A baby hitting the head is a heart wrenching situation for the mother or care giver. On the other end, it can startle a toddler and may be a devastating experience for the new born. Whatever may be the case, it is normal for anyone in the scene of such happening to have a heartfelt sympathy for the new born to rollover the bed or couch and bump the head, or for a toddler to toddle and fall.
Baby Hits Head: When to Worry
Many child-hood physical and social activities make it almost normal for kids to experience head injuries at some point in their lives. Most of the falls by our little ones doesn’t cause an injury to the brain or have need for a medical expert to diagnose. However, it is necessary to put the baby or toddler under a short-term observation for any variation in the child’s behavior or overall health condition.
Common Head Injuries in Kids | Baby Hits Head; When to Worry.
when your baby falls, you don’t have to get worried or agitated. You should first understand the meaning of Pediatric head injuries. The meaning of pediatric head injury is any kind of injury to the head of a baby that may happen to the scalp, skull or brain which could be minor or serious.
Minor Head Injury:
- Bumps or Goose eggs
- Cuts and scratches
- Surface Bruises
Serious Head Injury
- Deep cuts
- Fracture on the skull or face
- Traumatic Brain Injuries
When to Worry – Baby Hits Head
Children are very complicated beings. There are observations that makes it clear that the bump on a baby’s head needs a close observation of an expert. Many parents are usually worried when their children bump their head. It is very important for you to know when to worry or when not to after your baby hits head. Some of which includes:
Example | Baby Hits Head; When to Worry.
An unusual behavior afterwards
The body responds weirdly through shock, pain and stress that comes after hitting the head. Furthermore, some of the unusual behavior can be as a result of a more significant injury to the brain. These unusual behavior are below.
- Dizziness
- Difficulty breathing
- Vomiting
- Problems with sleep
- Confusion
- Tiredness
- Unusual sensitivity to light and noise
- Frequency in crying
- Headaches
Seizure or Tonic Posturing
This is a brief and sudden stiffness of the body arm or leg. This seldom happens after a head injury. The condition is worrisome and it should be treated with immediate medical attention of a professional. In most cases, a CT or MRI imaging is required to determine the chances of a future or already established internal bleeding or swelling in the brain.
Uncontrollable bleeding.
Appearance of a fracture to the face or skull.
How to Prevent Pediatric Head Injuries
Parents and care givers can reduce the frequencies of head injuries on young ones, by putting in place very simple measures both at home and out door. During social or any other physical activity that have the tendency of making someone fall and hit the head, care givers should put in place suitable gargets to lessen the falls of their young ones. Below are some examples on how to prevent head injuries.
Example
- Never leave your infant unattended to in a bathtub, high-chair, bed, tables or any other elevated material or piece of furniture.
- Make use of a non-slip mat in areas such as the bathrooms.
- Place barriers to stairs with baby gates, to discourage your toddler going to that area.
- Always make sure that the doors to your balconies are locked.
- Make sure your furniture’s are not hanging around your windows, to discourage your children from climbing on them.
- Install window guards or protector.
- Encourage your kids to make use of necessary protective head gears during recreational or social activities.
- Another way to prevent head injuries resulting from car accidents, is to have the child always in a rear facing car seat, until they attain the age advised by the manufacturer of your car seat.
- Always make sure to safely install your child’s car seat.
- Be sure not to leave your baby with a caregiver who has some behavioral misplacement or gets violent when frustrated.
Home Remedy for Head Injury
Some reliable home remedy that helps with your young one hitting the head includes:
- Applying cold press on a bump or goose egg and repeating the same, after every four hours. If you notice any sign of a serious head injury, contact your child’s health care provider
- When there is bleeding gathered beneath the skin where the injury occurred, apply pressure with a clean cloth
- Follow the prescription from your child’s healthcare provider in administering pain relief medication like acetaminophen.
- Give the child lots of tender loving care.
Conclusion | Baby Hits Head: When to Worry
It is almost normal for babies and toddlers to fall. Head injuries are not serious and can be prevented by consciously taking some adequate precautions. you cannot afford to not get your child checked up. It is usually advised to have your child examined by your health care provider after a fall, just in-case there is a serious situation to take adequate measure on or at least to keep in place your curiosity about the child’s safety.
Always call your child’s health care provider, if you notice any serious symptoms such as seizures and fractures or if you notice a very worrisome change in the behavioral pattern of your child.
