6 month baby fell out of car seat onto road

[Brokenpearl]

This for those of you who have ever accidentally dropped your babies (under 9 months) on the floor, or had your babies fall onto concrete ground/tarmac ground and/or hit their heads on tiled or hard floor..
The night before last, my 6 month old baby was in his car seat.. he is usually strapped up but this time i didnt realise i forgot to buckle the straps into the strap slot & didn’t notice as i had put a blanket over his body whilst he was in his car seat… Husband picked up the car seat and was turning the car seat around so he can have it facing the rear of the car before putting it into the car, but as it wasnt fully strapped, my baby fell straight out the seat, and landed face down on the tarmac road just beside the the car from the car seat he was holding at a height the sams height as the seats of a car (about 2.5 feet). I screamed and I am really heartbroken. He hurt his chin and grazed & bruised his chin & jaw and face. I don’t know how much of his head he hurt as he had a hat on so there are no visible grazes on the head. We took him to the A&E straightaway as we were just a stones throw away from the hospital. They checked him quickly (no scans), and said he is ok. But looking at the way he fell & the height fallen from and the hard surface he landed on.. I am concerned he might have got some internal head injury which is not visible. I know the signs to watch out for, but he’s too small to tell me if he has a headache but has been unsettled since. I want to know if any of you have had your babies fall in similar ways, or had babies with head injuries from hitting their heads especially at such young age. And for those of you whose babies are now older, has it had any effects on their cognitive ability, memory, thinking, social skills or in any other mental ability (please please be honest, don’t just say they are fine to make me feel better), I would rather know now and so can prepare myself mentally than to think it will be fine and then learn otherwise, years later. I have read of such injuries causes brain damage that impair cognitive and reasoning function and have heard it causing the babies to grow up with issues with short term memory loss. Detailed answers will be appreciated. Thank you

Oh my gosh. You are massively overthinking this.

It’s a bad fall, yes, and a lesson learnt. He may well have a headache, he has had a fall but your mind is going well into overdrive.

Stop projecting and go off the information you know: He had a fall, docs said he’s fine, end of. Unless you have any other reason to be worried (and the only other reason would be symptoms he presenting, not what you e read on the internet) You need to stop because you’re harming yourself x

Please tell me you took your baby to a&e or at least a walk in centre to be checked over?

@Cas112 Yes we went straight to the A&E as it was just round the corner

ok fab, unless they have mentioned anything to worry about, dont worry.

Like you said you know the signs stop overthinking the rest. Baby will be fine

Mine rolled off a bench onto tiled floor at about this age, I'll never forget the sound of her hitting the floor. I felt horrific, went straight to A&E. She was and is absolutely fine. Unsettled would be normal with abrasions and probably a headache, please don't worry.

OK, so it was a terrible accident that should not have happened, but you’re massively catastrophising, worrying about cognitive and social skills.

Human bodies are designed to keep our brains protected from comparatively minor knocks.

@Jellycats4life I don't define a 6 month falling flat from 3 foot on hard ground as a minor thing

I am so sorry, this must be very upsetting for you.

The lucky thing is, babies are much tougher than they look. If the hospital said your baby is OK, he probably is. In my understanding, if the damage is bad, the signs are usually there within the first couple of hours.

My eldest fell off the bed directly on his head, on a hard wooden floor, when he was 4 months old. Had a massive lump on his head. I took him to hospital for x-rays. They told me he was fine. They also said if you can see the damage (eg lump, bruise) and that that's all it is, it's usually fine. I still felt terrible. Baby is now a completely healthy teenager.

A friend of mine had a horrible accident, she slipped fell downstairs holding her newborn baby. Baby was knocked unconscious. Got checked over immediately by hospital. Child is now a bright healthy 7 year old.

Mine did this and fractured their skull which resulted in Child Protection procedures implemented including Ct head and skeletal scan and 4 night admission ( happened over holiday weekend hence the longer admission). Anyway now a teen and doing really well, top sets all round, try and relax they will be fine.

@DaphneMoo How old was he? And how did he fall??

I suspect most babies have had a similar tumble or fall (I once had mine fall a similar height when I forgot to do the buggy straps up, and we’ve had a roll onto the floor from the changing table)

No lasting impact of any kind on the baby, although some changed processes for us obv.

if the hospital said the baby is fine, they’re fine. You can move on.

I had numerous head bumps (very poor eyesight) including falling down concrete stairs into the basement as a 1 year old .. I think I'm 'fine' cognitively! I have a PhD anyways!!

You and your baby will be ok, take it as a lesson from the universe. Stop thinking about it as it won't do you or your baby any good.

Did you not read the OP?

Ummm I know you’re trying to reassure but I am not sure that “most babies” have had such bad falls. Four kids and two grandchildren and nope- nothing like this as babies.

That’s why I said comparatively minor. As opposed to falling out of a building or being hit with a hammer.

Presumably, if the hospital felt your child needed an x ray or CT scan they would have done it.

Your baby is probably fine but if you feel they are not then have them seen again. There's no harm in having someone else take a look at them.

15 weeks, coming down a step and not tied in, fell on concrete step from pram height, did get huge bump and even though skull fractured was absolutely fine

I think you look at the silver lining, him falling out on to the road (and being ok) is far better than having him put in the car and you being in an accident without him strapped in properly which is what could have happened.

Sounds like baby is fine, you won't ever make that mistake again the hard part is going to be forgiving yourself.

I still remember a woman in floods of tears rushing into our health centre after she dropped her baby and the practice nurse saying "They're built to last!"

Everyone I know has done this at some point. The car seat I had needed to be locked to not tip forwards. My DD fell onto a carpeted floor and had a carpet burn on her forehead.

My friend picked her DD’s car seat up off a table in a restaurant and she fell out smack onto a tiled floor probably from about 4 feet high.

Both are fine.

@Singleandproud I can't forgive myself. ive been devastated since & feel so bad & can't stop crying & apologising to my baby

I never dropped DD but she did pull my straighteners out my hand burning her hand when she was about 2, she's 14 now, has loads of scars and bruises from playing rugby and the burn scar is tiny and I still feel bad about it.

It says so in the OP…

This is really sad and stressful I understand. But mistakes happen, sounds like a baby if fine and it's MUCH better they fell from the car seat that you had a crash without the buckle done up. Forgive yourself as much as you can and I'm sure you will never miss doing the buckle up every again which is the most important thing

Oh lovely, don’t stress about it! Accidents happen and will continue to happen. He’s ok, and he’s been checked over. It is very unlikely there is any long term damage and he’s probably still sore, hence why he’s unsettled.

Don’t be hard on yourself - he’s ok!