# UGH! 4 mo Fell Out of Pouch!!



## zh97 (Apr 11, 2007)

: guilty






























I have spent the day feeling HORRIBLE and I don't want to share with the many people who already think I look like a "refugee" (actual quote from last week) for carrying all of my kids.

I was at Costco with my 19 mo and 4 mo. 19 mo on back in ergo and 4 mo in front in a pouch. When we went out to the car I took off the oldest first and as I was squatting to let him down, the baby flipped out of the pouch HEAD FIRST onto the pavement.



































I start crying everytime I think about it. I had two Dr. Friends, one a ped. look at him and they both said he looked "fine", watch for the signs, etc. He had stopped crying about it in about one minute but I've been a mess the rest of the day!!! He has been a little fussy, but has been his talkative little self for the most part. I will call the Dr. in the morning to see if I should go and get it exrayed. I'm seriously considering taking him to the ER tonight but that is more because of my feeling guilt, not because of any "symptoms" on his part and I have a feeling we'd be sitting there a long time.

Does anyone have any thoughts on if I should take him in tonight? I'm just so sad and mad at myself for letting him get hurt.


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## pjabslenz (Mar 25, 2004)

I'm sorry your lo got hurt but I'm glad to know your ped friends think he looks fine. I would suggest a visit to the chiropractor as well, to make sure everything is aligned. Be gentle with yourself momma.


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## alysmommy2004 (Jun 23, 2006)

What a rough day! Honestly, I wouldn't go to the ER, I've found most of the time they blow things off (just my experience). If he looks okay and isn't showing any symptoms I'd just keep an eye on him until tomorrow and see the Dr. Of course if she does start showing any symptoms I'd immediately take him in.


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## maymorales (Dec 9, 2006)

oh mine!








my ds fell down a long flight of stairs and hit his head first on marble floor! I rushed him off to the doctor and it turned out to be nothing.
my dd fell off of the kitchen counter when she was 4 months old head first (because she was propped up and slipped when she wiggled out of my one-hand hold). rushed her to the ER, waited all night to see a doc only to be told she's 100% fine.

So I hope you go with your gut and just recognize it's guilt not need for the ER visit.

But seriously, it's rough to feel bad about an accident. And they do happen. Hope you come to terms with it soon and hugs to you for wearing both babies at Costco!


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## katec67 (Oct 24, 2005)

When my ds was 3 months, he fell face first out of his car seat onto an oak floor because I didn't strap him in first and the handle malfunctioned. The car seat flipped forward and my precious baby landed on his face/forehead. I was hysterical and inconsolable, shrieking to no one about how I had dropped my baby (I was home alone with ds and his big sister). I called dh and shrieked and screamed at the receptionist until she put him on the phone (she kept asking "who's calling please?"). We took him to the ped to be safe and the ped regaled me with stories of all the times his kids had fallen on their heads. He said that if babies were as fragile as we think they are, the species would have died out a long time ago.

DS was fine. For a while, I had a hard time with the memory of him screaming face down on the floor, but I was just so grateful that he was okay. I'm sorry you went through this. The memory gets much easier to deal with.


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## WeasleyMum (Feb 27, 2007)

*zh97*, from what I can tell, EVERY baby gets dropped on their head at some point-- it was bound to happen, it just makes you a human mama. One time when I was babysitting my little brother, he tumbled off the sofa and cracked his forehead on the edge of our brick hearth. When our parents came home, my sister and I tried to tell them that he'd *always* had that huge, purple bruise on his head. There were other incidents, too, at the playground, that involved his head... but he's 17 now, and is all A's, all AP classes, NHS, and about to be made an Eagle Scout. We didn't do him any harm, and you didn't do any to your little babe either.


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## prancie (Apr 18, 2007)

I dropped my 2 month old getting him into a mei tai. I have no excuse for it...but the reason was he's extra wiggly and was in a polyester bunting that made him extra slippery. Plus i was tired. It was horrible and will feel bad about it forever. He was fine though. We did go to the ER, but I wouldn't if I were you, your lo didn't fall that far.

Remember that even good mommies make mistakes, if that helps at all.

And whoever said you looked like refugees needs to keep their opinions tp themselves. You are doing a wonderful thing carrying your kids.


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## Yuba_River (Sep 4, 2006)

Just wanted to send a hug. I gave mine a bad scratch on the face from a tree branch--almost got his eye--and I felt terrible for much longer than he did. Be gentle with yourself.


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## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

I'm sure you don't need to go to the ER unless you see/sense signs of something wrong (unequal pupils, vomiting, etc.). Think of it this way, don't expose him to all those nasty hospital germs without a very good reason!

I've bonked my babies while babywearing, too. My first, I whacked his head into the fridge while wearing him in the sling because I turned the corner too sharply. I also dropped him out of a stretchy wrap (Ultimate Baby Wrap). Now granted that wrap is way too stretchy and I don't recommend it to anyone, but at bottom it was my fault for not tying him snugly enough and keeping a hand on him as I bent over.







They really are resilient little critters though.









But for more secure double-wearing, you might consider a mei tai or a stretchy wrap to go over the Ergo in back, as slings/pouches are definitely less secure and it's harder to get a good fit and pay attention to everything going on when you're wearing two at once.


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## Collinsky (Jul 7, 2004)

So sorry. It feels awful! My sister rolled off a changing table 25 years ago and my mom still feels sick when she remembers it. My LO rolled off the couch when he was about a month old - I was _right there_, but fussing with my toddler, and I just couldn't catch him in time. I felt horrid.

