# My baby fell down the stairs today



## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

I feel just sick about it. It was totally my fault. She was at the top of the basement stairs (linoleum with metal edges and cement bottom). I thought I could quick run down and grab something off of the dryer and run back up.

She slipped and fell. I heard her start to fall and I ran over to the stairs, but she had fallen down most of them by the time I got there. It was so horrible to see her little body rolling down those steps. Luckily I was able to catch her before she hit the cement on the bottom, but it was so awful.

She seems fine. She cried for a few minutes, I'm sure partly because of my reaction and her fear, and then she was smiling and acting fine. She has bruises on her shoulder, her little butt and several on her head.

I just can't believe I was stupid enough to leave her on those steps. She's 20 months.


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## turtlemama77 (Jul 29, 2005)

This is maybe a no-no, but we let Reese go up and down the stairs all the time by herself. She did fall once about a week ago, and it WAS scary. And she's still trucking up and down the steps. Hugs, mama, don't beat yourself up too much about it. It happens.


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## ~member~ (May 23, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *turtlemama77*
This is maybe a no-no, but we let Reese go up and down the stairs all the time by herself. She did fall once about a week ago, and it WAS scary. And she's still trucking up and down the steps. Hugs, mama, don't beat yourself up too much about it. It happens.









:


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## ani'smommy (Nov 29, 2005)

Thanks, Sheri. I let her go up and down carpeted stairs, but these are very hard.







. I just can't get the image of her rolling down those stairs out of my head.


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## mccelticmom (Aug 6, 2006)

Oh, Mama, don't be too hard on yourself...Ha, bet you won't do it again!

Let me see...what has happened to me (I'll share in hopes to make you feel better)..

Well, can't tell you how many times and which ones have fallen off of the bed while taking a nap or during the night.

I was in the kitchen the other day, my oldest screams "Mom, skeeter is going up the stairs"...I get to the stairs and yep, he's up them alright...all the way to the top and I screamed to my oldest to grab him. Now, skeeter, can't even walk yet, but he'll climb stairs.

My toddler...I let him grab my flat iron one day...I had been watching him and had told him "no" numerous times, turned my back and yep, he got it!

My youngest, I let him fall in between the toddler bed and the window, left a huge bruise on his back.

My husband (glad it wasn't me) opened the truck door, the corner (now it's a big diesel pick up truck) hit my son in the head. He called me at the house and I had to drive all the way to where they were just to check him out. It left a huge indention in his head. Luckly, he was okay.

I let my toddler swallow a marble thingy that you put in flower pots. I was watching him play with it, I should have know to take it away from him. He swallows it, gets choked because he takes a bit of cookie (we didn't know that he had swallowed at the time) ...he starts throwing up the cookie, gagging, crying...I rush him to the hospital thinking that it's stuck in his esphogus, but it wasn't. Then the doc says...we don't know if it will make it through his stomach...off to Children's Hospital at 8pm at night with a 20 mo and baby....

I share all of this because...well, we've all done *stupid* things and we've all made mistakes....Hugs to you!


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## Mama2OneLilBoy (Jun 11, 2006)

Awww! (((Hugs))) Don't beat yourself up. My ds fell off the bed once b/c of my husband (honest!!) and I felt so terrible but he was fine in 2 minutes! Babies are tough, Thank GOD!


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## teachma (Dec 20, 2002)

It must have been SOOO scary to see! My dd (28 months) slipped and fell down a big flight of stairs (carpeted, with a wood floor at the bottom) last week. I felt SO guilty because I had sent her up to ask her brother something, and she was coming back down to tell me his answer when she slipped.







Totally, 100% my fault! But the difference is, I wasn't near her when she fell, so I didn't see it. It's much easier to bounce back from the shock of your child falling down the stairs when you don't witness it, let me tell you. As soon as she stopped crying, a minute after the fall, it was almost like it hadn't happened because I wasn't replaying imagery in my mind. I am sorry your daughter fell!


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## LizD (Feb 22, 2002)

It happens. You're a swell mom.







The image won't leave your head, though, so don't fret too much. My daughter is twelve years old and I still turn red and feel sick when I think of how I didn't think she could wiggle off something I had laid her on when she was a few weeks...I caught her before she *really* fell, thank god, but the guilt hasn't gone away one bit.


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## erinjkelley (Jul 31, 2005)

my baby took a head first dive out of the crib yesterday. i just turned to get pants out of her dresser, and that's all it took. the rail was down since i was in the middle of changing her. she cried for a minute and was holding her head, but seemed ok shortly after. i think it took me longer to get over it. we don't use the crib much anyway, so maybe it's time to say hasta. seems to be a hazard.


