Handhold please - DD4 at A&E

[CautiouslyPessimistic]

Brand new 'big girl' bed today, mid sleeper with a den underneath. Twice today she's hit her head standing up under it. The second time we weren't in the room to see it but about 15 minutes later she got a brief nosebleed and then produced an enormous blood clot out of her mouth.

We rang 111 who weren't concerned but said they'd have someone call back for 'home management' advice. We kept her up for two hours but no one had rung so I let her go to bed. 20 minutes later they call and ask me to wake her.

I've never seen her asleep like that - we had to turn on the lights, pull off the covers, shake her and basically shout her name to wake her up. She's now gone to A&E with DH and I'm sitting here like a lemon watching my son's baby monitor with nothing to distract me from the panic.

Fuck that fucking bed. It took me a day to put together and I fucking hate it now. Jesus Christ I was terrified when we couldn't wake her, I think my heart stopped.

Distract me? Reassure me? I feel completely powerless and out of the loop.

Bless you OP. Sometimes they're just determined to hurt themselves no matter what we do! DD is 3 now but when she was about 8 months she was strapped into her high chair and I turned around to put some plates in the dishwasher and when I turned back she had somehow wriggled free of the 5 part harness and was lying on the stone tile kitchen floor! I have never screamed so loudly. She was totally fine but it's such a horrible memory! So hard that you can't be there but it sounds like she's going to be totally fine. Sending you love.

I hope she's seen soon so they can reassure you. My DS split his forehead to the skull when he was 7 - running in a park, slipped on a wet bit of path and did a sliding tackle into the edge of a metal bench. Six stitches and a Harry Potter scar, but he was absolutely fine.

I really hope everything goes well.

Sending you all best wishes op. it was absolutely not your fault. As PP say sometimes they just hurt themselves. All have mine have been in a&e at one time or another, DS3, when he was also 4, was sat up looking at the pictures in his bedtime story, when he suddenly propelled himself backwards to go to sleep. He whacked his head off the wall so hard, I swear the whole house shook! I felt sick with worry for him.

The worry isn’t nice, I’m glad you have seen a picture of them waiting. That is a good sign. She is in the right place but hopefully they will be home soon.

Hugs.

Hoping it’s not much longer for you all until everyone is home and tucked up in bed

If she was able to do the things 111 had asked then it’s understandable why they weren’t concerned. They do give worsening advice particularly for head injury’s. For example to wake them up every hour for the first 6 hours. Any problems speaking balancing/walking, become gazed, groggy etc to call 999. I hate this 111 bashing all the time. You don’t need permission from 111 to go to a&e or call for an ambulance.

Anyway, I’m sure she will be fine!

Big hugs op, accidents happen and I'm sure after a check over she will be just fine.

When my DD was about 3 we had an electric hob. I was cooking and trying to keep the kids from under my feet and she put her hands directly on the hob and burnt all her fingers. She screamed and screamed and we had to go to A&E. It was so bloody awful and I felt guilty for a long time. This was over 5 years ago now - no lasting damage but I remember how terrible I felt about the whole incident. It'll be a distant memory soon .

Dsis 25 years ago; my parents thought it was a good idea to let her sleep on the top bunk age 3 . She lent her head over the back to see e me she 4.5 bottom bunk . Fell down headfirst, ended up wedged between wall and head crushed my barbie van . She was absolutely fine ... parents less so - bunk beds very quickly separated the next day ! Don’t even think she was seen at hospital, parents rang GP who lived 2 miles away and came round to check her ... pre 111!!

I fell off a moving roundabout same sort of age .... KO’d ... fine ... sisters classmate fell 10ft off a slide thing onto concrete and KO’d ... also fine ... kids are resilient wee things !!

I hope your daughter is alright, I'm sure she will be!
Don't feel bad about the bed. I remember when my dad put bunk beds into mine and my sister's room for the first time and in the night I forgot I was in a bunk bed, went to stand up out of bed and cracked my head so hard I knocked myself out at 7 years old. Worse than that it was the middle of the night so no one was awake to know what had happened, I woke up on the floor, bleeding out my head, I was so confused I got back in bed and went to sleep, my mum came in the next morning and started screaming seeing me covered in blood, I jumped up in a panic and whacked my head again and knocked myself out for a second time!
A few stitches and the bunk beds were taken down the next day and I was absolutely fine. Loved the treats I got for being brave and it became one of the funny family stories!
When your daughters a bit older this will be one of those things you might all laugh about too ☺️ children hurt themselves but they're tough! Fingers crossed she's home soon!

Oh how worrying

I half expected my children to be put on the “at risk” register when they were younger. We couldn’t afford a proper holiday, so were delighted when a friend of my dsis offered us the use of her caravan on a holiday park beside the sea. Two days after we got there dd (5 at the time) somehow managed to fall off a chute onto tarmac at the playground. She seemed okay, but we took her to hospital just to get her checked over. Doctor was lovely with her and she was fine to go back to the caravan with us.

2 days later my dm took my 3dcs over to the playground again. Ds (4 at the time) ran in front of a swing his sister was on and it hit him on the head. The swing hadn’t been going particularly fast and he seemed fine at first, not knocked out and stopped crying after a few minutes. Then he projectile vomited. Off we went to the hospital and who was on duty, yes the doctor we had seen 2 days earlier. Of course, when he saw us, he immediately asked if dd was okay. When I said we were now there with ds and what had happened he just looked at me and said I hope you aren’t going back there. Ds was kept in overnight but was fine the next morning so was discharged.

Luckily there was no lasting damage to either of my dcs, but I felt absolutely awful and worried for weeks that social services were going to appear on the doorstep.

