What to do - toddler fell head first off couch

[PandaAtTheZoo]

Turned my back for a second and my 20 month old toddler fell over the arm of the couch head first onto a wooden floor. He cried alot but calmed down after a minute. He has a red mark at the top of his forhead. What should I do? Do I take him to a and e? It says to keep them awake for possible head injuries but it is his bedtime now. Really worried

I am a cautious type but I would be tempted to phone for advice. When my son was little he threw himself out of his cot. He had a small red mark under his eye. We were told to bring him in as apparently that can be sign of skull fracture? No idea now if that was because red mark was under eye or if it was because it was a red mark per se but I thought i should let you know what they said at the time. Hope they are ok x

My DD had a few head bangs when younger, when she was 12 months she fell and hit her head on a glass TV stand, there was a massive lump and a cut, took her to A&E and she was fine, they told me if the calm within 10 minutes they are ok, to let them nap, but to prod them every hour within the first 6 hours after the injury.
Her worst injury was on her first day of nursery, she was 2, she hit her head on a tree and had a massive lump and 2 black eyes.
My DS has also fallen down the stairs in the house and one of the stairs in the garden onto concrete.

Personally I say you take him to be checked over. My son fell on bottom couple stairs at his dad's about that age and hit his head. Had they told me when they bought him home I would have had him checked out a lot sooner but because they did not tell me he was t checked out until 12 hours later because he had a seizure in the night. His father said he wasn't sick so it wasn't something he wanted to tell me.

We phoned 111 when ds2 ran into the door frame. They asked us if he knew who we were (he hadn't learned to talk yet so wouldn't be able to tell us), if he was drowsy (well a bit, but it was bedtime) or if he was confused (he was 13 months old at the time so basically permanently bewildered!). They sent us off to A&E to get him checked. Doc said that they're much less concerned if a bump comes up (it had done massively by the time dh got him to the hospital) as it's less likely there's anything going on inside. Just kept an eye on him for an hour or so then gave us the first of many leaflets on head injuries.

We coslept then so he was close overnight anyway, but tbf I didn't sleep a lot that night.

Dh and I were both pretty sure we knew what to look for, but I think I just wanted a grown up to check properly

Hope your little chap is OK op.

pastabest
He will be fine.

You would know by now if he wasn't.

Part of being a toddler is falling off stuff head first unfortunately

I agree with what pastabest said. Just keep an eye on him - I bet by tomorrow it will be as if nothing happened. We know about potential dangers of head injuries but the vast majority of people have no lasting effects. Only take to A&E if he develops other symptoms.
Let him sleep, the advice to keep people awake is old hat. Also virtually impossible with young kids, they'll sleep if they want to.

Tell us tomorrow how he is.

How was he during the night OP? Hope you are both ok

Toddlers are bouncy. Falling head first off the sofa is a daily occurrence for my 2 year old 😂

Just keep an eye out for signs

I checked him during the night by prodding him and he moved. He also moved alot in his sleep through the night as usual. He wasn't sick or anything. This morning he woke up a little later than usual (but he went to bed later than usual and he has a cold). He seems fine now, playing with his toys and running around as usual

Thanks for posting the update OP; glad to hear he's fine by today.

My 5-YO did this back in April - typically when I was abroad for a few days on a work trip and DH was caring for him. I first heard of it the next day when DH told me DC had had blurring of vision the previous evening and complained about not being able to see the TV properly. (I'm a panicker; if I'd been home he'd have been straight to A&E and as it was was ready to jump on the next flight home). By the next day DC was completely fine.

Terrifying, isn't it?

Glad he's ok, OP. They're a bloody worry aren't they? Mine are all teenagers now, I was going to say it doesn't get any easier but that's a lie, it does 💐

I remember first time one of my twins banged their head like this - I cried more than them. They do it at least twice a week now, at least. Even fell down the stairs a couple of months ago. I’ve never had to take them to A&E for a head bump, only once when one cut his eyebrow open.

Their paediatrician said to me you don’t need to worry about head injuries unless there are ongoing issues - if there’s any injury to their brain that needs medical attention you’ll know it from their behaviour. Obviously if there’s a lot of bleeding or a deep wound they need to be seen. They no longer recommend keeping them awake as long as they’re acting normally.

Put butter on the area straight away. Reduces bruising

Great update op, you must be feeling relieved today.