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Parenting

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Original poster

Have I hurt my baby?

22 replies

Spacecowboy · 27/09/2011 21:24

Hi. I'm a first time mum to a two month old baby.

Today I was holding him against my chest and forgot to support his neck adequately. His head lolled back then rolled to the side in a fairly out-of-control way. I wasn't bouncing or jiggling him when it happened; he had just been resting against my chest looking around the room.

He didn't cry, has fed well since and is now sleeping peacefully cuddled up to me.

I'm really worried this could cause shaken baby syndrome but hope I am just being a paranoid first time mum. Could it??

(I feel so bad I didn't support his head on this occasion.)

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ShowOfHands · 27/09/2011 21:26

He's fine.

therugratref · 27/09/2011 21:27

paranoid first time mum....in the nicest possible way. He sounds completely fine

Cheeseandbiscuits · 27/09/2011 21:27

Oh bless you, he's fine.

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SamMiguel · 27/09/2011 21:27

Don't worry, he'll be absolutely fine.

hiccymapops · 27/09/2011 21:27

He's fine (you sound like me)

sillywmama · 27/09/2011 21:28

totally fine, you're not a bad mummy. Don't panic, here enjoy the cuddle!

Hassled · 27/09/2011 21:28

You're being paranoid in a very sweet way (I don't mean to be as patronising as that sounds). Yes, he'll be fine. Babies are pretty tough.
My DC3 was dropped onto some grass by DD and then tipped out of a car seat at that age - he's a tad eccentric, but fine :o.

Notinmykitchen · 27/09/2011 21:29

I'm sure he's fine. They are an awful lot tougher than they look at that age!

winnybella · 27/09/2011 21:30

Nah

Happened to me as well, in fact I bet it happened to most, if not every, mum.
To cause any damage you would have had to actually shake him, or hit him in the head, or perhaps if he was in a car accident which would cause his head to snap back iyswim-in a word, forces needed to inflict some damage would need to be far stronger than those involved in a head flapping back under it's own weight.

doesn't mention where she accidently wacked her 3mo ds's head against the window frame

wilkos · 27/09/2011 21:30

you are being a paranoid first time mum

there is nothing wrong with him. NOTHING! newborns do this, its a cunning plan to make sure you're extra vigilant!

hellhasnofury · 27/09/2011 21:31

No bless you, you haven't hurt him. Babies, even tiny ones, are a whole lot tougher than we give them credit for.

Hell. Mum of two adults, one of which took a flying lesson in his Moses basket because his big sister was fed up with his crying. He lived to tell the tale although he was stunned into silence for about two minutes.

Original poster

Spacecowboy · 27/09/2011 21:32

Thank-you, everyone. I feel so much better now and am glad I am only being paranoid :)

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mumatron · 27/09/2011 21:40

At 8 weeks I had managed to knock dd2's head on the bathroom door frame twice in one day.

By 6 months she had added falling off a changing table and giving herself a black eye with the sky remote to her list of injuries

Now she's learning to walk she is falling over and banging her head an alarming amount!

He will be fine.

Arion · 27/09/2011 21:58

Don't worry, he's fine. On my son's first day day I answered the door to the delivery pizza (living it up!) to hear my daughter say, "I've just put him here Mummy". I turned round to find that my 3 yr old had picked my newborn out of his Moses basket and put him on the arm of the chair. (Fortunately he was fully supported on the arm but I dread to think how he was lifted there.) 7 months on, there doesn't seem to be any lasting damage.

Not an experience I'd like to repeat though!

pyjamasinbananas · 27/09/2011 22:05

Dp whacked DS head against the doorframe then 2 yr old DSD tripped and trod on DS head. All in the same day when he was a week old. Not deliberate I'd like to point out. He's 2 now and perfectly fine!!

MockingbirdsNotForSale · 27/09/2011 22:13

pyjamasinbananas!

Mine won't even raise a smile but will make you see how resilient babies are...I tripped while carrying 5 week old DD in a sling. I fell onto concrete completely onto her and fractured her skull and caused 2 brain bleeds (no concussion or loss of consciousness). There is a danger that at some point in the future without warning she will have a seizure but she recovered brilliantly from what happened and only needed one dose of paracetamol in the hospital and was fine afterwards and they think as the chances of a seizure are remote. I on the other hand was an emotional wreck and still panic now if she hurts herself which aged 11 months she does regularly......

So, I am sure your lovely baby will be fine. They very much let you know if they are not!

mumatron · 27/09/2011 22:47

mockingbird how scary for you. Glad your dd is fine after all that.

pyjamasinbananas · 27/09/2011 22:49

Oh mockingbird thats awful, poor you!! That's why I wouldn't wear a sling. Also worried about dropping a hot drink and burning the baby/some clod bumping into me. Turns out the real danger was bloody DP and DSD!!

Northernlurker · 27/09/2011 23:01

Babies are tough and at two months he will have started to strengthen his neck muscles anyway.

Shaken baby syndrome developes when a lot of force is repeatedly applied. A one off wobble would not do it.

You are absolutely right to ask though if you are worried. I took dd1 to the health centre once because she had eaten a small amount of a magazine page Sh was about 5 months old. I have no idea what damage I thought it would do.......bless themthe medical staff did not laugh in my face but I bet they did when I left!

ShowOfHands · 28/09/2011 09:37

Northern, when dd was 5 months I was on a long car journey going to stay with another MNer and I handed dd the insert of an Ironmaiden cd for her to play with. She ate half of it before I stopped arguing about directions with dh long enough to notice noticed. It came out in her nappy still readable. Bleurgh.

When people say that babies are tough/resilient they mean it. They are much, much tougher than you realise. More than we are in some ways.

mockingbird, that sounds really bloody frightening. I use a sling quite happily. A friend tipped her dd out of her pram as a newborn onto concrete. Short of putting them in a bubble, I think these things will happen to us all and we'll all react the same way.

There isn't a child alive who didn't fling their heads backwards as a newborn whilst propped on a parent's shoulder. Promise.

Octaviapink · 28/09/2011 13:18

At two months old he can probably support his own head, so I'm sure he's fine. He's not a newborn anymore!

dizzyblonde · 28/09/2011 16:31

I put DS1 on the kitchen worksurface in his bouncy chair at 6 weeks old (what was I thinking?). Of course he bounced off and landed face downwards on the floor. He's 18 tomorrow and at uni so I think I can safely say he wasn't brain damaged but how guilty did I feel.

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