very hard indestructible heads (it definitely feels like it when they headbutt me!)

    Reply

  • Thanks for the article, my little man is a shocker for running into things!

    Reply

  • Ahhhh the parent of the year moments. Our DD, has fallen off the change table (no serious damage), couch, rolled off the bed at least twice and banged her head many times. But she is tough and while we panicked the first fall, we have mellowed out a bit and now just try to distract her from the shock, while we check her out to make sure she is ok. 🙂 Thanks for the tips on what to look for 🙂

    Reply

  • I’ve had friends whose babies rolled off the bed. It’s always terrible when it happens. This is such vital information in this article. My bub just seems to take tumbles now when climbing on things. I feel horrible when she has a bumb on her forehead because of them.

    Reply

Post a comment

To post a review/comment please join us or login so we can allocate your points.

↥ Back to top

Thanks For Your Star Rating!

Would you like to add a written rating or just a star rating?

Write A Rating Just A Star Rating
Join