She's back! Given a once over and proclaimed fine, they said to keep an eye on her for 24-48 hours but not to wake her through the night, just to let her rest. She's got a 'superstar' sticker and has just told me that the doctor said she was to watch 'twelvey five' episodes of a tv show she likes before bed

Thank you so much everyone, I'm very grateful for all your stories and support xx

BFF is a paediatrician and she always says re head bangs that the front & back of the head are really very difficult to actually cause injury because the bone is so hard there, especially if no lump etc.

We sometimes wake DD up if she's napping too long and it's like waking the dead, toddlers sleep HARD. The other night had to go in to do a poo check (2.5years) & she did not even move when I rolled her over and patted her bum to check for poop while stumbling around in the dark.

Bless her heart! So glad all's well. Now get some rest!

Glad she’s ok. I hope you can sleep tonight. It happens. You’ll probably find she won’t do it again now x

Great news! Hope you all sleep well 💜

Awwwwwww, glad all is sorted @CautiouslyPessimistic xx

Glad your DD is ok. It was sensible to get her checked out but definitely not your fault! I have 4DC and when the youngest was about 2.5 years, we put her in a toddler bed. Within a few months she was in A & E as she had fallen out of bed during the night and fractured her wrist!!

Another time, DC3 was standing on her booster seat at the table and tipped the whole chair back, banging her head on a concrete floor. it was about 5.30pm and I was due to start work at 6.00pm as an A & E Receptionist. Saw the A & E Consultant who thought she was fine but said, although he was 99% sure she was fine, Sod's law would mean that, as a member of staff, it would be my daughter who wouldn't be fine if we just took her home, so we spent 6 hours on the paediatric ward before being discharged in the early hours.

Hope you all managed some sleep and DD doesn't have a sore head today.

I’m so glad to read your most recent update. It’s so scary when they hurt themselves. Please don’t feel bad though, I think most parents have a similar A and E story. My oldest ended up in A and E after climbing down from a worktop I’d sat her on and bumping her head, I felt awful and my youngest ended up in A and E after falling over the super tall bed guard we had on our double bed to prevent him from falling out and going white and floppy which terrified me. I hope you can now get some sleep. Both were absolutely fine.

So delighted to read through the full thread to the lovely conclusion. She'll want to be a doctor soon if she thinks doctors recommend elenty-five episodes of cartoons!

With mine? I had a sleeper. A good sleeper. However, one day, I noticed, goodness, she has been asleep for 3 hours during the day? Went in to wake her up as was longer than her usual sleep. After calling her, she woke. Like one of those dolls out of a horror film. Her eyes just opened. She just stared at me. Now. All normal you might think. No. I had read an article about David Beckham's child having some sort of seizures and that involving a child being unresponsive. 999. By the time they arrived, like rapid response, she was sitting on the floor, grinning up at them, toothless. The ambulance were like, because she's a baby, we'll take her in as a precaution (I later found out that they have to). She was smiling the whole way. Of course I had to mention my proposed diagnosis (ye, the article I had read about Boris Beckham). She was kept in overnight for observation. Not a thing wrong with her apart from me startling her out of her sleep. Discharged the next morning and admired by all.

Same child. About 2 months later. Forgive me for what is now unsafe, but we didn't have a bouncer. So she was in her car seat (unlike the ones now). So she used to rock herself back and forth. Except she rocked herself backwards and her head fell out of the thing and cracked the back of her head off the skirting board. For a child who never cried, good christ did she find her lungs. Ambulance again (I was not experienced with children). Off we go again and they're examining her head whilst eying me up and down and then said something like 'the injury line seems consistent with the account of accident'. I was never so thankful to have been handed my child back.

Last time same child, about a month later again. She had a fever, vomiting, getting listless (I thought). Rock up to A&E. Doctor asks me to spell her name - UP SHE PIPES to spell it out - about 16 months at this stage? The doctors just laughed and said 'well done Esme!' 'Well Mum, I think it's safe to say that she's fine to go home'.

After that, I swear to God, I should have gone grey. Nope. And she's still not reared - I think she has been saving the real terror for when she learns to drive and goes to uni. PFB, no experience, terror and a particularly placid child. Single mum too, so not as if I had someone to talk sense into me.

The sleeper I refer to is dd, not a sort of bed. She just slept a lot.

I am glad she's home and you can all get some rest. Regarding the bed while she is little to avoid her going under I'd move the chest of drawers and bookcase etc so they're blocking it. You can fill the gaps with stacking boxes for her toys. And the area behind the chest of drawers etc can be used for storage or to rotate toys.

I hope you are all asleep now & not on your eleventyth tv program!!!

Forgive the bed! It's be great for storage & great fun! Maybe get her hair cut & styled into a Mohawk?! Kids are dappy, she'll soon get used to getting in & out without banging her bonce. If it wasn't her bed it would be a friends Wendy house, the breakfast bar or dining table. It's just kids, being kids.

It IS terrifying when they do something like spit out a clot of blood or are very hard to wake up, but they do tend to sleep the sleep of the innocent and mid sleep cycle can be very difficult to wake.

I hope you can all have a lazy morning (maybe have Dr's rations of TV) & she enjoys playing in her new den.

The bed is fine. Don't go changing it. It's not like she fell out of it or couldn't get up/down 🙄🙄.

@Turtletotem

I am glad she's home and you can all get some rest. Regarding the bed while she is little to avoid her going under I'd move the chest of drawers and bookcase etc so they're blocking it. You can fill the gaps with stacking boxes for her toys. And the area behind the chest of drawers etc can be used for storage or to rotate toys.

Good God WHY? She's 4, she bumped her head, she'll learn from it & approach it differently. You can't stop them playing &/learning. Would you stop her playing on playground equipment? Under the table? In a friends play hut. She's playing in a den in her bedroom, she doesn't need a padded cell.