Toddler rolled off bed in GP surgery.

[Mumma291097]

Took my 16 month old DS to the doctors as he’s been suffering with cold symptoms. Whilst I was stripping him down to his vest for the doctor to examine him, I turned my back for 10 seconds to grab his dummy and he rolled off the bed onto the floor and started screaming. He developed a golfball sized lump to his head and a small cut and bruise to his left eye 😭 I couldn’t stop crying and feeling like such a terrible mother after it happened and every time I think back to that moment, I get upset.

The doctor reassured me that he didn’t think it was anything to be concerned about and provided me with a leaflet on symptoms to look out for but I’m such an over-thinker anyway and can’t stop worrying that something really bad is going to be happen. Has anyone got any similar stories of this happened to their child? I just can’t stop panicking that it’s going to develop into something worse 😭

Hello,

Firstly, sorry this happened to you it sounds like it was just an accident and you were probably flapping to get it done quick infront of the doctor - so absolutely not your fault at all.

I’m a nurse and whenever anyone has a bump to the head it’s good to go to a+e or a walk in centre and get them checked out - just like a set of observations.

I just found this on nhs website so it’s probably the same as what the GP has advised you to look out for.

good luck! I’m sure he’ll be okay I think kids are more robust than we realise :)

Do you actually mean to say that 'whenever anyone has a bump to the head they should get checked out'?

That's incorrect.

Only if symptoms or other specific concern.

The NHS cannot handle every single minor head bump being assessed.

The fact he screamed and has got an egg, rather than dent are both reassuring, though if course it's horrible and upsetting.

Hugs op. All will be fine.

In the context of a 16 month old toddler, @Theicingonthecake is correct and SS would nail you to the floor if you didn't get it checked by emergency staff and they got informed because it's negligent.

OP, my DD rolled off the bed at 6 months and I got her checked by the GP who said it was probably fine but I didn't take her to A+E for 3 days because I listened to idiots like this PP and only went when the symptoms were worrying.

When I did take her, they notified SS because they decided I was "concealing a head injury" and I ended up with a full assessment which was horrible and stressful, led to a total loss in my confidence in my ability to parent, and meant I developed severe anxiety that I was going to lose my child because it was so heavy handed (and due to backlogs this went on for over 3 months before it was finally closed despite the fact that doesn't follow their own timescale rules).

Get her checked at somewhere where there are people familiar with emergency medicine, to log that you've done it if nothing else, but also please be reassured that my DD was fine although it took weeks for her bump to completely go down as it was swelling in her fontanelle.

The fact that he cried and developed an outside bump plus a gp checked him over would leave me reassured unless you have other concerns about how he is now?

My toddler fell from a platform on a slide over 5ft high. He did the opposite, had no visible injury and went very very quiet so I took him to A&E to be checked. Of course when we were waiting to be seen he decided he was fine and started happily playing in the waiting room and we also just got given tel he head injury leaflet by a doctor. He’s older now and has no ill effects although I still get upset if I think about it.

@KaiserChefs 'this idiot' is an a&e doctor so think I'm pretty familiar with head injury protocols 😂

How did they come to the conclusion you were hiding it when you had her checked by a GP which would have presumably been on record? Not doubting you, just don’t understand how they could come to that conclusion.

When my DS was a toddler he grabbed the old sort of metal blood pressure monitors off the GPs desk and clunked himself on the cheek with it. He ended up with a graze and a bruise on his cheek.

If this had happened at home then I’d agree you should get him checked out but it sounds like the GP has already checked him over? If he hasn’t developed any new symptoms since then like sickness or drowsiness then I don’t see why you’d need to get him seen again. He did it in front of an actual doctor!

When mine was a toddler, she managed to whack her head on the desk whilst being seen by the GP and slice her earlobe open whilst sitting on my lap. She went hysterical and refused to let the GP near her, so I ended up stitching her ear at the GP surgery (trained nurse, so this was ok!). These things happen, don't blame yourself OP.

I felt awful when my son fell down the stairs. I had closed my bedroom door but I didn't shut it properly and it flew open. My son ran towards the door, and our bedroom is straight on to the stairs so he effectively ran down them.

