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

Just wanted to pop in and say my dad forgot to buckle in my brother in his car seat or properly lock/shut the door of the car pooed 25 years ago and my brother fell out of the car into the road around a bend, was doing minimal speed and a very quite road but my brother was and is absolutely fine, no lasting damage at all. Like previous people have said accidents happen and he has been checked over. Don’t be hard on yourself

This!!!!

I get your upset but your way over thinking this. Still crying two days later is a very extreme reaction.

When my niece was about 5/6 months old, I had her sat on the worktop in the kitchen with my arm around her, she managed to through herself over my arm and landed on her head on the concrete fall. I felt awful (and social services were alerted at the hospital making me feel even worse for my sister). Niece was absolutely fine, no lasting issues. She’s now got a law degree!

my daughter dropped her son when he was a few months old and he hit his head on the side of the wardrobe. She dozed off feeding him in the middle of the night. She rang me in a state and I rushed round to her house to find my gorgeous grandson happily playing on daddys lap and loving all the attention in the wee small hours. .My daughter couldn't stop crying and feeling awful but ( as this thread attests ) we have all had similar accidents . It is almost one of the rights of passage of parenthood.
So I do think it is normal to feel a bit shaky for a few days so be kind to yourself op. And for goodness sake stop googling horror stories!

You'll be fine OP.

DD fell out of my arms on concrete at 6 months, so about 4ft. Went to A and E, scans etc , all fine. Shes now 15, and bound for better GCSEs than me or her mum

Babies bounce, if medical professionals see no issue, then you're fine.

I feel far more guilty about ad injury that she suffered at 8 that was equally preventable but I didn't. That had no long term consequences either but I feel so much guilt when I think about it.

Poor baby. He will probably be unsettled due to being sore from the bruising etc - have you given calpol for this.

Take to gp if any concerns. My friend did something similar with the high chair and her child is fine

It says so in the OP.

Why do people not read properly?

Oooh that sounds so terrifying.. you must have panicked soo much. How did they treat the skull fracture? Was there a visible fracture dent visible from the outside? He didn't get a bleed did he?? He must have been in concussion for quite some time then? The 'top sets in all' thing is quite reassuring for me & other moms in similiae situations.

Definitely hard to forgive myself. I have 1 other child who is 9 and he has intellectual impairment, has always had development delay is ADHD. He has always been super hyperactive and as a toddler would run carelessly into doors, walls, pillars, lamposts and hit his head on walls himself when he would get angry over not getting what he wanted.. he hit his head alot but he was never dropped nor fell off any furniture or pram/car seat.. and still has ADHD, behaviour control problems, is very disruptive and impatient, can't control emotions, very fussy and sensitive, and is developmentally 2 years behind & working below age at school. I struggled alot with him, hence the 8.5 years ago gap between him & my this 2nd child as he had put me off more kids.. Now after a long time ttc, I was blessed with this baby & since i found out about my pregnancy, I have been hoping this would be my chance to have a baby with normal cognitive functioning & normal behaviour, a child who is intellectually sound, doesn't have the behaviour and development issues and learning disabilities like my 1st child. This is my only chance as having what is classed a 'straightforward' child after the difficulties I experience with his brother. I do believe the incidents of his head bumps as a toddler have contributed to his personality and learning difficulties. Thats why I am more concerned about this fall having such impact and dashing my hopes of not having to repeat what I endured with 1st one.

My 6 month old rolled off a caravan bench on to the floor softened only by his thin play gym mat when DH nodded off after having a go at me for telling him not to have DS on the seating with him after a long drive. I was in the shower. I heard the thud - heard it for a long time afterwards. He hit the back of his head on the floor. French A&E were brilliant. Told me that all looked fine but if anything were to happen it would be over night and I had to check him every two hours through the night.

He was not concussed, just cried. I’ve never been so frightened in my life - but still able to bollock DH once both DC were in bed.

DS is now 15 and absolutely fine.

DS was once in one of those little life carriers, waiting to go on DH’s back. I though DH had hold of it and DH thought I had hold of it, but for a split second neither of us did, and he essentially fell forwards and face planted on the pavement. It was horrific.

He’s 4 now and totally fine (and had plenty of bumps and falls) so long as you’ve been to A&E and he’s been checked and is fine and you’re keeping an eye on him then try not to stress, I’m sure there’s no long term damage.

ooh, was the dent caused by a fracture? And those slides as always a hazard.. even now they not safe as during busy times theres many kids on the slide at once, making it so easy for kids to push another kid off from the side of the slide at the top.. I myself was jumping over those wooden logs in the playground but i landed on my bottom, not on my head and I was about 8, not 6 months..

OP please step away from the Internet and Mumsnet for the night (and a few days) and listen to what others are telling you. The doctors have said your baby will be fine, your baby feels fine, you know what to look for and I’m sure the slightest hint that they’re getting worse and you’ll seek help.

Constantly googling and quizzing MN-ers on their DC’s head bumps will not help.

I think the much bigger issue here is your anxiety and it seems linked to how you feel around your eldest DS. I would genuinely seek support from your GP for how you are feeling about this. I feel like even if your son is fine from this bump (which he absolutely seems to be) then your anxiety over similar issues and possible cognitive impairments will continue to occur as he gets older unless your deal with the root of the worries.

