As a mother, I’m rather paranoid. I’m always worried that my son will hurt himself. A toddler has endless ways to get hurt if you just leave him unattended, and even attended for that matter!
On Saturday morning, I was in the kitchen cooking and he was under the watchful eyes of the father in the bedroom. He usually wants to be let free to roam on his feet now that he’s learned how to walk and run about. When we let him walk freely about the room, we always have to watch him, otherwise he will reach out to play with the powerpoints or pull stuff off the table. All sorts of things could go wrong, right?
So anyway the dad needed to go to the bathroom badly so he had no choice but to put the boy into his play-crib while he takes a minute to go to the bathroom. And in one quick moment, the boy started to climb up the crib and he fell over!
From the kitchen below, I heard the thud, followed by the loud cries. I knew then that one of my worst nightmares has just come true. As I rushed up the stairs, I hoped and hoped that I’m wrong and that he had just pulled something off the table and dropped it.
He stopped crying quite quickly, after we both hugged him tight and reassured him that it was okay. We asked him where he felt pain and he incidated the side of his head. We let him rest for a while but he immediately got back into play and was his usual self. He seemed to have forgotten about his fall very quickly.
We monitored him for signs of vomitting and unsteadiness when walking. He didn’t seem to show any of those except that he did puke a little during his two meals later in the day. But it wasn’t serious vomitting and my guess was that he over ate.
Later in the day when we asked him about the fall and where he was still hurting, he pointed to some part of his leg. I don’t really think he had pains in the leg. I just wanted to test if his head still hurt. Apparently not if he pointed at his leg instead of the head.
In any case, the fall was a major heartache for me. We’ve tried setting so-called safety rules by explaining to him about what he can and cannot do, but at this stage I doubt he’s able to understand it. It’s strange though, he seems to understand when we tell him to stay away from hot mugs because they are hot and will cause him pain. But he doesn’t get other safety measures.
So all eyes and ears will continue to be focused on him, on every step that he makes. This time, he may get just a bump on the head from the fall. I seriously don’t want any other bumps of any kind. I think I remember and hurt more than him whenever he gets hurt!
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
This is so true. Whenever Hayley falls and cries, I will cry too
. I wish it was me and not her. But I guess like what the older people like to say ‘they grow up by falling’ 
Poor mummy! I just hope the growing up falls will be minor ones with no scars to show for life!
I forgot to mention that Hayley’s first fall was when she was 1.5 months! Imagine my heartache. We left her on the sofa for like 2 seconds and she fell onto the floor. We didn’t even see how it happened. She didn’t even know how to roll or move at that time but yet she ended up on the floor. Can you believe it? Luckily we were about to go out and I put on a hat for her so I was telling myself (so I wont feel as guilty) that the hat would have provided some sort of a support to the head. I was so scared and monitored her the whole night for any signs of vomitting or fever etc. That was a tough lesson for me.
Oh no! I can feel your pain! Haha, I seriously hope that hat helped to cushion the blow. But I heard that a newborn’s head is still soft and they won’t feel as much pain on the head at that stage. Let’s believe that it’s true!
This is the talk of guilty parents?!
wow…the worries never ends huh? Im a first time mommy, and Im due in 2 months. Ive started worrying about my baby the soonest I got pregnant. Now, if there is no movement in my tummy, I start worrying and tap my tummy for some reaction. Before in the 1st trimester, if I dont feel nauseas I worry there’s something wrong.. (they say when u feel nauseas, it means your baby’s heartbeat is normal)….
Evelyne, the worry and paranoia doesn’t end!
But I suppose it’s only natural since it’s our first experience. Maybe we’ll be better when we have more than one kid huh.
Guilty! I have been there and felt that. However, as time goes by, I have been more immuned to it. Kids will fall and they will live. We just have to make sure they do not fall from a height higher than they are ; ) (Paed said this, not me)
I know, I have been accused of being tidak-apa, but at the end of the day, the kids have to also learn to survive falls and move on, and we mummies have to learn to live with it.
Did I tell you Ryan ate fertilizers? Yeah, well, he survived that too.
I am definitely NOT a model mum!
Busy bee, I am not surprised that Ryan ate fertilizers. Hayley picked up a dead ant (the big red one) from the floor the other day and put it straight into her mouth. Protein eh.. hehehe. I saw her chewing and dig into her mouth and quickly remove the ant. Luckily she didn’t swallow it yet.
Evelyne, are you having a boy or a girl?
. Good luck!
Penny, I am actually quite tempted to have a 2nd one now.. haha. I love being pregnant (not the 1st trimester and the ast trimester though), I love looking after the baby but i HATE the labour and the confinement period. Sigh…
Busy Bee, we have to learn from a mother of two like yourself now
And you’re a lot more seasoned than most of us here! So we’ll take it from you that eating fertilizers and falling (as long as not from a height higher than the kid) will not kill them! Btw, my boy ate lots of paper and tissues…he hasn’t been introduced to fertilizers just yet.
Amy, wow, you are one supermummy, all charged up and ready for the next! I’m not even ready yet and need time to prep myself up for the next. Haha.
Penny, I am actually not ‘ready’ ready but I was thinking that probably it would be a good idea to quickly get over with it.. I want 2 babies
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But hor, this time I need to make sure its a boy. Any tips ah? hahaha
Oh no, I’m glad there wasn’t any serious injury. I’d like to think that kids are tougher than we think. After all, I remember all the falls I had when I was a kid. Still alive until today
Amy, go read this post on tips to conceive a baby boy. I did a test on this chart with my first pregnancy, and my friends did their tests too, and it all turned out to be correct! Go check it out here: http://www.usefultipsforlife.com/chart-on-when-to-conceive-baby-boy-or-girl
Adino, haha it’s true, we fall, eat all kinds of everything, get dirty and yet we all grew up fine. I think this generation of parents are just too protective.
Thanks for the link. I actually have that already and it was accurate when I had my girl
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Ahh, yet another success story with this chart. We’re hoping we can use this chart the next time round