We took him to A&E and he was fine but it doesn't stop you feeling bad about it at the time. Accidents happen, you had a Doctor to assess him. Keep on eye on him over the next 24 hours, did the doctor hand you a leaflet? It tells you things to look out for after a head injury, like sickness, dizziness, drowsiness etc. If he's not showing any of these then I'm sure he's fine

I was nannying for a family on holiday in Spain and their 16 month old toppled over my leg (which I thought would be a barrier!) off the side of the sunlounger headfirst onto the solid concrete ground. I can still here the smack it made. He had a massive egg but was otherwise fine, thank goodness! The guilt was terrible though.

Please don't beat yourself up, these things happen. Little ones are made of tougher stuff than we think!!

@KaiserChefs sounds like you've had an unusual situation and slightly unbelievable situation to be honest. What made you take her in the end? I think your post is going to cause OP alot of anxiety. It would make no sense for her to drag her baby to And E after an assessment by the GP. It's literally going to be documented if social work wanted to check.

Tell me if I'm being dim but surely if it happened at the GP surgery OP should just follow their advice and look out for symptoms?

Surely the GP checked him over sufficiently to determine either that he needs to go straight to a&e or that its not necessary unless xyz happens?

Given OP has already taken medical advice she surely couldn't be accused of "concealing a head injury"? Or am I being naive?

@Theicingonthecake swelling on the fontenelle is nothing like a minor head bump! My daughter spent 5 days in hospital when she had this

If I went to hospital every time one of mine did something like this I'd never be out

They'll be fine

He was checked by a doctor there and then! Unless he develops any of the symptoms you've been told to watch out for then no need for anything else.

If we got every bumped head checked at A&E we'd never leave the place. They've never had any worrying symptoms so we've never felt the need to get them checked.

I agree with others, there’s no need to take your son anywhere unless he develops any of the head injury red flags.
He’ll be fine and so will you. These things happen.

My toddler fell off the examination table in the doctors recently. Screamed and the doctor clicked another mark on their head and asked me to strip them down for a full safeguarding check. It was a bit mortifying but at the same time, I’m pleased that someone was looking out for her. I’d also forgotten my nappy bag and had a newborn too. Both had poo filled nappies and I had nothing to sort it with. The whole thing was a big embarrassing mess and I hated looking so rubbish as a mum. But the logical side of my brain tells me that this stuff happens (I’ve got three now and they’ve all had big accident stages between 1 and 2 where they are quickly developing physical skills but haven’t developed the common sense to go with them).
It’s all fine. Keep an eye on baby but don’t let it become ‘a thing’.

My daughter is a little older than your son and was playing in the park with a friend. I was dealing with her sibling and I missed her falling and hitting her head. I just heard her scream, and ran over and felt a huge egg on the back of her head. Luckily, the friend I was with is a doctor and she checked her out and reassured me she was fine because she cried right away but to watch out for excessive drowsiness or vomiting more than once.

When I got home, my daughter suddenly became so sleepy and I couldn’t wake her at all. I called 111 who sent an ambulance. The paramedics arrived and also couldn’t wake her so we were blue lighted to A&E. As soon as we got there, she perked up and was totally fine. So fine I would have been worried about looking like an attention seeker if the paramedics didn’t see how drowsy she was!

Anyway, the A&E dr saw her and discharged her straight away saying she’s totally fine. Thank goodness.

So it’s a pretty similar story to yours. Just watch out now for any vomiting or excessive sleepiness and take her straight to A&E if you do! I’m sure he’ll be fine though. It’s a worrying time but please don’t blame yourself. Things like this happen all the time and he’s already been checked over my a dr

Agreed - paeds a&e nurse

… The issue here is that 16 month olds can’t tell us how they feel so it may be harder to spot delayed concussion symptoms. If I wasn’t reassured by the GP, 100% I’d take my baby for a second check. No one I’ve worked with would ever judge a parent for getting their child checked out again so you ‘a+e Dr’ should be ashamed with that attitude, I’d never feel a concerned parent was wasting NHS time- jeez I wouldn’t want to be your patient!

I remember being so alarmed at DS's first head bump and the size of lump that developed, I'd never seen anything like it. It's immortalised in our holiday photos for ever. But toddlers do fall over and get bumps and bruises. Almost certainly she'll get over it fine. It happens to nearly everyone at some point.

@Theicingonthecake but the child has been assessed by a doctor and there have been no new symptoms so there currently isn’t any reason to seek further medical assessment.