Infant Falls

My Personal Experience Taught Me..

• Never to leave the kid alone, even with the pillows around her/him even for a minute at this dangerous age where he/she is flipping over and trying out new things every single waking moment.. the busy bodies they are they just dont/cant stay at one place..

• If the kid falls, immediately hold the kid, do not rush the baby... check for the eyes and comfort the baby as much as possible.

• See if both the pupils are equally dilated.

• Hug her closely, console the kid, speak slowly and clearly and do not rush the kid with your own insecurities.. DO NOT CRY WITH THEM... just relax yourself before you attend the kid... even if they are not hurt, they are shocked by the intensity of it, the jolt they receive and all..

• Check for any redness, bumps immediately, then press the body slowly to see if the kid is wincing or crying out in pain when any particular place is touched... If yes, keep checking once in a while to see if it is the same reaction which was initially when yelling loudly or has it subdued a bit.

• Check if there is a swelling after an hour or so, check every hour just like above and keep checking the whole day.

• Just in case.. if the kid is in pain, give some Calpol (Fever/pain drops).. just a safety measure..

• See if the baby is dazed for a long time...

• Do not let the baby sleep immediately after the fall above a feet or so especially when you doubt the head has hit the floor..

• See if there are any vomitings and if any, rush to the doctor immediately.

• See if the baby is reacting normally after half-hour or so.. is she smiling, frowing, crying normally or is there any change.

• Check the baby through out the night and throughout the next day, checking the whole body... if there is any little sign of change in behavior or bodily change, just rush to the doctor or ER.

For those who believe in Drushti, nazar, jinx, etc., like me.. oka tumbler/chembu nindaa neellu teesukuni, 3 saarlu tippesi padda chotlo paareyyandi.. if you cant for whatever reason throw at the exact place, throw it out on the earth/mud and aa neellu paaresina chotininchi matti kaani, water kaani teesi babyki bottu typelo chinna pettandi...

Some might laugh at this, but for crazy moms like me.. anything and everything if they say it benefits the baby and there is no harm to the baby or anyone.. just go ahead and do it..

anytime a kid falls from a height or bumped onto something real hard or hit somewhere, we have to observe for these changes in them :


1. BLEEDING - If the kid is bleeding too much and its not stopping
2. CHANGE IN THE SIZE OF PUPILS - If any of the pupils size changes(big or small.. mostly it changes to small)
3. NON-RESPONSIVE/NON-ALERT - If he/she is not responding properly..
4. TOO MUCH CRYING/NOT TOO MUCH CRYING
5. SLEEPING IMMEDIATELY - baby should not goto sleep imm'ly. When the kid is hurt seriously, try to pacify them... less than 2yr olds, try latching them or giving them a bottle/sippy with milk or water and observe how they are drinking/latching.... there should not be much change in the rhythm and MOST IMPORTANTLY DON'T LET THE CHILD GOTO SLEEP SOON... HE SHOULD BE AWAKE ATLEAST FOR 30MINS AFTER THE ACCIDENT
6.BLEEDING FROM NOSE/EARS/EYES/MOUTH - Since the organs are connected thru the same pipe in infants n toddlers, any bleeding from the mentioned organs - CALL THE DOCTOR/EMERGENCY/RUSH TO HOSPITAL ASAP

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/8/T086400.asp

A very helpful link... data copy-pasted from that site

Infants and toddlers are prone to rolling off beds or couches, falling out of high chairs, strollers, car seats or swings, and getting bumps and bruises from all kinds of things. The first thing to do when your child falls is to relax. Most falls are NOT serious. Kids are very resilient. Most falls seem worse than they really are, and usually do not require a call to your doctor or a trip to the ER.

What type of falls to worry about:

The most common falls are babies rolling off the bed or couch or falling out of an infant seat or stroller. These falls are usually only 1 to 2 feet high, and almost never result in any significant injury, even if onto a hard floor.

Sometimes an object will fall off of a table or furniture onto baby. This rarely results in any significant injury.

Many babies trip and fall while running and hit their head on an object or the floor. Unless there is a large cut that needs stitches (click here to help decide if stitches are needed), you probably don’t need emergency attention or a call to your doctor.

Another common fall is while being carried by an adult and the adult trips and falls onto a baby. If the adult was running, this can result in injury. If the adult was walking, however, then baby usually will not suffer any significant injury.

Falls from a height greater than 3 feet, such as a counter top, high chair, changing table, or table can result in injury, especially if onto a hard floor.

What to do if your child falls:

1. Console your child. Stay calm and don’t panic. This will help your child calm down so you can better assess your child’s condition.
2. Don’t rush to page your doctor or call 911 just yet.
3. Check your child’s limbs, head and body for any bumps, bruises, redness, swelling, or deformity. Undress your child to do this. IF YOU DON’T SEE ANY SWELLING OR LARGE BUMPS ON THE HEAD OR BODY, THERE IS PROBABLY NO SIGNIFICANT INJURY.
4. If you see any obvious swelling or deformity in the extremities, or you child is limping for more than a few hours, you should go to the ER or your doctor’s office.
5. Assess your child for head injury. Click here to help you decide if your child has any head injury and what to watch for.

Paging your doctor:

• If your child shows no signs of serious head injury (according to our head injury guidelines) and there is no sign of broken bones, then you probably don’t need to page your doctor. Observe your child for any signs of worsening.
• Even if your child has a bump on the head, you usually don’t need to page the doctor. Just treat your child according to our head injury guidelines.
• However, if your child fell from a high place such as a highchair, tabletop, countertop, or changing table onto a hard floor, AND you know baby hit head first, you should probably go straight to an ER without even paging your doctor. If your baby has such a fall onto carpet, however, then you should look for signs of head or body injury and page your doctor if your baby shows any of the warning signs mentioned above.

Ask yourself..
1. is there a cut or bruise,? unte how deep? if very deep , rush to doc
2. is he vomiting after that? if vomitimg is there rush to doc..
3. is he active or appearing drowsy? drowsy unte rush to doc...

these are signs of internal injury...

if there is a bump, then the cells there have externally become hard and that is the natural defence mechanism of body ...so dont worry...

do take care... these are common growing up pains.