Left A&E, Not sure I've done the right thing

[Perfect28]

My 17mo fell out of his pushchair head first on to concrete. about a minute before I said we don't need to strap him in he will be fine. Well he got excited and rocked forward. A massive bump and bruise came up quickly, we called 999 who said to go to hospital. We went and we were not even triaged in nearly two hours. Child seems normal, responsive, alert, no longer in obvious pain. We left and he is now asleep. I will sleep next to him and keep a close eye. Have read all the things to watch out for. Now lying here feeling awful. First it was my fault he wasn't strapped in (lesson well and truly learnt!!) But secondly for leaving before being seen. Advice welcome, and stories of bumped heads too!

The guilt is awful and I feel really anxious.

well I wouldn’t have gone to AE in the first place so 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Seriously, the wait8ng times in A &E are horrible now and it’s quite possible that you would have waited all night, with a very grumpy child because .... this was not an emergency.

If he had lost consciousness, had vomited, had issues with his pupils not dilated the same etc… then yes, going to A&E was necessary.
But he only fell from a small high (the pushchair), not even at speed. I wouldn’t be worried in those specific circumstances

OP if you are concerned I would just call 111.
I must admit when my children were little and my son hit his head I took him to A&E and the message was very much unless he vomited more than once I should not worry - but I think given it is a different child and a different scenario a call to 111 is your best bet. I would not go back to A&E personally - if 111 thinks differently they will tell you.
NHS link to head injury advice.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/head-injury-and-concussion/

I know kids fall over etc. The point is from the hospital perspective the parents thought an injury warranted a 999 call and then going to hospital, then withdrew before the child was seen. Parents who abuse a child are not necessarily going to ones who carefully monitor them at home but they are ones who may want to stop an injured child from being seen if they thought they had got away with it.

Go back, my son had a fracture after a fall and he had no signs

Seriously?

I would go back as you'll definitely get a safeguarding flag for this.

I won't go into details but I had something less significant happen and A&E organised a social services visit (which was fine and we were immediately discharged - but the system is rightly in place and so it's better to follow through)

What do people think a&e will do that OP hasn't already?

I put my toddler on the doctor’s counter and she somehow suddenly fell onto the floor. On to her back from my chest height. Doctors checked her and gave me a leaflet for things to look out for and sent me home. I think just stay awake tonight and make sure she’s ok. Take it in turns with your husband

Honestly what is wrong with the 'expect a call on Monday from SS' or 'go back go back' people here? What are you trying to achieve, scare someone who clearly suffers with anxiety and doesn't know if she made the right call and is beating herself up over it. Hey here's something for you, doctors and social services don't always make the right call either. We live in an imperfect world of in the moment decisions. I've taken my child to a+e only to instantly feel guilty for overeaccting when they perked up as soon as we arrived (and the calpol kicked in) and I put the child through a 5-6 hour hellish dystopian Terry Gilliam esque wait then the doctor definatley made me feel like I overeaccted and gave me a leaflet. Prior to that I had taken my child to a+e and been told by a nurse I should have come sooner. I can't calibrate it right, can't win. Both times I felt guilty. We don't always make the right call, as parents or as professionals. And many people don't even take there kids to A+E for head bangs with none of the red flags. So please leave this woman alone-it really is spiteful.

You say people dont have understanding of safeguarding or SS involvement …
Clearly YOU are the one who doesnt understand. This will lead to atleast a follow up telephone call @mattressspring

I’m sorry your little one fell, accidents happen. I feel you’ve had a hard time on this thread. It’s scary when a child bumps their head and the bump comes up right away and it’s easy to panic. By the sounds of it your child isn’t displaying any red flags that would warrant an A and E visit. Of course 999 would advise an A and E trip as it’s a head injury in a child who you were concerned enough about to call 999. I don’t think you’re irresponsible for leaving, having taken the time to recover from the shock and monitor your child. What’s important is that you spoke to the staff before leaving and you know what to look out for and that you monitor him. I took my little boy to A and E for a similar reason and after four hours no longer felt concerned. It would have been a huge wait and he wasn’t displaying any red flags. I had a chat with the staff and checked what the doctors would do if we waited and they advised they’d just check for red flags and give us a leaflet outlining what to look out for and send us home. They were more than happy under the circumstances to give me the leaflet and for me to monitor him at home. I think there is a degree of common sense that many posters are missing, had you not panicked and had you looked up the guidance, A and E was probably never necessary therefore under these circumstances it makes sense to monitor at home, as many parents would have done in these circumstances. Don’t beat yourself up many bumps initially look much scarier than they are.

I should add that it seems clear from your post that you left because you’d identified that your child wasn’t displaying any symptoms that warranted an A and E trip and had panicked, as many parents do, rather than because you didn’t want to wait. Many posters seem to be missing that these are two very different things. Please don’t beat yourself up.

