There is hardly a bone in my son that hasn't been x-rayed.

We've never been contacted by SS. It can only be a matter of time.

i hope the OP is feeling better. There's certainly quite a few of us on here who purged our own guilt. I realised after my post I'd left out 75% of the stuff that happened to my kids.(So often are our contacts with the emergency services!)

When DD was about 4 months old I dislocated her shoulder when I was rolling her over on the bed (I had read a thing that rolling them over and over as a game would encourage her to roll - it obviously didn't).
When she was about 18 months I was rushing around getting ready for work in the morning leaving her upstairs. I felt sure I had closed the stairgate but she ended up falling down the stairs headfirst with me stood there frozen to the spot watching her poor little head bounce off each step.

When my friend's DS was 1 we all went on holiday together. We went for a country walk with my DH carrying little boy in his arms. He slipped and landed on the boy fracturing his leg. 12 years later he still feels INCREDIBLY guilty....

Oh, and when DS 2 was about 18 months I was pushing him in a baby swing, pushed to hard and he leant forward and came head first out of the swing. I still cant work out how he managed to get out so easily, but he has the biggets lump and a graze on his forehead that was around for ages.

My Mums garden has a patio then some steps down IYSWIM - I was playing chase with DS1 and he fell right down the steps. He managed to cut his eyelid and rund the corner of his eye and had to have stitches and had a nasty bruise for weeks.

WMMC - I did the same thing with my birthing ball and DS2 went flying

Please dont feel bad, even the most careful pf parents make mistakes.

I sat on my 4yo daughter when I was playing football with her, and fractured her wrist

DH had DS sitting on his knee when he was 18mo, and DS fell off, and we had a trip to casualty where he was treated for concussion.

Holding toddler on one hip and hot cup of tea in other hand I went to open a door with a round handle and slowly watched myself pour hot tea on DS leg as I turned the handle.....

Trip to A&E, bandages for two weeks, I felt like Shit.
Lots of tears at hospital with me weeping 'its my fault, I did it, Oh god, oh god for hours.

Ds is fine now , no scar.

Well DH did nearly knock out DD as a baby - we have beams in the ceiling and he lifted her out of the high chair and misjudged the amount of distance between child and ceiling . She screamed, but not as much as I did . In retrospect it was a complete accident and he was mortified.

As was I when I rolled my birthing ball towards her thinking she would try and walk with it [duh] as she'd just started tottering about, completely mowed her down and left her yelling for an hour and frightened of large grey inflatables .

But the best has to be DS who managed to climb the sofa at five months old (unable to stand yet but could climb - but we didn't know this). He grabbed a large cup of coffee which he poured onto me missing himself entirely. Was sort of glad it was me not him and yet, still quite cross and sore for a week. It wasn't my cup of coffee either!

When ds2 was 3yo he had an awful cold and dh put a steamer/vapouriser on the floor of his room overnight. When ds woke up the next morning he got out of bed and went straight for the vapouriser. He touched the steam and burnt two of his fingers badly. Resulted in dressings at the GP for a week for 2nd degree burns.

We both still feel badly about it and he is 6 in September.

I have a 12 month old and 2.5 yr old.

I remember Chris Evans speaking on the radio once about the most stressful job in terms of one in which you cannot take your mind off for a second. He said that the most stressful he could think of was an airtraffic controller.

Since becoming a mum, I realise he was wrong. Airtraffic controllers finish for the day and go home. The most stressful job is being a mum because of the constant vigilence required.

I am afraid things are always going to slip through the net. I think I am pretty anal and vigilent however things simply do happen! DS put a whole and hard cherry tomato in my DS mouth when she was 8mths old choking her, DS found a pack of Nurofen in my bedside table when he was 12 mths old and managed to get some out of the blister pack and put them in his mouth (first aid cabinet went up the next day), they have both fallen off the bed, off the sofa, down the stairs (and we have stairgates top and bottom - lord knows how people manage without stair gates). S* happens. I have had to go out of the house on occasion though when a 'near death' incident happens just to take a deep breath and calm down because the shock of it is horrible.

lord, i'm sure NHS direct have a buzzer that goes off whenever I call.

