Mother/child relationship - felt my sons pain physically!!

[pamelat]

A strange thing happened to be today and I wanted to know how common it was?

My 2 year old son fell and hit his head on our hard floor. I obviously grabbed him to comfort him and held his sobbing head to mine, where I then felt an intense sharp pain in my own head. This lasted a good 5 seconds at the point that my sons head was touching mine.

Ive heard of twins sharing/sympathy pain but never this?

I don't think my husband believes me but it was very real/definate

I totally believe that can happen, why wouldn't it? we are physically connected to our children

both physical and emotional pain! Someone said to me recently that a mother can only be as happy as her 'most miserable child'. This is so true.

My mother has always claimed this happening to her and I have never paid much attention. To be honest I have always seen as a way of taking the focus away from me, establishing that "she was in pain too" as if this would help me.
You are the only other person I have heard saying this happens. It is quite interesting and making me consider for the first time that my mum just wanted to explain to us the feeling.

My mother has always claimed this happening to her and I have never paid much attention. To be honest I have always seen as a way of taking the focus away from me, establishing that "she was in pain too" as if this would help me.
You are the only other person I have heard saying this happens. It is quite interesting and making me consider for the first time that my mum just wanted to explain to us the feeling.

Mirror neurons and the vagus nerve. It's quite startling how we are connected to those we love.

I promise that it's not made up. I was surprised but now more interested in it, so will be googling the vagus nerve.

I don't know whether it happened because I has some guilt at not catching his fall so it all felt quite intense?

I will research.

Good to know it's not just me

I remember about 15 years ago my brother getting beaten up. My mum claimed to have woken about the time it would have been happening, in a panic, and worrying about him.

Similar?

I was skeptical, especially as it's easy to say it in hindsight.

When all three of my DCs were younger whenever they had their hair cut, I used to get that ' haircut' feeling, when your head feels lighter somehow. Would even wake up and be surprised when I looked in the mirror it my hair was the unkempt mess it was the day before

It lasted until they went to school, very odd!

When all three of my DCs were younger whenever they had their hair cut, I used to get that ' haircut' feeling, when your head feels lighter somehow. Would even wake up and be surprised when I looked in the mirror it my hair was the unkempt mess it was the day before

It lasted until they went to school, very odd!

Oops! Sorry

Ive tried to read up on mirror neurons. I grasp the general concept but the rest is beyond me!!

i'm afraid you are imagining it.

I went and had blood taken the other day. As it was finished I was surprised not to have that draggy heavy vein pain that you often get. Only to have my 4 year old dd hold out her right arm, point to the exact spot and say "mummy my arm hurts here, it feels really funny and heavy"

wow, spooky

Yes that's the whole point, you imagine "it" with it being the pain

It felt very physically real. Odd.

Ps this has not happened before and have 4 year dd and it never happened with her.

My identical twin sons experience this sort of thing , but I've never heard of it happening Mother/Child before or ever experienced it.

this happened to me as a small child when my younger sister injured herself in front of me -- she dropped a glass milk bottle on her foot and it smashed open, cutting her up and sending her into shock.

i actually retain the whole memory of her accident with myself as the subject of the accident iyswim. i remember it happening to me, not her. awful.

of course it's all psychological/neurological but that doesn't make it any more real. we are highly emotional & social animals, and the sensation of pain isn't just a function of physical stimulus, it's also about emotional response.

My DD was travelling in South East Asia, had been away about 6 weeks and we had only had an occasional facebook message from her.

One sunday morning I had an overwhelming urge to speak to her, begged DH to let me make an expensive call to her mobile, and got through to her just as she was being wheeled on a trolley into a hospital ward in Vietnam!
Fortunately she was OK, just dehydrated after a stomach upset.
I am usually the most sceptical person but I believe my mothers instinct was in overdrive that day

There is a researcher who has shown, in repeated, verifiable experiments, that when an owner gets up from their desk at work to go home, the dog or cat at home will get up at the same moment and go and sit by the door.

It's a wierd world out there.