And it is normal for nurses and ss to follow up a and e visits. I had it when a garden gnome squashed my son’s toe and I had it when another child had a tummy bug and had to spend a few days in hospital. Nothing to be scared of

As someone whose kiddos have had a fair amount of epic knocks on the head that resulted in sizeable eggs, I’ve been to emergency a fair few times. At all times nothing was done. They ask if the child cried. Yes. They check his pupils. They say they will just watch him for two hours. So we sit in the hospital and are ultimately discharged and told to monitor for changes in behaviour.

Obviously every situation is different but knocks on the forehead are good as that’s the thickest part of the skull. An egg coming up is also good apparently.

Don’t stress too much and monitor your baby for changes in behaviour. Annoying this stuff always happens at night isn’t it? But as you said your kid was acting themselves and didn’t seem to be displaying any concerning signs. Some posters on this thread are really overreacting.

if you don’t want to go back then i’d at least ring 111. You don’t mess about with head injuries, regardless of how ‘normal’ the child may seem.
My DD took a tumble down 12 wooden steps when she was 18 months, banged her head on the way (obviously), she was fine immediately after but i still whisked her up to a&e to be checked out. luckily she was fine.
Im a little flabbergasted at why you left after only 2 hours, this is your child we’re talking about-what could possibly be more important than the safety and welfare of your child?
As a pp has mentioned, this is a welfare issue- you called 999, they log every call, and you booked in at a&e reporting a child’s head injury, then left without any medical attention whatsoever. Don’t be surprised if you get a call

That must have been a frightening experience for you and your little one. If it helps at all, a&e nurse here.

Keep a very close eye on him for the next few days. But if he seems alert and doesn't act out of the ordinary, I'd say he should be fine. Obviously if he suddenly starts vomiting, seems drowsy, difficult to wake up etc, pupils different sizes, increasingly irritated throughout the next few hours, definitely get him checked out ASAP. A&E would have kept an eye on him for approx 4 to 6 hours & if he didn't have any of the symptoms I mentioned above, he would have been sent home with you the same day.

Obviously if he did vomit or briefly lost consciousness after this incident happened they would have done a scan immediately to see if there's a possible bleed. You don't mention this in your OP so I'm presuming he did not seem unwell after his fall? I hope your DC feels better soon. 🌸

It isn’t appalling at all - it is completely in line with what the NHS recommend.

Don’t be surprised if you get a call

She's already been told this exact thing sooo many times...

If he seems otherwise fine, it’s definitely not something I’d have gone to or stayed in A&E for. Dd broke her arm and needed surgery recently. We got seen quickly at A&E but there were people who had been waiting 10 hours. Several families with children left just in the 30 minutes we were in the waiting area.

My child fell down the stairs when she was 14 months. Instead of crying she was like asleep and woke but was very sleepy. I panicked and called an ambulance but by time we got to a and e she was ok and responsive. She had a bump on forehead but no bleeding. The nurse and doctor just said she was fine and I was sent home within minutes of arriving. It made me feel silly for going tbh, if she had cried I probably wouldn’t, but she was so sleepy and you do just panic with your child.
the doctors in this situation would probably just do the same and says he’s fine.
I can understand how hard it is entertaining a child in hospital too.

If you could explain why taking a perfectly healthy child home from sitting in a waiting room is reason for SS referral I would be interested to hear it. The child was not admitted to hospital. OP went to A&E and having waited for some time was able to assess, in line with NHS advice, that her child was ok and didn't need to be seen. You are allowed to change your mind. This isn't a case where the child was denied medical attention that's they needed, the child was fine and after sitting it out for a while OP was satisfied that her child actually didn't need a medic after all. There are absolutely no rules that dictate you have to stay at A&E if you do go there, in fact it's common for one of the staff to announce to the waiting area if they have severe delays that they could be better not waiting, and this does include children. Nobody says you are not allowed to leave if you have taken a child
.

This SS pile on os just scaremongering and I can't really see the point in it, because even if SS did come to see OP, she has done nothing wrong.

The way the injury happened (mechanism of injury) and the size of the bruise are important things that they will take into account (in addition to the usual signs of loss of consciousness, vomiting and abnormal movements/behaviour or fluids leaking from nose/ears). Dangerous mechanisms of injury (like falling down several stairs or from a height) need to be checked out by a dr even if there are no obvious signs of injury - so definitely not a waste to go to a&e if this was the case.

you mentioned that the size of the bruise was big - it would be good to seek advice on how big it is. How far did he fall onto the concrete? You can call 111 for advice on what to do now.

So @Jenn500 the falling down the stairs (and sleepiness) mean that you definitely were NOT silly to go to hospital

I didn’t feel silly for going to hospital, more silly for ringing an ambulance.

How is he this morning OP.
Hope all is well.