My DS has variously fallen downstairs at 14months old with me right behind him, split his scalp open above his eye, I have shut his fingers in the car door, he ran into the garage and split his head open......then there are the accidents at school that meant another visit to a and e.

DD likes to eat things; holly berries, silica gel, half a tube of toothpaste, some vanish oxi-action. We had the call from the HV following her trip to a and e after the vanish act.

No 3 is 8mo old and so far so good <touches wood>

DS1 is just accident prone and DD is just an accident waiting to happen. they often drink out of glasses and mugs that are lying on coffee tables etc and so far so no broken glass. You can't hover over them all the time unfortunately.

you are obviously a very caring parent the fact that you are so wound up about this, but try not to beat yourself up

My DD2 has severe cows milk allergy and when she was one i fed her a bowl of weetabix and cows milk instead of soya milk because my brain wasn't switched on - she had a severe allergic reaction and we ended up in the local children's hospital for most of the day.

I felt so responsible and worried that the medical staff would acuse me of harming my child but they were very understanding.

I am now paranoid about which milk she gets!

Don't beat yourself up.

My dad allowed me to fall of the sofa onto a concrete floor when I was a baby. I found some razors blades in a cupboard when I was about 3 or 4 and clasped them really tightly to bring them to show my mum, resulting in lots of blood. I cycled over the kitchen doorstep just out of reach of my mum when about two. my sister knocked a tooth out and has a permanant scar on her face when my dad decided to get her to a birthday party quickly by sitting her on the handlebars of his bike. my sister almost died when she inhaled a tiny ball from a game my brother and I were playing(she's nine years younger than us)

I picked up one of the kids my mum looked after when he was two and triped and fell against a wall,his head making first contact.

my ds1 fell over in the garden one balmy summers evening, when dh and i were having a beer and we had to drive him to minor injuries(thankfully i had only just started my drink..but still alcohol and injured kid...not good)
ds2 pulled a bedside table with a cast iron lamp and a drinking glass onto himself when about 14months old(breaking glass all over
his face(as he lay on floor under table.)

my kids are only 5 and 2. my HV has phoned me
to check we're all ok,so don't panic if you get a call. I like the MJ fox quote. I can really see where he's coming from.

my mother dropped me down the starirs when I was 6 mnths old. top to bottom.

and I once threw a ball at DD1 nocking out her front tooth

feeling better yet?

accidents! I have a list - all funnily enough involving DD2.

Not quite 2 year old DD1 pulled 2 day old DD2 off the sofa and jumped on her.

2 year old DD2 fell off DD1s rollerscates breaking her arm. Even worse, walked around for a week before I got round to getting her checked. (in my defence - she was checked at the time but not xrayed!)

2.5 yr old DD2 'fell' up the stairs when I was holding her hand - still has scar on head.

numerous slips, trips and falls from high and bouncy things.

But they were all accidents. like your DDs was. makes you feel like shit but is OK and part of parenting and growing up.

Trod on son's toe and nail came off when he was 18 months.

Husband shut son's finger in door, breaking it.

Son was dancing on table and slipped and banged head, splitting it open.

I'm sure there's more...

In the park thr other day and 3yr old rolled backwards down a hill on his trike, fell off and hurt himself. Felt pretty awful already, but made much worse by some other mum telling me off... repeatedly! I couldn't believe it! Pointing out that he was going backwards really fast, with me trying to ignor her and comfort my child. I thought it was pretty bloody obvious that I HAD noticed seeing as I was running after him yelling stop! Rgh, some people are odd, it would never even occur to me to say something like that.

Thanks to you all, She is fine now but has a big dressing.

Oh yes,

dd1 was playfighting with dh and he threw her on the bed and gave her whiplash

ds2 fell down the stairs (yesterday) - he is 14mo - black eye, call to nhs direct. We were all rushing to get out of the house and no-one remembered to watch him.

ds1 fell over on brush left lying around (although he was messing around with it in someway) and needed stitches

dd2 fell off slide in park, largely unsupervised by me, and broke her tooth.

Oh god I forgot the elbow dislocation incident in Sainsbury's car park

My mum dislocated my elbow trying to pull me away from the telly while I pulled the other way in a tantrum.

