# 13 month old fell off of bed



## nycmom18 (Dec 9, 2008)

ugh, i am shamefully admitting that my 13 month old fell off the bed a week ago. apparently he sleep crawls. i cant stop thinking about it and am feeling awful. we did everything we thought we should, check for concussion, keep him awake etc. he cried for a minute and then he was fine. everything seems fine a week later, but i swear that one side of his head is a little bigger than the other. its the side where he fell on. the bruise on his forehead went away.

when my first ds hit his head for the first time and we went to the ER, the doctors assured us that a bump and bruise is a good thing, as opposed to a dent in head. but now ive been reading on forums on how i should take baby to doctor if he has a bump on his head. so confused. what would a bump indicate? is it possible something needs to be checked even if he seems normal fine and happy?

please help this paranoid mama!


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## thispathisme (Jan 21, 2013)

If ever I'm not sure about something like that, I just make an appointment with the doctor. The worst that'll happen is they'll see your DC is fine and send you home - that's pretty good actually!

Always go with your gut. And with a DC who can't say what is wrong if anything, it's better to be too cautious than to keep wondering what if.

My DD, also 13 months, has sleep crawled off the bed twice. It was the mattress on box springs. Now I've got just the mattress on the floor and feel way more at ease about another episode. She has a room and a comfy crib but sleeping with mama's the only way for this one to sleep.

Don't feel guilty. These things happen. Just listen to your gut and make no apologies.


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## nycmom18 (Dec 9, 2008)

Thanks for your reply. We also lowered the bed to just mattress. But I'm just feeling so awful about not doing it from the beginning.


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## LiLStar (Jul 7, 2006)

In my limited experience (witnessing one mild-ish concussion) its really not that hard to tell if "its time to worry". My dd fell off the bed and fractured her skull when she was about 6mo. Now, this was a major freak incident. I have no idea what combination of circumstances led to an injury when there have been so many times between my kids that they had bumps to the head that sure looked/sounded a whole lot worse! (including a handful of other falls off the bed!) But they were nothing. It wasn't from very high up, and it was onto carpet. There was no visible bump/bruise on her head. It was clear pretty quick that something wasn't right. First, her cry was different. You know how when a child hurts themselves that first cry is just..MAD! They cry loud and hard, receive comfort/snuggles...and then they're off like nothing happened. I now consider a nice loud angry cry to be a good sign. So, dd's cry was kinda monotonous. It didn't change in pitch, it wasn't all that loud/pissed off. But it was constant, and she would not be consoled. She would not nurse or suck her thumb. She would start drifting off to sleep, and would cry up until the instant she fell asleep. If I changed her position at all in my arms, the cry would resume the instant she woke. It was *weird*. It was not normal for her at all. We decided to head to the ER, and as we were packing the diaper bag she started vomiting and that confirmed the decision. Anyway, she was fine, head CT confirmed the fracture and they kept her for observation but she really didn't need any treatment.

Just wanted to share to hopefully give some reassurance! We know our babies. If they are acting fine/normal, they probably are. My dd was not herself and that set off my alarms. And even though she was an infant, I could still tell she was "off"


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## sassyfirechick (Jan 21, 2012)

Rule of thumb for falls - take their height, if they fall from anything higher than that, it's potential for more severe injuries (break and things). If they fall from their height or less it's just like tripping and falling, the body is designed to absorb falls from those heights. My LO fell off our bed rolling around in her sleep around 14 or 15mos, slid head first between bed and wall, quick cry and right back to sleep. I knew she was fine although it certainly woke me up. Our bed is fairly high but she was just about even with it so I didn't worry because I know my kiddo...and having a DH who's an EMT and having done the class myself I can do a quick head to toe check if need be. Now I know someone who left their 9mo alone on the changing table (well, the 4yo was in charge of watching her...) and she broke her clavicle when she hit the ground but no concussion. Like PP mentioned, concussions, at least those that would warrant a doctors visit, are pretty apparent. I've had a few mild ones and one nasty one with minor blackout and they feel very different and are easy to pick out by the behaviors.

An egg on the head is not the worst thing to have, it's a sign of trauma to that area, bruises indicate broken blood vessels in the skin and the swelling is an inflammatory response of blood and fluids rushing to the area to heal it. DD's bed plunge was nothing compared to when she face-planted on her elephant ball blowing toy as she was beginning to walk - nice black eye, massive egg on her forehead over one eye, but after a 30 second cry she began to scold the toy which told me in spite of how horrible it looked, she was just fine! That and a black in the ER on a 9mo would warrant an immediate DCF investigating frenzy around here which I was just not interested in dealing with.


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