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Original poster

Oh Sh*t! DD2 16 months fell all the way down the stairs. She seems OK. I'm shaking. How can she be OK? Is she OK?

40 replies

Aderyn · 01/02/2007 09:52

I'm still shaking. I left the gate open at the top as DD1 went downstairs to get something. I went into DD2's room to get her clothes out and then heard a sueal and a thud and I instantly felt sick, knowing what had happened.

DD2 was at the bottom of the stairs. She was crying. I picked her up and she cried for a bit. She doesn't seem hurt. She's got down from me and is moving around and appears as happy as before.

Can she be OK? She must have fallen from the top as she's a botoom shuffler and so can't do stairs.

Do I need to get her checked out? Where? She seems so fine but I don't know how she can be. I'm not fine. I feel sick with the shock and can't stop shaking.

OP posts:
frenchleave · 01/02/2007 09:56

Don't panic - if she's behaving normally and wasn't knocked out chances are she really is fine. Children don't tense up when they fall like adults do so often don't get injured like we do.

For your peace of mind you could run her up to your doctor for a quick check though, and keep a close eye on her for the next 24 hours (so says my A&E doc DH).

My DD did the same when she was about the same age and she was absolutely fine.

{{{{hugs}}}

Original poster
Aderyn · 01/02/2007 09:59

Will the doctor think I am mad if I present a smiling happy baby to her to look over?

OP posts:
Imafairy · 01/02/2007 09:59

Oh you poor thing - don't have any advice I'm afraid - am sure someone sensible will be around.
If not, maybe phone NHS Direct for advice? 0845 46 47
to you and your DDs

wotzsaname · 01/02/2007 10:00

keep an eye on her. i would like some-one else to confrim, but dont let her nap or go to sleep for a few hours.

Play a simon says game and see if she can touch her knees, bend her arms, etc to make sure she is ok. id not take her to GP.

LIZS · 01/02/2007 10:00

dd fell down marble stairs at about that age - she was fine too. I did take her to dr's but hardly a bump.

Sari · 01/02/2007 10:01

Don't worry, she's probably fine. Two of mine have done this and our stairs are really steep but neither of them was hurt. Just keep an eye on her and don't beat yourself up about it. Accidents happen.

Original poster
Aderyn · 01/02/2007 10:02

What should I keep an eye on?

OP posts:
saltire · 01/02/2007 10:02

Don't panic. This happened to DS2 when he was about 10 months old, someone at Mums and tots left the gate open and he went from top to bottom.
If your DD started crying straight away, then she didn't get knocked unconcious. When it happend to DS,. i took him to the GP, just to get checked out, and he was fine. He had a bruise on his bottom and that was it.
Pop her round to the GP, he won't mind if she's happy and smiling, he will know you just want peace of mind

oliveoil · 01/02/2007 10:03

it's horrid isn't it?

dd2 did this a few months back, I think I did a thread somewhere, the fell from the top and luckily I had just thrown loads of washing that needed doing down the stairs and she fell on that instead of the radiator .

She was fine, I made sure she was walking ok and not limping, and that she could pick things up.

Calpol in case of headache.

She had a dreadful bruise on her thigh .

PrincessPeaHead · 01/02/2007 10:03

they are very bouncy at this age

if she seems fine, then I think she is fine - I think otherwise something would have been obvious immediately (pale, still crying in pain, knocked out, not using arm properly or something)

HORRIBLE for you though! Poor thing. Make yourself a cup of tea with some sugar in it and sit down. xxx

Sari · 01/02/2007 10:04

I took dd to A&E when this happened and she cavorted about for hours before we were eventually seen. It was very apparent she was fine but immediately after falling she had been very dozy which is what had worried me, especially as it was bedtime. Anyway, the doctor said to me that if she had wanted to sleep it would have been fine and that it was a fallacy that you shouldn't let them. Something about the body doing what it needed to do. I think you should look out for her being sick as a sign that something isn't right.

wotzsaname · 01/02/2007 10:04

to see if she is moving around as she normally does.

Simon says game "ask her to stand on tip toes, bend and touch he knees, sit down and stand up, put her hands on her head, that kind if thing and she if she says anything hurts. she is 16months so i guess she can give you some clues.

oliveoil · 01/02/2007 10:04

dd2 sat on my knee and calmed down and I tested if she was better by asking if she wanted an icepop and she ran to the freezer so I gathered she was ok .

dd1 was more upset, bless.

saltire · 01/02/2007 10:05

PPH, that's what my GP said to me when DS fell down stairs. he said as long as he hadn't been knocked out, and was walking ok, using his arms ok etc, then he would be fine
It is scary and worrying though

frenchleave · 01/02/2007 10:05

A sympathetic GP shouldn't mind, given what happened. Or as Imafairy says, NHS Direct should be able to list the warning signs to look out for.