I hold onto that thought every time something happens to DD. I think the stupidest thing was me doing something (not mumsnet) on the computer when "USB device not recognised" flashed up. DD had the camera cable in her mouth

Hope your DD is alright today.

Oh, poor you and poor dd, but really, I can't imagine that any child between the ages of 2.5 and 3 hasn't been within reaching distance of a drinking glass.

How is she today?

My DS was screaming in his cot and I was trying to get ready in the morning. I took him out of the cot and let him crawl around after me. He followed me from the spare room into our room and I was playing peek a boo as we went, only as I realised he hadn't followed me I poked my head round the door just to see him launch himself head first down the stairs. He was fine after 5 mins of tears but I swear I got a crop of grey hair after that!

My best friend has the ultimate adventurer for a son. He is the child most likely to find the danger in any situation and place himself bang smack in the middle of it.

When he was about 2 he had a couple of incidents close together that needed a&e attention (spraying cleaner in his eyes and falling onto a toy requiring stiches are just the two that spring to mind but there were more). My best friend had a very friendly visit from the health visitor to check all was well. It was no biggie at all and she could see that there was no issue.

I'm sure this one incident will not require a visit from the HV and you should not be beating yourself up so much. These things happen to us all.

Gosh, we've had a few

DS2 walking into his brother cycling when really I should have been nearer to intervene and getting knocked out and badlycutting his forehead.

DS2 running around and colliding with a boy on a scooter and skinning his nose.

DD pulling a hot drink down on herself.

DS1 standing between some chairs at a funeral and someone moving their chair back and taking his toenail off with it.

They are all just accidents as was your DDs accident and of course if a number of things were different then it wouldn't have happened but you can't predict everything or identify every risk and eliminate it.

(((hugs))) to you though as it is horible when stuff like this happend.

Dd2 and I were playing on an old fashioned see-saw last year. She was really enjoying being (slightly) bounced up in the air when I sat down on my end. It was nearly time to go home so I thought I'll bounce her really high for the last one... I bounced her so high she came over the top and smashed her face on the see-saw. Nose bleed, teeth into lip, the works. Blood everywhere. And through her tears she kept saying "You shouldn't have bounced me so high mummy"

DS#1 had a new mountain board. We went to a specific place on the Mendips for him to have a go but he was a bit cautious. At one point I encouraged him to have a go at what looked like a perfect slope He was nervous but had a go. And he went hurtling over some big lumps and bumps and then slap into a tree. No major damage but some cuts and bruises. I really shouldn't be a mother you know....

We were at a caravan with ds1 when he was 7 months old - i had put him in the car seat but for some unknown reason not strapped him in and put him on the seat next to me. Cue fell off and bashed head - trip to Hospital to make sure not fractured skull.

DS1 about 18 months old swallowed some money that left lying around - cue trip to Hospital for xrays!

DS2 fell over a big soft ball and smashed nose on patio door - broken nose!

DS3 - touched my hair straighteners when they were left on - but the worst thing is i didnt notice how bad it was until a few days later when it was all red and blistered!

So no you are not a crap parent - there will be more trips to A & E yet so dont worry!

Poor you. LOADS of sympathy from me. I have been responsible for horrible things happening to ds2 TWICE. (Strangely never to ds1)
When ds2 was 3 he jumped off my neighbour's wall that was about as high as him. I kept encouraging him to do it again and again, jumping further each time. Eventually he broke his foot...

Then a few years ago we were playing a silly game and I nearly choked him by dropping a little bit of rolled up paper napkin into his mouth that lodged across his windpipe. I will never forget the look of terror on his face

But generally I think I'm a great, hand-on mum and we adore each other. One little mistake doesn't make you a bad parent, we just have to learn from our mistakes and be grateful that no lasting harm is done.

DD fell of the changing table just before her 1st birthday. DH was stood right there but was picking up something off the floor that he had dropped and she followed. DH not paying enough attention = 1st trip to A&E.

Then at an easter party, she was playing with some friends and managed to trap her finger in the door. It wasn't the handle side, it was the inner bit and it was completely shut. Feel sick even thinking of it now. Not watching what they were getting up to = 2nd trip to A&E.

