To be shocked and amazed

[lizzlebizzle33]

My 2 yo just fell down the stairs, proper roley poley style tumble and he is absolutely fine? He didn't even cry. If I fell the same way he did I think I would be seriously hurt.

Im still in shock, it just happened in slow motion right in front of me, I normally go ahead of him so I can catch him if he falls but he wouldn't wait and got ahead of me, and I was carrying the baby too.

Thank god that children seem to be a bit bendier than adults!!

What have your DCs done that have scared the life out of you?

Children fall not the whole stair height at once, but from one stair to the next, which is only a little distance... but then repeated several times! And they flop.
DS fell down uncarpeted stairs when he was nearly two, cried out of surprise for a few seconds, then got up and on with what he'd intended on doing.
He also fell out of the top bunk whilst fast asleep when he was about 7, and didn't even wake up!

My DDs have had falls and DD1 did role down the stairs once. She also didn't hurt herself at all, much to my relief! They also recover quickly as well. DD2 broke her wrist a couple of months ago and she's completely better now.

why do we tense up when it's a bad thing to do?

I was told once that it's because we comprehend what's happening and, in fear, anticipate impact. Babies (and drunk people) don't understand what's happening so they don't tense up, which is in fact the best move. That's why they have to teach people to 'fall' or land safely by sort of rolling, rather than being tense.
I don't know if it's true, but it makes sense to me!

Little kids are like cats, it can take a lot to injure them when they fall over.

Unfortunately I find in my mid 50s that a fall that would have been minor as a child, can more easily lead to injury now.

I seem to have missed out on the learning how to tense when things go wrong. I had a car accident and my body went floppy instead of tense.

My brother tensed he was bruised and sore.
I went floppy, dislocated 4 vertebrae in my neck and my shoulder, spent 6 months in a hard collar. So floppiness is not always gift.

I can fall spectacularly without damage though and have never broken anything.

Naturally immature.

Wow. These stories are very funny (and a little scary!!). Actually laughing out loud reading them. I guess I won't be laughing when it happens to me!!!

Ouch, Pananny! At least you know you'll be alright though when you fall off your changing table

They're also closer to the ground and with a lower centre of gravity so the initial fall has less of an impact.

DD3 did exactly that when she was about 18 months - tumbled head over heels all the way from the top to the bottom of our stairs, landing flat on her back on the laminate hallway floor. I was horrified, but she was no more than slightly nonplussed, and after a small pack of chocolate buttons - for the shock (her, not me) - she was right as rain.

I make a point of trying to go floppy if I ever feel myself falling i.e. don't try to stop it; just go with the flow, or fall in this case. It does help.

I was once in another room when DD(2) fell down the stairs. She seemed absolutely fine but DS(4) who was with her at the time was a bit traumatised and insisted on reenacting her fall with his teddy to show me.

There were some very dramatic cartwheels

I remember falling down the stairs as a kid, not because I hurt myself but because of the look of horror followed by relief on my dad's face! It was the 70s, I was probably 4 or 5 and was at the top of the main stairs in my parents' house. My dad was on the house phone (on a little table in the passageway as they used to be back then). I tumbled head over heels several times and bounced back up completely fine. Took a little while to convince him I was ok.

When my brother was little we called him Rubber Boy because he got himself into some hairy situations and always came out unscathed.

As an adult, however, I've found that a minor fall causes me to ache all over because I tense up as I go down.

The drunk thing is totally true, as an aside. This is outing but several years ago my barely functioning alcoholic uncle fell face-first down Fleshmarket Close in Edinburgh (a very high stone staircase) and came away with broken arm, ribs and eye socket. The doctor said that if he had been sober he probably would have died.

Not an actual fall but a near miss. Apparently when I was about 4 my DF came into the bedroom to find I’d opened the window fully - a concrete patio directly underneath - and was dangling out by my ankles. (Window catch was tied to a heavy weight by shocked DF for a couple of decades after.) Despite my DB being younger than me and me generally remembering accidents from my childhood, my DB remembers this incident while I have no recollection at all.

The doctor said that if he had been sober he probably would have died.

Mind you, if he had been sober, he possibly wouldn't have fallen... That's the gamble, I suppose!

Mind you, if he had been sober, he possibly wouldn't have fallen... That's the gamble, I suppose!

Try telling him that as he necks budget wine alone in his room each night! We actually thought the fall would be the turning point for him to get help but it's several years later and... nothing.

Mind you, if he had been sober, he possibly wouldn't have fallen... That's the gamble, I suppose!

Exactly! Had a friend who, when absolutely wankered, got hit by a black cab. He’d seen the bright lights of a kebab shop and just stepped out into the road. Probably wouldn’t have done that sober!

He was another who was told that he’d basically rag doll-ed over the taxi (all 6’3” of him) and if he’d had a clue what was happening, he’d be dead.

Pillock expected sympathy, too!

Oh dear, I'm sorry @amusedbush, that sounds difficult. I didn't mean to sound quite so flippant.

When my dd was about 1 she pulled herself up onto the back of the sofa and fell over the other side onto a hardwood floor. It was slow motion for me trying to grab her before she fell and missing her. My heart was in my throat as I ran round the side to get her. She was sat on the floor smiling at me. Not a mark on her.
She also fell down the stairs when her dad was looking after her one day, he was white as a sheet when he told me but she was fine.

My DD fell full length down the stairs at about 3 years old. I was sitting on the sofa & never moved so fast in my life, if I'd been a tiny bit faster I'd have caught her, but she did a full somersault at the bottom & landed on her face on the laminate floor. She was fine except for a few bruises. I was a bit shaky though, & we took the bottom stairgate off straightaway, as she narrowly missed the bar with her head as she somersaulted past it, could have been very nasty.

Dahlietta

Oh no, I was being lighthearted when I said try telling him that! It's so difficult to convey tone here

He's not a big part of my life but I worry for my granny who is left to look after him.

Amused, I'm glad I didn't offend you!