Original poster
Aderyn · 01/02/2007 10:27

Thanke everyone for your reassurance and sympathy. Yes, sweet tea sound slike a good idea. She's moving about like normal but I'll try and test her anyway and she if she can move everything without pain.

I think I have managed to jar my own body into pain by rushing down the stairs so awkwardly. I guess that's what parents do.

It's so weird. There she is playing happily in yet I still want to burst into tears about what happened. Sweet tea, sweet tea....

Again, thank you.

OP posts:
Rhubarb · 01/02/2007 10:32

Aw poor you! I remember dd doing this at about 2.5. I was having a lie-in and dh was looking after her. She'd been to the toilet and I could hear her going slowly down the stairs. She'd only gone down about 2 when I heard this awful awful bumping and banging noise as she fell down the rest of the stairs. i screamed to dh and leapt out of bed, I caught sight of her on top of her folded buggy at the bottom of the stairs looking shocked before dh scooped her up.

She was very shocked but absolutely fine - we think the buggy broke her fall. We were really upset however!

oliveoil · 01/02/2007 10:38

I still have flashbacks now and think what if what if

bloody parenting, it will send us all to drink

Tinkerbel5 · 01/02/2007 10:42

Aderyn hope your DD is ok, my DD rolled off the sofa when she was a baby and I was mortified.

Pruni · 01/02/2007 10:48

Message withdrawn

PrincessPeaHead · 01/02/2007 10:48

you can tell if they have broken anything at that age.
my ds fell over (just normally) at 17 months, cried for ages, and then stopped crying but crawled around using his ELBOW rather than one hand. I KNEW he had broken his wrist because he wasn't using it. 5 hrs in A&E and some 20 yr old doctor told me it was fine and he wouldn't xray it and gave me a lecture about exposing my children to unnecessary radiation. Spent the next 3 days telling my GP it was broken, who also refused to send it for xray. Finally gatecrashed the fracture clinic, who said "why hasn't this been xrayed?". Yup - 5 days later they found out it was broken. GRRRRRRR

You KNOW if it anything broken, honest, it is so obvious from their behaviour.

Go and drink that tea, she sounds fine, it is YOU that needs a bit of medication for the shock!

TeeCee · 01/02/2007 10:55

My 13 month old did this a few days ago, I've actually taken the stair gate off as she's ok coming down, usually and withthe gate she used to try and shake it opena nd I was worried that she'd dislodge it and fall with gate. Also if I left it open she'd hold onto side and try and walk down, whereas now gate isn't there, she lays on her tummy and comes down backwards.

However this one time she was coming up the stairs as D and I were at top of stairs discussing the loose banister spoke and she was looking up at us and not concentrating and she fell all the way down.

Ohhh horrid, it's when they stop for a sec and you think it's over and then they do another 5 stairs and .... oh horrid. Anyway she cried for about 15 seconds and then stopped and wriggled to get out of my arms and carried on bck up the stairs.

They're tough cookie kids.

Bozza · 01/02/2007 10:56

I think she sounds OK. DD fell down the stairs at 11 months. She landed on her head. We took her to A&E and were kept in overnight for obvs, but even in the A&E room it was fairly obvious she was OK despite the huge lump on her forehead and carpet burn on her cheek, as she was trying to pinch the hat off the head of the old bloke sat behind us. DD cried for ages though, sounds like your DD might not have had such a heavy fall, DD being a crawler, went head first.

I know how you feel though with the shaking etc, and also my voice wasn't right. Came out high pitched when I rang DH.

monkeymonkeymoomoo · 01/02/2007 11:02

I fell (literally) head over heels down a full flight of steep stairs at work when I was heavily pregnant and the size of a water buffalo was absolutely fine but utterly terrified that I had hurt the baby.

Sure that if she is running around and seems ok then she is, watch out for sickness as that can be a sign of concusion. Love the idea of simon says, will remember that in the future!

sunnysideup · 01/02/2007 11:54

Aderyn, hope this has all reassured you...just wanted to offer sympathy, these things are HORRIBLE aren't they and leave you with such a nasty feeling....DS fell backwards of a little toy car onto our patio when he was about your dd's age and gave the back of his head SUCH a bang, tho after a few tears was absolutely fine, not even a bump on his head, I couldn't believe he was ok and watched him like a hawk for signs of drowsiness - hah, ds doesn't know what that is! However he is now four years old and my stomach STILL lurches when I remember this.....

sure your dd is fine, think you should have a stiff whisky or something!

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