I also shut her finger in the bathroom door.

My DS hasn't had any major accidents yet, so obviously these things happen so we can learn from them.

I remember when I was about 7, falling out of the back of my parents car going 40 mile an hour. Me and my sister were not wearing seatbelts (although I don't think it was law then) and were messing about in the back near the dodgy door. Luckily I rolled to the inter-section but was covered in scrapes. My mum put me in a dettol bath when we got home .

I pulled a heavy leisure centre door back on my son's toe and it went green, and he ended up on anti-biotics.

My 15-mth-old fell off the toddler climbing frame and fractured his ankle in two places while I was 'watching' him.

On our return from A&E I put him tenderly and shakily doan in the hall, turned to get my other child up the step and realised I was locked out.

By the time the firebrigade had arrived to help get him out, he'd made it all the way upstairs on his newly plastered, badly fractured ankle and was sitting wobbling near the top.

(My best line for guaranteeing full attention from work-distracted DH, calling home to complain of his rubbish day:
'Well, the fire brigade have just left...')

I also shut DS2#s finger in the boot. I had watched him walk away before I shut it but somehow he had got his hand back in. No idea how it wasn't cut off.

I have rushed mine to hospital 3 times and you can argue it was my fault every time but now that the shock has worn off and the kids are fine, I know it was an accident.

DS1 fell off the kitchen counter. He had been sat there for no problem for about 20 minutes with me stood right there. I turned to sneeze and he fell off. Blood coming from his ear and nose so made dash to hospital for an x-ray due to suspected fractured skull. He was okay, kept in over night as only 2.4months old.

DD fell on to the buggy and part of it penetrated near her eye. Cue me running screaming to a neighbour who phoned the ambulance and I rang everyone near by who I knew to come round. DH did a 75 minute journey home from work in 37 minutes and then the ambulance turned up only to take us to the wrong hospital. Had to leave the 4 year old and 3 week old with a neighbour while I went with DD in the ambulance. Majoy surgery under a GA and she was in there a very long time. 4 years later she has perfect eye sight.

DS1 fell off his bike, bashed his nose and teeth but fine as he had a helmet on though I did have to take him to A&E and an emergency dentist.

There are so many more but they are the more serious and I remember at the time thinking I would never get over it. I still remember the upset of it all but the kids are fine and that is what matters.

DD also rolled off the changing table when she was about 9 months old when I turned away to sneeze.

I now don't sneeze anywhere near the kids.

Don't be too hard on yourself. You can't second guess everything and you can't protect them from every potential accident.

I would guess that every parent has a least one injury that they could be blamed for.... Get used to it. I think of these things as warnings so i can be a more vigilant parent next time.

I was at the park at the weekend and was too slow to respond to a little boy push mine over and then really pull his hair (they were both 7) and I keep running it over in my mind to see if I could have done anything different. i was talking to the boy's mother at the time and I keep wondering if I was being polite by not saying anything or if I didn't have time to shout??? The little boy had already thrown a ball at my other ds's head and bent ds1's fingers back.... the little shit boy still remained in the park after a reluctant sorry. I then asked my ds why he let the boy hurt him without even shouting..... ffs I should have just comforted him and said how vile the other child was.

Did you leave broken glass on the floor? Did you insist your DD play with it? No...then you are not a shit parent, you just happened to leave a glass on the side like ALL of us do!

When i was little i was trying be helpful and take mums shopping trolley thing (a la old ladies) upstairs to put it away, i got to the top step, she shouted at me and startled me. I fell down landing on one of the wheels and chipped a bone in my spine. i was very very lucky that day!

Accidents happen. Don't beat yourdself up about it.

When DS was just 4 I watched him lift his bike up onto a low wall, and then just watched him pedal off along the wall and fly off the end, falling headfirst into concrete.

I don't know what happened that day, but I just had a mental block and simply didn't register that what he was about to do was dangerous and could have ended very badly indeed.

Why I just watched I will never know. I felt guilty for weeks and weeks.

On the plus side he wasn't badly hurt and he llearnt a very valuable lesson about gravity that day

My DS nearly choked on a coin when he was about a year old, I still feel sick and tearful when I think of it.

