Help! DS has cracked his head on the wall

[Scootergrrrl]

Bouncing on the bed while I was running the bath. Bounced off, hit head on the wall, right on the crown of his head. It's bleeding but he's stopped crying after a couple of minutes and is quite alert. What do I do?????

[artichokes]

How much blood?
Is there a bump or bruising?
Did he cry immediatly on impact?

[Scootergrrrl]

It seemed like quite a lot but it stopped almost immediately. There's no bump as far as I can see and he cried straight away. He definitely wasn't out cold or anything. He's got a cut about a centimetre long right on the crown of his head but it's not beelding anymore.

[BoffinMum]

1. Run tips of fingers very gently over area just to assess degree of bump (often dramatically big even if there's no concussion). Check no wierd depressed area or skull issues. If so ring ambulance!!
2. Assuming it's just looking like a bad bump, hold cold flannel on area, very gently, to deal with mess from bleeding and reduce swelling.
3. Whilst doing flannel thing, check he's not drowsy or behaving oddly. See if his pupils are dilated. Hold a finger up in front of him and see if you can get his eyes to track it as you move the finger from left to right. If anything seems wrong, go to A and E (own car will do).
4. If he seems sleepier than normal as you keep an eye on him during the next 24 hours, go to A and E or GP.
5. If he gets another bad head bump in the same week, consider GP trip.

[BoffinMum]

PS sorry about wierd numbering - incapable of typing today.

[Scootergrrrl]

Thanks for the advice - ended up at the Kinderklinik (we're in Germany) for gluing. DS quite enjoyed it cos there was a fire alarm and lots of engines turned up with flashing lights.
I however, am a wreck!

[BoffinMum]

It will keep happening!
Children just keep doing these things - our best was a dramatic fracture that needed multiple pins, as a result of our son falling gently onto his mattress whilst playing quietly. Honestly, you couldn't make it up. But they survive ...

[Scootergrrrl]

Perhaps I could make him wear his cycle helmet at all times... and his big padded snowsuit.... and never play out again....

[BoffinMum]

I bet he won't want to bounce on the bed for a while, anyway.

Colleague of mine had to get to the other end of the country one day recently, because his son had gone on a residential school trip on an island off the south coast, and fallen out of a tree and broken his arm within 2 hours of arrival.

When he was younger, my brother managed to fall into the moat at Alton Towers, breaking his collar bone and knocking himself out whilst on an outing with my parents. He was standing next to my father at the time.

As I said, the miracle is they always recover fine from these traumas, things which would do us older people a lot more longstanding damage!!