And um, REFUGEE??? I'm sure they didn't mean to be belittling the plight of displaced people in war-torn or famine-stricken areas or those destroyed by natural disaster, but it just smacks of an insular kind of ignorance that rubs me the wrong way. That aside, the implication is that you're ... what? Ignorant for carrying your children when you don't have to in this modern age? You know absolutely _ABSOLUTELY_ that research is with you. You aren't doing it because you don't know your options, but because it is the BEST option for you and your children. Please do not let other people's lack of understanding of how things are make you feel insecure in any way. I once had a guy make a snide comment about it not being "a Third World country" to his friend in reference to babywearing, and something about "get a stroller, this is America"... and yeah, it bothered me, but at the same time - it is SO his problem if his mom didn't carry him and now he thinks babies shouldn't be carried. I feel bad for his kids, if/when he has them, but I don't for one second think that babywearing is uncivilized - which I think is the connotation? I'm not sure. Sure does smack of Western imperialism, though, doesn't it? How about more babies are carried in supposed underdeveloped nations because *they know something we don't*? How about that, Mister USA??? I've just vowed to myself to meet every single negative comment with "Wow, that's a really insular perspective."

Make no mistake: you're a Superwoman for being able to carry all your kids, and a Goddess for doing it.


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## aaronsmom (Jan 22, 2007)

My DS flipped out of a grocery cart a few months ago and landed head first on the floor. He was okay.


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## Fletchersmama (May 23, 2003)

when my 5 yo was about 9 months I was putting him up on my shoulders in front of dh's whole extended family. He fell over MY head face first onto the ground.

I know your guilt!
















i called my mom, a retired nurse, debated on taking him to the e.r. We did not, just watched for symptoms, which was hard because he was the kind of baby who threw up at the drop of a hat and was a bit sick at the time already.
He was just fine, I am still embarrassed.

He has fallen on his head at least twice since then and turned out fine. You'll never forget this, but you're lo will!


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## gwynthfair (Mar 17, 2006)

My DD fell down a flight of stairs onto concrete. But if it would make you feel better, then go get a ct scan. But FYI, it is horrible because they basically have to be strapped in, so they can't move an inch. Not fun to watch, and is probably more traumatic for a baby than the initial fall.


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## robertandenith (Apr 1, 2008)




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## FeingoldMomma (Apr 23, 2008)

My ds when he was about 8 mo fell off the bed. He was sitting up one second, while I stood next to him folding clothes. Next thing I knew, he toppled over sideways and off the bed, head first, before I could do anything. I scooped him up as he squalled, and then he calmed down and was fine. I watched him carefully that night, but he babbled and burbled as normal, bounced up and down in his crib as normal, and everything was fine.

When he was 3-1/2, he took a header down the concrete stairs in the apt we were living in at the time. He was going out to play, had climbed the stairs many times, but this time something went wrong, and down he went screaming as he smacked his head. My now ex was on his ship getting ready to deploy, and since we had been going to see him anyway, we headed to the ship, and had the ship's doc look at him. He was fine, which I had ascertained already, and I took him home.

He's now a 14 y.o., and we've joked about the two bumps on the head being the reason for his strangeness, but he's a normal kid. So don't be hard on yourself, Mama. Your lo is gonna be just fine, and you will too.


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## gabysmom617 (Nov 26, 2005)

When my kid was younger (less than a year) he was dosing in his sling, and I was trying to cook, and I tried to pull a can off a high shelf, and it slipped and dropped and hit him in the forehead.

I'm still disgusted and guilted with myself for allowing that to happen to this very day...(That was about 2 years ago...)





















:

But he's a-ok today, just got a small bruise, and is as happy and healthy as he can be.


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## Dabble (Jun 14, 2007)

Hugs mama!

I think every mama must have a story like this, and an equal burden of guilt over letting her baby come to harm. It is just something that happens. And for those mamas saying "it won't happen to me" - I used to be one of you.

I swore my baby would never fall off the bed or couch, and I would never drop him, and I was right. I was hyper-vigilant about those scenarios. Then when he was about 10 mos old, as we were playing rough and tumble on the bed, which he LOVED, I tossed a little too hard and BONK, his head hit the wall. Oops. I was horrified! I didn't just DROP my baby, I THREW him into a wall! DH was right there, and he was like, what's the big deal, he's fine, but it haunted me.

Give us an update on how baby is doing today - I'm sure for him, the incident is long forgotten!


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## liz-hippymom (Jul 17, 2003)

one time my stupid self let my then 6 year old carry my then 4 month old in a mei tai , and he tripped on a root and fell and sebastian hit his poor head on the hard ground, i HEARD the thump from inside the house. i almost had a heart attack. i could even dial the phone right i was shaking so hard. he was fine!
it is the worst thing in the world to have a baby fall!!!!
my pediatrition said they are pretty resiliant- thank GOD!
liz


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## renabe (Feb 3, 2007)

I was at a laundromat and as we were leaving I had a moment of brilliance where I set 5 month old Eva in the corner of the four wheeled laundry cart with all the folded clothes, then wheeled the whole thing (with both hands!) over a wheelchair access point on the sidewalk and the whole thing dumped over.







It's hard to even write about it, but she's three now, so I guess we made it. Welcome to the baby dropping club.


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## HybridVigor (Jan 14, 2008)

We all drop our babies, but at least we WEAR OURS!

About the "refugee" comment . . .
Was that supposed to be an insult? Katrina has made a large portion of our nation experience first-hand what it means to be a refugee.

And you know what? The shelters called for donations of BABY CARRIERS.
Because they were NEEDED.









So there!

You'll be ok, mama! Give his little head an extra kiss for all of us!


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