He also broke his leg, tripping over a toy in a bit of freak accident. I was asked repeatedly at the hospital what happened and I was really worried they thought I had done something to him (although I think they just weren't listening). If another well-meaning person said 'oooh, you have to watch them all the time don't you?' I would have throttled them!

You can be uber-vigilant but it really can happen to anyone.

I let my DD aged 2 down awkwardly from a piggy back and she ended up with a fractured elbow. Same DD last week wanted to go faster on our slide - I suggested water on the slide... by the way she had no clothes on. Flew off the bottom of slide, sustained grass burns on bottom and I a big graze from the fibreglass slide on her arm - very painful. DD3 aged nearly 2 broke her leg on our trampoline when bouncing with her sister - no adults around so bit difficult telling hospital what had happenned. No calls from SS yet !

DP was playing with dd2 pretending to kick her up the bum but he accidently did and she fell forward and knocked her teeth, there was lots of blood and whe felt guilty for months after.

But it was an accident and accidents happen, it is just one of those things!

She broke one of your drinking glasses? I hope you gave her a good smack and told her off. It's her fault entirely and she deserved to be hurt for misbehaving.

If you agree with any of the above then you should hate yourself. If, in fact, you feel terrible, it physically hurt you to see your little girl in pain and you are mentally replaying it and beating yourself up, congratulations. You are a normal, run of the mill parent with an ordinary run of the mill child.

You can only minimise the damage they do. It will happen. You do your best. I have a fireguard in front of our open fire to protect dd. She has fallen and banged her head on it several times. You cannot prevent injury.

I gave my daughter (about 18 months) a bunch of mistletoe to play with while I was wrapping Xmas presents. It was only after I fished a number of berries out of her mouth that I wondered if they might be poisonous. A quick google search revealed that they are. Very. Legged it down to A & E asap. Fortunately I don't think she actually ate any and she was fine. I felt pretty shit though.

When dt1 was about 2 years old, she was sat halfway down the stairs, I had stripped the bedding, but while carrying it downstairs, one of the sheets that6 was dangling gripped her around the head and she rolled all the way to the bottom.

10 day old dd, didn't put moses basket back on stand properly, dd fell on floor screaming, 8 hours in a&e. Thank goodness she was ok. Don't beat yourself up - though it still makes me go cold when i think about it...

I dropped DD on her head when she was a few months old because picked up car seat and had not strapped her in.

DS drunk an unknown quantity of calpol. We left the bottle out but the top must of not been on properly.

DS fell out of car - luckily not moving - and hit his head on the kerb. When I called the GP she just laughed and said "You wouldn't believe the accidents I have had with my children".

As you can see we've all done things that have led to accidents and we're all a bit more vigilant now. Stuff happens - try not to beat yourself up too much. You DD will be fine.

My ds broke his finger when he was 11 months old. Sort of my fault I suppose - he pulled a heavy doorstop down on top of his hand at my friend's house. i wasn't watching him - but you can't watch them all the time!

8 weeks later, I slammed the same finger in the car door. Definitely my fault this time - I can still, 7 years later, hear the slam of the door and the scream....

Even if it's not your fault you blame yourself - ds broke his wrist falling off his bike while dp was sitting having lunch with friends 10 yards away. He still blames himself - he cries if he thinks about it too much. Even though it wasn't his fault and he couldn't have stopped it happening.

My DD fell out of her pram because I hadn't done the straps up properly even though I thought I had IYSWIM. Not only that but she chose THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD to do it. I've never moved so fast in my life. It was only when I was on the other side holding a screaming DD that I realised what had happened.

I still feel terrible about it and it was 2 years ago. Your glass pales into insignificance in comparison.

My DD burnt her hand on an iron too. I ironed ds's sweatshirt to take him to nursery. Forgot to turn it off, took the dc's out to take ds to nursery. Came back with DD, she went straight in living room and managed to knock the iron onto back of her hand. She ended up with a skin graft. I felt awful about, she was 2 at the time and 11 now and I still get flashbacks.
She is a bit accident prone and I think she has had 5 trips to a&e in all for accidents.
DS ate some flowers in the garden which were related to digitalis which involved him having to eat charcoal.

