My 7mo old baby fell off the bed :(

[arvi]

My 7 months old son fell off the bed (approx 2 feet high) yesterday night.  As soon as I lifted and soothed him, he became normal and was playing happily. But I feel very bad. My heart panicked and still I feel shivers when I think about last night. It was a terrible night.

He didn't get injuries but still I feel as if I am a bad mom. I am worried if he would have any injuries inside his head in future . I called up medical helpline yesterday but they confirmed there is nothing to worry when he is behaving normal.

Has anyone gone through similar experiences? Can someone tell me how I can baby proof the house? I am thinking of getting rid of cot and to use only mattress on the floor, getting rid of high chairs, walkers etc. Any other tips?

Also he is now pulling up himself to stand whenever he sees any chair, sofa or wall. He falls off and gets hurt. Wearing baby helmets doesnt help as he removes it as soon as we put it on him. Any tips to solve this problem?

[mom2bee]

DONT PANIC.

This may sound harsh, but I have personally witnessed at least 9 babies fall from a couch/bed/chair around 6-10 months and they are all fine now. All of them. (No, I wasn't pushing them or being mean. I was just in the room when they fell )
One of my little brothers fell quite a few times from a high bed onto the hard floor during his first year.

What my mom did was taught each child to get off the bed by scooting backwards over the edge, so that they land on their butts not on their faces when they were only a few months old and started scooting. She taught them not to go over the edge of the bed so that whenever they fell it was because a) They were sleeping or b) 2 or more of the kids were playing on the bed and the little one got pushed over.

If your boy seems fine, then he probably is. If you just have to, take him to get a scan if he shows any specific or worrying signs.

I'm sure your not a bad mom, so quit beating yourself up about it. I would think hard and make an informed decision about getting rid of my bed (especially if you share it with others). Babies fall. Its the harsh reality of life, but it also helps them learn and grow (right? right?). One option would be to box your bed in one 3 sides, like put it up against a wall and use foot and head boards so that there is only one side on and off the bed, then you could put the pillows on the floor whenever baby is on the bed.

[aangeles]

arvi,

Don't panic. My daughter Ella fell off our bed (about 3 feet high) onto a carpeted floor when she was 8 months old.    I was playing with her on our bed after coming home from a long night on call and I fell asleep!!! (I know - bad bad BAD momma!) She crawled off the bed and fell on the floor! I felt HORRIBLE - like the worse mother in the whole world! She turned out okay and did not have any injuries, but for the next few days, I kept imagining all sorts of terrible brain injuries and complications.

Anyway, I just want to reassure you that almost all infants and toddlers fall and hit their head at some time or the other. Most of these falls are NOT serious - especially if it's only 1-2 feet high. What you should do after a fall:

1. Console your child.
2. Undress him and check entire body for any bumps, bruises, or deformity. If you don't see any, there is probably no significant injury.
3. Observe him for head injury - loss of consciousness, vomiting 3x or more or delayed vomiting, altered mental status, imbalance when walking, abnormal eyes, prolonged crying, changes in sleep behavior, twitching or seizures.

If he is not exhibiting any of the above signs and symptoms, he is most likely going to be fine. But, I know exactly how you feel  - I think I did a complete physical/neuro exam on Ella every hour for the next 12 hours after she fell. 

I hope your baby is doing fine now.

[hypatia]

I understand your fear. I've seen my baby chocked and when tapping her back wouldn't work, I had to remove the object with my hand while she turned a nasty color and there was blood everywhere... not fun. The ride on the ambulance was fun for her though!
They are tough fighters!

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Been there, done that.

Chances are baby is okay, but it certainly is no fun! The guilt is unbearable, you never think it would happen to you!

It will be okay momma! ::hugs::

[kizudo]

My story:  My son was 9 months old when he got his first major fever.  He had thrown up a few times and I was monitoring him closely.  For two nights I had him in my bed with me (he normally slept in a crib).  He hadn't yet learned to crawl and general rolling/scooting was at an extreme mimimum.  I left him in the very middle of the bed to go complain to my husband that the baby wasn't sleeping yet when I heard a thump.  Oh, what a horrible sound!  He had fallen, as far as we could tell, directly on his head and then did a flip on to his back.  Such a sickening feeling!  All because I was whiny and needed to vent.  And, I knew that I shouldn't leave the room, but I did anyway.

Well, being hypochondriacs or very close to it...normally hyper vigilant (obviously not this night!)...we took him in to emergency.  I was a wreck - sobbing, heaving, tears and nose drip everywhere - I know you can picture it   Anyway, after the doctor checked him out I asked him if he was going to let us take my son home again (fully believing that I was a horrible parent that could not be trusted with such an amazing child).  He laughed (and apologized as I began to sob again) and said "If we took every child away from their parents because they fell out of bed, no one, NO ONE, would be raising their own children!"

We kept this as a dirty little secret for months until we were at a play date and one of my girlfriends told us that her son fell off of her bed the night before...then another confessed that it had happened 3 times to her already...and, finally, I shared my story and my shame was lifted 

[annisis]

And here's mine: DH was at work and it was the middle of the day. Little man was only two months old. I had taken a shower while he was sleeping. When he woke up, I brought him into the bathroom with me and put him in his bouncy chair. I then did the worst thing EVER. I put the chair up on the counter so I could talk to him. He did fine for a little while. I then walked 5 feet to my bed to get my pants. As I was turning around to walk back, I saw my baby's bouncer slide down the side of the counter and he flipped to fall head first. His little head hit the side of the tub that was across from the counter. It was the scariest moment of my life. I immediately ran to him in a crying fit and scooped him up. Blood was just gushing from where his head hit the tub. Called 911 while trying to nurse him to calm him down. Between fumbling with the phone, and the baby plus my crying, I'm surprise the nice lady could understand me. Called DH. Fire truck arrived flashing lights and all. I was just in a shirt (that was still too small for my nursing body) and my panties, which are not the concealing sort. I didn't care, though. It was awful. My heart stopped and I thought I would lose my baby. I felt so stupid. Seeing my baby's little helpless body suspended in air was the scariest moment of my life to date.