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## naismama (Oct 28, 2005)

Nothing more to add. Just had to give























naismama


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## Emma's_Mommy (Apr 28, 2006)

sorry but i started laughing when i read the title of this thread......








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don't worry i'm sure i'm next....


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## BodhiMom (May 28, 2006)

I think falling down stairs is just one of those developmental milestones. We moved into an upstairs apartment a few months ago, and it wasn't even a week before my ds took a dive. He only rolled about 3 steps, but got a big scrape down the bridge of his nose. I felt awful. And I kept seeing the awful scene play out in my brain over and over again. Him...he forgot about it two seconds after I started breastfeeding him.
Accidents are going to happen. Kids are so resillient. Don't stress yourself out. It happens to the best of us.
Much love


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## SamuraiEarthMama (Dec 3, 2002)

every single baby has one of those moments, honest! as much as we'd like to be there 100% of the time to protect them from everything, we just can't. all you can do is try not to beat yourself up too much!

in fact, congrats for getting to 20 months before you had something like this happen! that's gotta be a record, mama!

k


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

when dd was about 2 months, I turned to leave a room quickly and really banged her head against the doorway very hard. she started screaming and I freaked out and ran (partially clothed, btw) into the living room where my stepfather and his friend were standing and laid her on the floor and started bawling. The friend, who had never met me, immediately started telling me a story about when his son was 9 months old, and he mistakenly left the basement door open, and his son fell to the bottom and landed on the concrete floor. He was fine. So was dd. DD has also been accidentally SMASHED into the top of an overhang while on DH's shoulders at 9 months, she had a bruise on the cheek for about a month it was so, so bad- it was like, when I would tell people and they started telling me "Oh all kids get bumps and bruises" no- this was *horrific* she cried for nearly an hour, thought we were going to have to bring her to the ER, etc.

so I do understand. the guilt will go away someday. I truly believe parents are not the only ones watching over the little ones.









eta: Emma's Mommy- I'm sure you didn't mean anything by it but it's really not funny when your baby almost gets seriously hurt, I guess it hasn't happened to you but it's an awful feeling and thinking that someone would laugh about it bothers me a little, I don't mean to be overly uptight but I remember how bad the day was when my DD hit the overhang and I cried for hours about it. this baby did get hurt a little and that's not funny.


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## ChelseaG (Oct 29, 2004)

to you mama - but as most posters have said - we have all been there in one way or another...it is amazing how fast babies can move!
my girl fell 1/2 way down our long flight of carpeted stairs a few weeks ago - cried for a couple minutes - I nursed her and she was fine - she has been going up and down our stairs (with supervision) since about 10 months - she fell the one time I turned my head (of course!) She still loves to climb the stairs everyday - only now I make sure to not look away - just in case!


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## Dr.Worm (Nov 20, 2001)

Everyone has had these moments...my dd rolled off a couch as a baby onto a hardwood floor and, thank goodness, was fine. This was dh's fault, I wanted to kill him but then I realized it happened so fast and I could ahve doen the same thing. Motherhood=guilt. That's just how it is because we love pur sweeties so much but give yourself a break...we are imperfect. Your baby won't remember it and if she does all she will remember is how much her mommy loved her and picked her up so fast. My mom still remembers she was on the phone when I was a baby and I chose that moment to swing on the door of our china closet....needless to say, that could have been a disaster and my mom is extremely protective...and as pp said, I do believe God helps us watch the little peanuts.


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## LizD (Feb 22, 2002)

Also, my dd had a concussion when she was almost four just from falling as she tried to climb onto a very low platform bed! So many times the "worse" accident doesn't cause the worst damage. Make sure you know what to look for to identify a concussion. This is good to know anyway. Often a baby falls right before naptime, and then you don't know if they're sleepy because it was naptime or because they have a concussion. Dr Sears' The Baby Book has a good list of what to look for, and when it's ok to let them sleep, and so on.


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## rebeccakay (Aug 7, 2003)

My dd (2 1/2) fell down our entire flight of carpeted stairs a couple of weeks ago. I heard it happen from the living room (she screamed the whole way down







), and our neighbor saw it happen as he was at the bottom of the stairs. Poor kid, he is only 8 and it really freaked him out. She was fine within minutes, though.

It is amazing what these small bodies can go through without getting seriously hurt. When I told my friend about her falling, he explained that you have to think about any fall in terms of pounds per inch. When our kids fall, the most pressure they will feel on any one spot is their body weight. In my dd's case, as she fell she had the impact of 30 pounds every time she made contact. Plus, they are so flexible and low to the ground anyway. Compare this to an adult, who would feel their much heavier body weight at every impact and you can see why the same fall would probably really hurt me or you. This really made sense to me and, although I wouldn't wish her (or any kid) to fall, made me feel better.


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