My HV knew about DD's hand and dd was questioned in depth by the doctors when they thought she had broken her arm playing horses with ds, but that was the extent of it.

Fireworks party hosted by Friends AA. Friends BB turned up with their children. Everybody brought fireworks. These were left on a table in the garden within reach of children. The children of Friends BB were 5&7 and lit a firework on the table when everyone was drinking and talking and socialising.

Firework went off, missing one of the guests by less than a centimetre.

The odd thing is that Friends AA were horribly shaken and blaming themselves, and asked me over a bottle of wine later whether I thought it was their fault. I thought it was clearly Friends BB who should have been supervising their children.

You might think otherwise, of course.

DD grabbed the hot iron when I ran out the room to grab something I left in the kitchen and burnt her hand quite badly. I felt awful at the time, but she's fine and I'm far more careful with the iron now (even though she's years older, and unlikely to touch it again)

dh slammed dd's finger in the door once, when they were larking about, and broke it.

ds1 broke his leg when I wasn't watching (he was under 2 and just walking). ds2 aged 2 needed 11 stitches in his head (hit by bike, me not watching!). He then fell out of a tree before his stitches were removed. I cut the top off ds1's finger while showing him the "safe" way to close a penknife.

The worst was when ds2 (18 months) burned both his hands badly by leaning on top of a gas stove - I had put a toy on top to dry, and of course he climbed over fireguard to get it.

Has any parent NOT been responsible for at least one accident?

Thankyou all. You are all makeing me feel a bit better...although still feeling crap, iykwim.

My dd2 fell 4ft into a river when I left her in the garden to answer the phone.

I saw her do it - I have never run so fast in my life!

Luckily she didn't need to go to hospital. But I should never have left her.

I only realised I was soaking wet when friend came round half and hour later and said "Weegie? Why are you all wet?"

I was playing blind man's buff in the upstairs hall once. Very sensibly my mum realised that i could possibly fall down the stairs blindfolded and moved a rocking horse to block the stairs.

Only she didn't mention it. Then i found the rocking horse and reached behind it to find the bannister i thought was there.

me, rocking horse, falling down stairs etc.
she meant well.

oh and i even got the call from our HV after 3 accidents with DS1. one bump on the head, one cup of coffee spilled on him and then he sprayed mr muscle cleaner in his own face. all in the space of a fortnight.
HV was very understanding.

Yes. My daughter nearly lost the tip of her finger in a heavy glass shop door. I left her playing by it which was bloody stupid. She was lucky she didn't lose her hand. I still get flash backs now.

I got the letter from social services 'asking if everything was ok' - bloody effective if I was abusing her! - but it will be clear to the hospital if this is a situation of concern or just an ordinarily loving and sensible parent who slipped up.

It happens. Really nasty things can happen very quickly and although they may be our 'fault', it is a fault shared by many, many parents. We are only human, we can't remember everthing and small children can move bloody fast.

So just try to keep on top of the obvious dangers, but don't beat yourself up too much.

Really don't worry about the hospital and health visitors, children have accidents all the time. When my DD as been in hospital the hv will give me call to check we are ok,it isn't anything to worry about.

A and E inform GP/HV
The only reason for this is to pick up repeated accidents[neglect]
or non accidental injury~done by carer to child[not relevant in your dds accident]

Don't worry

All children have accidents

I've posted this before but I remember reading something in Michael J Fox's latest book that made me smile. During an interview with David Letterman he said something like "Parenting is basically like one long suicide watch. Your children try to find new and interesting ways to injure or kill themselves and it's your job to stop it before it happens..."

Don't beat yourself up too much.

Thankyou. I don't know how I even got her to hospital.

Now I can't help worrying about the authorities becoming involved. I know health visitors may be informed DD went to hospital, and I understand why, but what about SS? She's never had any accident before.

Please dont beat yourself up about it. The very fact that you hate yourself and feel like shit shows you are a very caring parent.

...because DD (2.5)found and broke a drinking glass today, and it shouldn't have been within reach, and she has cut her hand very badly needing stitches.

I feel like shit. I hate myself.

namechange, btw.