ADVICE? Toddler hit head!

[MummyIsMagic79]

My almost one year old fell out of his high chair about an hour ago and banged the back of his head on his toy box on the way down. He screamed for few minutes, then was laughing and playing. Since then he's been a bit whingier than usual. He's had a breastfeed and is asleep on my lap. This isn't his usual sleep time so now I'm worried. Should I do something? TIA.

[sapfu]

Try to wake him, how does he seem?

tbh a bang on the head is something I wouldn't think twice about troubling the nhs with - I'd call 111 and probably head to A&E too.

[MummyIsMagic79]

I tried to wake him and he was fine but wanted to go back to sleep! There isn't really a bump I can see. Is 111 like NHS direct? Thanks :)

[neolara]

I think if they scream immediately, then they are generally OK. It is only if they lose consiousness that there is likely to be a problem. If you take him into A & E they will almost certainly do nothing and just keep and eye on him. You can do this at home. I have no medical training by the way. But I did take my dc1 to hospital the first time she really banged her head. They were very nice to me (they probably thought I was completely pfb) but gave me the above advice.

[MummyIsMagic79]

Thank you. I'm going to call 111 and see how he is when he wakes up, I think. He did give a mighty scream! :(

[sapfu]

There is a small chance that, even after an immediate scream, they will not be fine at all. It is not the case that if they lose consciousness there is likely to be a problem. There can be a problem even if they don't lose consciousness.

Please call 111 - it's the new number for nhs direct, though the old number ( 08454647) is still the one to use in certain areas. Try 111 first.

Yes you might waste a day sitting in A&E. Your son will probably be fine. But please don't take chances with head injuries.

[sneezecakesmum]

I used to be an A&E nurse and people seem to assume when you take a child to A&E with a head injury we will X-ray or CT scan heads and do all sorts of fancy stuff. Unfortunately a trip to A&E is not a magic wand against problems.

What we do is take temp, pulse, check pupils are normal size and react to light, etc. just to make sure they are within normal parameters. Take a history. Loss of consciousness? Excessive sleepiness? Abnormal behaviour? Less steady on their feet, vomiting? Have a feel of any bumps on their head. A firm swelling is usually ok. A 'boggy' swelling can indicate underlying skull fracture.

If it's all ok give instructions to observe for any of the above. Sleepiness immediately after the head injury is common, but the important thing is are they their usual self when woken. The gold standard is to wake every 2 hours through the night to ensure they are not lapsing into unconsciousness. You want a normal (if grumpy!) response. This is not needed for more minor bumps. Any fall greater than the child's height is more of a worry. The back of the head is worse than the bony cranium.

Any child unusually sleepy, behaving out of character and/or vomiting needs to go back to A&E. Always follow your instincts, if they don't look right get them checked. If you are worried ditto, but don't forget the aftercare. Most kids are fine in A&E, it's afterwards things may worsen.

The vast majority of head injuries turn out fine.

[Onesleeptillwembley]

Neolaras post is incorrect and dangerous. Please ignore.

[sewingandcakes]

Great post sneezecakesmum.

Mummyismagic if he's fallen from his high chair then the fall is likely to be greater than his height. I'd recommend taking him to a&e too; it's worth a wait for peace of mind and his safety. He's probably fine; my ds2 fell was pushed by ds1 off the top of our bunk beds when he was 3, and had a proper big egg of a lump. He stayed in hospital for several hours for observation before being discharged with no further problems.

Hope all is ok.

[sneezecakesmum]

True, it's the abusive drunks who pee in the corner of the cubicles

[minibmw2010]

Neloras post is fine? Why is it dangerous? She's actually said the same that a paramedic said to me earlier this week after my son fell over and smacked the back of his head on concrete. The supermarket I was at called them as we were worried he'd become sleepy. They told me the danger of them falling asleep is an old wives tale, it's ok for them to go to sleep so long as (a) they haven't vomited and (b) they're asleep, not unconscious and can be roused easily. It's the shock that makes them sleepy. A&E did observe but nothing more (and that's fine, I trust them).

The height of a high chair fall would worry me more.

[UriGeller]

After any head bump I'd check they are responsive, have steady pupils and are steady, not shaky or looking pukey. If all these signs are normal, I'd then check again in half an hour. Then if all is ok, they can sleep!

A bump on a toy box, well, the toy box will have absorbed some of the energy of the bump I reckon. But if he is weird or shaky once he's awake, or if he vomits in his sleep, you need to go to a&e.

[Onesleeptillwembley]

It's perfectly possible to scream, cry, etc after a head injury and develop concussion or worse. Saying the opposite is stupid and if anybody relies on that to judge whether or not to access medical help, is downright bloody dangerous!