12mo DS constantly bruised. Cause for concern?

[redllamayellowllama]

My DS is starting to walk with real confidence and is gung-ho to say the least. But, he is constantly bashing himself into door frames, doors, floors, table legs etc. Our place is as 'safe' as it can be so, short of wrapping his head in cotton wool, I'm not sure what more I can do to protect him. At the moment, he has a huge bruise on his cheek and two on his forehead, in addition to the bruise-like haemotoma he has had since birth.

Is he just being an active boy who will sort himself out as he becomes more spatially aware? My concerns are that he seems to bruise badly very easily. Also, I have a problem with my peripheral vision that is genetic, so I'm wondering when something like that can be tested.

At toddler gym yesterday I received lots of concerned 'should I be worried about your child's welfare' looks - although I think these were put to rest when he climbed on top of equipment and belly flopped onto the mats - laughing all the while.

Any advice/experience?

A friend's DD also seemed to bruise really easily, and she eventually took her to see a doctor and it did turn out to be something diagnosable, not just usual bruising (afraid I can't remember what it was!). But she did have to go through a whole bunch of questioning designed to rule out that the bruises weren't being intentionally caused by her (the mother) or someone else, which was pretty unpleasant.

But at least after they'd established the DD wasn't being abused they were able to help with the bruising. Of course, it might well be that the bruises your DS is getting are totally normal considering his stage of mobility.

If it were my DD I think I'd take her to the doctor and brace myself for the inevitable questioning.