Have you ever had a baby with a head injury?

[Muststopeating]

My 6 month old has just had a fall from a height. I won't get into what happened, we were both right there but it was a massive parenting failure.

She is our 3rd so I know what to look out for in terms of concussion. She seems absolutely fine. She cried briefly, but I think that was mostly fine. Doesn't seem to have any sore bits, no bruising (I'm keeping her stripped down to monitor). Still rolling around and still perfectly able to focus/responsive etc. Giggling, etc.

I am not asking whether I should take her to A&E but rather for your experiences.

Has anyone had an experience where the doctor has sent a small baby who's seemed fine for a scan?

We live over an hour away from the nearest hospital. The childrens hospital waiting room is not big so goodness knows how they'd manage social distancing. We'd likely be waiting most of the night. And there is every possibility that I'd be exposing both of us to COVID. Just to be told she seems fine and sent home.

Obviously I'll go straight away if her condition changes in anyway or I'm at all concerned. Amd I'll wake her every hour through the night. But unless they are likely to do a precautionary xray/scan I don't think it makes sense to go to A&E given the state of hospitals.

My DC at 8 months fell all the way down stairs and hit their head on the radiator on the bottom. I was hysterical but they actually stopped crying before I did. Laughing & playing in no time so we also didn’t go to hospital.
No lasting effects.
I’m under the impression they wouldn’t automatically do scans / X-rays because of the radiation & the likelihood of future X-rays being needed in their lifetime, as every exposure adds to the cancer risk later on in life.

You are keeping an eye on them, which is probably all they would do if you went to A&E.

I had a similar incident with my youngest but he was around 18 months old. He cried for about 5 minutes then seemed OK, I was very concerned I called 111 and they advised to monitor him at home for any changes but overall he was fine. 6 months is very little I would personally be inclined to call them anyway just to be safe they will give best advice x

We had a similar situation but with our 6 week old. Obviously much younger. He had a visible bump but calmed down quickly. We rang an ambulance and he had a scan. He actually had a small skull fracture. All fine now but a horrible experience. We actually moved house afterwards.
I would be tempted to ring for advice. I hope all remains well and sadly these things happen x

So things to watch out for - vomiting, changes in behaviour, changes in eating/drinking, large swellings.

Ours vomited multiple times and was floppy and has all the signs of concussion but we weren’t offered a scan! Just ‘go home and keep an eye on him’

Thanks all for the messages and sharing your experiences. Its terrifying isn't it? I am in shock that a vomitting, floppy baby was sent home!

She was completely herself up to bedtime last night but we set alarms and woke her up every hour to check her.

She has not been herself todsy, very grissly and not feeding well. I am quite sure this is a combination of being over tired (see waking up last night so she never got a proper deep sleep) and teething. But I obviously have a niggle given the accident.

We don't actually know if she bumped her head. She fell in a bumbo seat (i know) and I'm not sure exactly how she landed. I can't remember seeing her on the ground, just picking her up. Its bizarre, like I've blanked it. She has a very small bruise on one arm but that is the only outward sign of any injury.

I haven't phoned 111 because my experience of them and babies is 'take them to get checked just in case'. Which is exactly what I want to avoid if all they are going to do is ask me a few questions and then send me home for monitoring.

I possibly should have called the GP today.

My 6 week old feel out of a buggy that was being carried up the steps of a bridge. He fell onto hard concrete ground but luckily it snowed that morning so he was in a snowsuit and blankets so loads of padding. We went to the childrens hospital we're he was kept overnight and head scanned. Everything was fine thankfully. To be on the safe side I'll probably give the doctor a call tomorrow. I hope your baby feels better soon.x

NICE guidelines for Head injury scanning for children:

Children
1.4.9For children who have sustained a head injury and have any of the following risk factors, perform a CT head scan within 1 hour of the risk factor being identified:

Suspicion of non-accidental injury

Post-traumatic seizure but no history of epilepsy.

On initial emergency department assessment, GCS less than 14, or for children under 1 year GCS (paediatric) less than 15.

At 2 hours after the injury, GCS less than 15.

Suspected open or depressed skull fracture or tense fontanelle.

Any sign of basal skull fracture (haemotympanum, 'panda' eyes, cerebrospinal fluid leakage from the ear or nose, Battle's sign).

Focal neurological deficit.

For children under 1 year, presence of bruise, swelling or laceration of more than 5 cm on the head.

A provisional written radiology report should be made available within 1 hour of the scan being performed. [new 2014]

1.4.10For children who have sustained a head injury and have more than 1 of the following risk factors (and none of those in recommendation 1.4.9), perform a CT head scan within 1 hour of the risk factors being identified:

Loss of consciousness lasting more than 5 minutes (witnessed).

Abnormal drowsiness.

Three or more discrete episodes of vomiting.

Dangerous mechanism of injury (high-speed road traffic accident either as pedestrian, cyclist or vehicle occupant, fall from a height of greater than 3 metres, high-speed injury from a projectile or other object).

Amnesia (antegrade or retrograde) lasting more than 5 minutes[4].

A provisional written radiology report should be made available within 1 hour of the scan being performed. [new 2014]

1.4.11Children who have sustained a head injury and have only 1 of the risk factors in recommendation 1.4.10 (and none of those in recommendation 1.4.9) should be observed for a minimum of 4 hours after the head injury. If during observation any of the risk factors below are identified, perform a CT head scan within 1 hour:

GCS less than 15.

Further vomiting.

A further episode of abnormal drowsiness.

A provisional written radiology report should be made available within 1 hour of the scan being performed. If none of these risk factors occur during observation, use clinical judgement to determine whether a longer period of observation is needed. [new 2014]

@Muststopeating

Thanks all for the messages and sharing your experiences. Its terrifying isn't it? I am in shock that a vomitting, floppy baby was sent home!

She was completely herself up to bedtime last night but we set alarms and woke her up every hour to check her.

She has not been herself todsy, very grissly and not feeding well. I am quite sure this is a combination of being over tired (see waking up last night so she never got a proper deep sleep) and teething. But I obviously have a niggle given the accident.

We don't actually know if she bumped her head. She fell in a bumbo seat (i know) and I'm not sure exactly how she landed. I can't remember seeing her on the ground, just picking her up. Its bizarre, like I've blanked it. She has a very small bruise on one arm but that is the only outward sign of any injury.

I haven't phoned 111 because my experience of them and babies is 'take them to get checked just in case'. Which is exactly what I want to avoid if all they are going to do is ask me a few questions and then send me home for monitoring.

I possibly should have called the GP today.

Please take her to be checked over - you've said she's not herself! A 6 month old from a height needs checking, Covid or not, one hour away or not. Online forums aren't the place to get medical advice over a qualified doctor!!

Was the bumbo seat on the floor or on something higher up?

I would always seek medical advise if unsure, especially if it’s a possible head injury