In the ER, he had a CT scan and received 8 stitches on his right eye brow. But all was fine. The staff looked at us both like we were the most dispicable human beings ever. He still has his scar there, and sometimes looking at it makes me want to cry, but then I just think of how grateful I am that he is alright. In fact, he's flourishing. He just sat next to me and counted all the way to 13 by himself. At 20 months old, that's not bad.

All the mothers I knew were very supportive, and each had a story about a time they felt they had failed their little one.

[nhockaday]

I've never told anyone, but it happened to us too    I't's nice that everyone has "come out" and shared that it happened to them too. My son was probably about 5 months old. He was starting to use his feet to move himself around. We were sleeping in my bed and I felt him push his feet against me. I woke up and tried to grab him, but it was too late. He fell head-first and started crying. I picked him up and snuggled him until he stopped crying, and then I made sure he had no bumps and was acting normally. He seemed fine, but I was horrified. I was thinking that he could have some injuries to his head that could show up later. In fact, he walked and talked late, and I've always wondered if the bed incident had something to do with it. It's just human nature for us to feel so bad and blame ourselves and think about terrible things.

 I slept very lightly any time he slept with my after that. If he barely moved, I would wake up to make sure he was safe. I also moved him to the other side of the bed and stacked some pillows on the floor just in case. I decided that he was becoming to mobile to sleep with me anymore and I moved him to a crib shortly after.

[jakim]

My best friend was sleeping at my house and I asked her to sleep with me and the baby so he won't fall off the bed and I could get a good night sleep without worrying. Surprisingly, I woke up when I heard a boom on the floor. My friend and the baby fell off the bed together. Every time I remember I can't stop laughing 

[kizudo]

      Jakim, that's hilarious!  Thanks for bringing a smile to this thread.

Although, I do have to admit, I already smiled at picturing Annisis talking to the firefighters in her less than conservative attire    Only because just earlier today my son was complaining about some pain in his throat and suddenly began crying and panicky.  "It" (whatever it was) got better in a few moments, but as I was putting him down to nap shortly after I thought "hmmm, maybe I should start combing my hair and putting real clothes on in the morning...you never know what the day may bring."

[arvi]

Thanks all for sharing your stories and comforting me. My baby is doing very well and I'm happy   

Its such a wonderful forum to have many supportive parents    I'm blessed.

[AussieMumofOne]

Thanks everyone for being so honest and sharing, it really makes you feel better about the things you do! Luckily for me we haven't had any accidents but at 5 1/2 months, we're nearly mobile so I'm sure it'll happen. (hopefully not though!)

[Ezhik]

I haven't even kept track of the number of times Nicholas has fallen off things. It really seems like he has a death wish sometimes
I keep trying to show him how to go off things (beds, sofas etc) bottom first, but he is really determined to ignore me. This morning he nose-dived off the sofa (out of my lap) and I barely caught him. The monster just grinned at me when I told him off.

He has yet to have a bump on the head which isn't cured by a kiss, though. I do make sure to keep an eye if he does get a bump, and would be straight to A&E if he was out of sorts in any way.

In terms of giving me a heart attack, he somehow managed to open his stairgate the other day.    I *know* it was closed, but the catch must not have caught properly and I found him happily playing with the straps on his carseat, about 2 feet from the top of the stairs. 

[TeachingMyToddlers]

Ezhik-

My 11 month old did the same thing last week (opening the stair gate.) We have a hardware wall-mounted tension top-of-the-stairs gate designed just for that purpose (metal, hand latch, squeeze the latch and lift up). I watched him open it two more times after figuring out the kids opened it the first time. Praise God no one was hurt. I called the manufacturer, they said over time the tension can loosen making it easier and easier to open the gate by hand, and then eventually the gate can be "lifted" out of the track by baby with enough force. Funnily enough, my 2 year old can't open the gate but my 11 month old can. We call him Osito, "Little Bear"....the size of a baby, the strength of a bear LOL.

After being LIVID with the company and this gate for potentially seriously injuring my children or worse, I got over it, tightened the gate, and now the kids can't open it again. I suppose it must have been in the original instructions but I didn't commit it to memory. Just thought I would share in care you have a similar style gate maybe yours is "loose" in the same manner. Ours is a top of the stair gate by Summer Infant.

[kizudo]

My baby isn't a baby anymore (sniff sniff) but he is still a little boy who likes to explore.  He doesn't yet understand a whole lot of physics yet - you know, what happens if you run very close to the edge of the table, climb on to the bathroom counter where there really is no place to sit, "hide" on the couch and wiggle and squirm when he resists mommy or daddy's efforts to pick him up...that kind of thing.  It was suggested to us to sign him up for gymnastics.  Apparently, and I am beginning to see that it is right, in gymnastics class the kids are taught alot about balance, falling "correctly" and general body awareness.  I am so glad we've signed him up.  Now I have a little more confidence in his abilities and he is able to look after himself, if you will, a bit better.  So, when your little ones are around 2 or 3, consider finding a gymnastics class for him/her.

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