15m old fell downstairs - seems fine

[Witchycat]

I must have left stairgate undone. 15 month old fell down stairs. Cried for a few minutes then had milk & seems absolutely fine. No problem with focus or coordination. No obvious bumps or problems at all. Kept her up for half an hour or so then put her to bed.

Should I have waited longer?

Is it possible for a child to seem completely ok but not be?

Any advice welcome. THanks

how many stairs, did you see him fall, how did he land, what did he bang?

she sorry

my ds fell top to bottom at 18m about 13stairs, he cried a bit then settled down, next day his arm was really swollen, had to take him to hospital, turned out to be really bad sprain, poor wee mite, i felt terrible

same questions as chapsmum!

if he didn't cry for long he's highly likely to be fine though. dd has fallen down 10 stone steps twice and was fine both times. they are made of rubber.

Indoor staircase. Carpeted. About 10 stairs. No loud bangs altohugh a bit of a thud when she reached the bottom- she seemed to roll more than anything. Didn't hit the wall or anything on way down.

Cried for 5-10 mins afterwards but very tired by that point & I think more shocked than hurt.

I gently squeezed all her fingers, toes, limbs and pressed lightly all over her head - she didn't react as if anywhere was bruised.

She certainly had no problem walking, moving, using arms/legs generally.

ten stairs is a fair few.
would certainly keep an eye on her.
would tickle her feet to make sure she is rousable and make sure her hands and feet are warm when you check her.
there head injury warning signs on the NHS 24 website might be worth having a wee look ate. Black eyes fluid from the nose, persistant vomiting etc.
no doubt she will be sore in the morning, wee dose of calpol and off the the drs if you are worried.

Sounds like you checked all the obvious things and as she settled down quite quickly, I'd think she was fine.
But, you do have to look for symptoms for 24 hours. Things to look out for are vomitting, disoriented/confused and loss of consciousness (sp?)

Thanks for this. Will go tickle her feet now!
She seemed so absolutely fine (laughing when I tickled her, trying to take her brother's new subuteo players off him etc...) that I thought she'd be ok to go to bed but now can't stop worrying.

We cant help but worry its in our nature!
am sure she will be fine, it si normal for them to be midly sleepy after a head injury etc. Just keep a wee eye on her and a paracetamol for your sore head!

Thanks again. Just checked & her hands/feet are toasty warm & she's pulling her feet away from me when tickled.

It's not like she woke up or anything - she's in a pretty deep sleep but there was a definate reaction when tickled.

sound very normal, hope you get some sleep tonight!

witchycat, ds did this a couple of months ago and I felt terrible but he was like your dd, just cried a bit then fine.
Just keep an eye on her, sure she will be fine.
Dont stay awake thinking about it like I did though

trust your instincts. You would know if she needed immediate medical attention. She sounds fine to me

Thanks for the moral support as well as the practical advice.

Trying not to feel like worst parent ever at the moment. It's typical, I spend so much time reminding our 4 year old not to leave the stairgate open and it's me that goes and does it!

Also typical it's at the end of the day when she needs to sleep so it's harder to keep an eye on her.

Instinct says she's ok so will try to relax a bit!

thanks again xx