Please put your phone down and try to get some rest!

This exact scenario happened with my DD when she was 15 months old. I was hoovering the car and she was sitting in her car seat playing while I did it. Because the back windows were tinted I didn’t realise she was kneeling up against the door looking out, I opened it and she fell headfirst onto the pavement.

Her injuries looked dreadful, abrasions all the way up her shin, hip, shoulder and face but she was checked at A+E and was otherwise fine.

I was an absolute mess, I felt so guilt and still feel sick when I remember it but she is now a perfectly healthy 7 year old with no scarring or memory of it.

Everyone makes mistakes, please don’t beat yourself up over this. I am now much more cautious but it’s impossible to predict every single thing which might happen. Be kind to yourself 💐

Most parents would have a similar scenario and their children are absolutely fine!
I dropped my daughter on the pavement because I didn’t have her strapped into her car seat carrying her to the car . She whacked her head and cried straight away.She is now a SW !
Youngest child still has a permanent bump on his forehead from a head injury when he head butted a bookshelf when he was 6 months old in his baby walker. He is now a graduate earning money that I can only dream of .
So stop worrying OP 💐

Try to calm down. Accidents happen all the time. You've done the right thing and rushed him to A&E. He'll be fine. My daughter fell out of the bed at 4 months whilst I quickly run to pee. Barricaded her in bed before leaving for less then 2 minutes. When I heard the bang my heart stopped. I knew straight away she's on the floor. Found her all the way on the other side of the bed on floor. How she managed to get there baffles me. Somehow her crying made me feel better as I knew she's not dead. She's 8 months now and totally fine. My eldest, a teenager now, fell countless times whilst playing. I dropped her once on the floor at about 8 months she just slipped out of my hand. She still does come home with holes in her trousers and grazed knees. Shit happens. Count your blessings nothing serious happened.

This 100% . I gave my scenarios ,but your anxiety is not going to be calmed by reading all the reassuring posts .X💐

I rolled off a high kitchen table onto the hard tiled kitchen floor as a baby (younger than your son). I'm now a Solicitor in the City if that helps 🤷‍♀️

My brother fell off the changing table and out of his buggy onto the road as a baby (several times). He now has degrees from Cambridge and Harvard and works for one of the most prominent tech companies in the world.

Your son will be ok 👍

@SkinnyMalinkyLankyLegs Lol at your profile name
How did you know your child did not have a concussion? I heard almost all most mild head injuries and blows to the head lead to concussion and that a head injury from a bad fall or having banged your head hard onto something results in mild Traumatic Brain injury which is also referred to as a concussion. So when they are classing it as a TBI, it is actually another name for a concussion. Symptoms of concussion in babies include:
headache (which I assume he has but too young to tell me)

irritability & crankiness (since the fall he has been irritable, unsettled & not as calm & happy as he usually is),

sleepiness (has been sleeping more but he has a cold so maybe due to that)

vomiting (vomited once today but it was due to choking on milk during sucking bottle too fast, which could have happened without the injury, so I can't confirm if it still classed as vomiting from the injury),

confusion - i won't know as he is too young to tell

temperature - He had temperature yesterday (day after fall), but many kids get temperature a couple days after they get a cold, so I don't know whether I should attribute that to the fall or the cold??

So, from the above & the height fallen /surface landed on, I am assuming he does have a concussion..

And my mum says I was never dropped nor ever did I have such a fall except from a height, except for falling whilst walking.

A friend of a friend had a fall whilst holding their baby. He fractured his skull. He was 4 months old. 3 CT scans later. All is okay. It happens. It's awful and so hard not to spiral. But you got checked and all is okay. A horrible lesson but you aren't the first and you wont be the last

I really think you either take the advice that many of us have given you or see your GP for help with your anxiety. Your baby will be fine .💐

Though that is reassuring, to me, thank you. But it does sound too good to be true. Not to sound offensive, but are you being 100% honest here and not just trying to make another worried mum (me) feel better and reassured? I would rather know if there is anything no matter how minor that could possibly be attributed to what you have described happened. So neither you and your brother really don't have anything like a short concentration span or find it hard to focus or pay attention to something for long enough, don't have weak memory or weak eyesight, frequent headaches, anxiety etc at all, that you feel could possibly be a long term effect from the falls you described?

From your history with your eldest I understand your concern but it’s not head injuries that caused his issues. My son was soooo clumsy as a toddler and constantly banging his head and he’s absolutely fine as a teenager (although still v clumsy!). I think you need to talk to someone about your worries x

@Itwasamemo2 I do appreciate the responses I have received. I did not expect to receive so many replies to my post, so I am very grateful to everyone who has taken time out for me to reply to my post and made me feel better. I do feel a little positive and better today after reading what everyone has wrote. I wrote about concussion because the doctor at the hospital sent us home with a leaflet on concussions in children, which made me feel that he possibly suspected a concussion. I believe the anxiety comes naturally from what I went through with my 1st child.

That is good to know. Thank you. Will do.