# baby crawled off bed this morning.



## avantgauze (Jul 21, 2008)

hello. i havent written much here on mdc.
i am a single mother and i cosleep with my 7 month old daughter. she is usually between the wall and me. she started crawling almost a month ago and usually i am semi conscious of her wandering about the bed in the morning. well i still was this morning and but before i knew it she had crawled off the end of the bed on to solid wood! face first!(of course) she cried and was easily soothed (i was shaking like a leaf though!), and in fact is now crawling around the floor talking to herself happy as can be.
last night, not thinking, i happened to place a patterned pillow(which she likes) last night at the end of the bed. i think she was attracted to it and reached out to it with both arms and tumbled over the side, because her and the pillow were both on the ground.
i dunno, do you think this is what happened, that she wouldnt have purposely crawled off the edge of the bed, nor do it in the future? do you you think she is now FULLY AWARE that crawling off the bed hurts? or should i put my mattress on the ground?
i am sure some mommas here have to have experience cosleeping with crawling babies. i am the first in my family to cosleep. or of any of my friends. i dont have anybody else to ask.


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## MaterPrimaePuellae (Oct 30, 2007)

If I were you, I would probably go ahead and put the mattress and boxspring on the floor (I think I have read that the mattress needs air circulation, so don't just put the mattress of the floor) just for your own peace of mind. At the same time, my DD has fallen out of our bed and her own bed and other's beds 5-6 times, and she's just fine. (not to say you shouldn't take precautions, of course, but this sort of thing seems to happen to everyone-- so don't feel too bad!) Also, this was around the time we first started saying to DD, "We get off the bed feet first!" and guiding her off *every single time* feet first. She gotthis very quickly and is nw able to get off all high furniture by herself. (has been since around 12 mos, I think).


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## mamamille (Nov 30, 2006)

I would put the matt on the ground or get some kind of guard. My dd has fallen/crawled/rolled off the bed more ways then I want to think about, that for the next one I will def do a guard rail. It's not something that they will at that young age put together. They can't remember cause and effect very well until 15 m? or so. Keep your baby and your nerves (not to mention the "should we goto the emergency room in the middle of the night" nightmare) safe. Esp when they just learn to crawl and are learning other stuff at such a rapid rate, they will practise in their sleep all the time. Just remember that if they cry right away and don't shpw signs of confusion or sleepiness, then they should be ok. Ice and arnica cream and tablets have worked wonders for us!


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## lunar forest (Feb 20, 2003)

I would put the mattress and boxsprings on the floor for now, and I'd try to show her how to get down feet first, hold the covers/sheets as she goes.

But most importantly, don't beat yourself up! babies fall out of beds, off of sofas, out of highchairs, and out of cribs all the time. It doesn't make you a bad mom at all.


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## *MamaJen* (Apr 24, 2007)

Hey mama,
My baby is about the age of yours, and he fell off the bed a few months ago. I felt utterly awful; he cried for 45 seconds and then he was fine. I don't want to downplay it like it's no big deal, but it does happen to the best of us.
You might want to think about sleeping on just the mattress and box spring for a few months, or maybe putting up some more rails? I'm not exactly sure, since we're just now getting to the crawling stage. But I think it'll be a little longer before your babe understands about the edge of the bed being dangerous. I know my little guy makes a beeline for the edge and would happily fling himself off.
Huh, I'm realizing I have a lot of the same questions that you do! But feel free to ask -- I always find that MDC has a ton of mamas with really good advice.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

Absolutely do NOT use a bedrail! Those are fine for keeping babies from rolling off beds, but once kids are big enough to grab onto random things and pull to a stand, they're incredibly unsafe. I stopped using my bedrails when DD1 started pulling up on them; as I was afraid she'd lose her balance and topple head-first from the top of the rail (as opposed to falling from just the edge of the mattress, a bit lower down.)

It's time to teach her to crawl off the bed backwards. When DD1 was around 7mo, I started teaching her to crawl off the bed safely (we had the mattress directly on the floor from the time she was born.) I'd put her by the edge of the bed and move her feet and body in the correct position for crawling off feet first- it took her only a few days to learn to do it herself. It took her a bit longer to learn *not* to do it head first though!









Oh, and I have to completely agree with the others about not beating yourself up. All 3 of my kids have fallen off a bed at least once during infancy and/or toddlerhood, and none have been seriously injured in the process. Most of the time they were more startled than hurt.


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## AlwaysByMySide (May 4, 2007)

At 7 months, she probably isn't fully aware that falling off the bed hurts. I say this with a 6 month old who gets quick to crawling on the bed and doesn't notice that he has made it to the end and just keeps going.







We've only had one fall so far, but a LOT of close calls.

I have a bed rail on the bottom of the bed (I lay on the "outside", and then the 'inside' and head of the bed are against the walls) for precisely this reason.

But I agree with the previous mamas...it happens to a lot of kids.


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## avantgauze (Jul 21, 2008)

oh i am rather glad to here other babies fall so much! makes me feel better about it somehow.

yeah, i know its a good idea to put the bed and boxspring on the ground, but that also creates more problems. right now the bed is covering up the baseboard heater. i have the bed crack stuff with pillows, so if the heat were to be turned on (this coming winter) the heat would warm the pillows and heat under the bed mostly. if i set my bed on the floor, i would have to move the bed across the room, and then the heater would be exposed.







:

oh damn. i am in a pickle. thanks all for trying to help out!


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