Accidentally dropping one’s baby on the head is not as unusual as you may think, yet at the same time, it just should never happen!
“Any young infant dropped on their head should be evaluated by a doctor after the fall,” says Irene Tien, MD, a board-certified emergency medicine and pediatric emergency medicine physician in MA.
“If the baby looks fine, you may call your pediatrician first,” advises Dr. Tien.
“However, most infants will be referred to the ER for an evaluation, which will include an examination followed by a period of observation or some sort of brain imaging like a CT scan.”
A baby may appear fine but may also be experiencing a symptom from the fall on their head that they, of course, cannot communicate to you.
Sooner or later all infants and babies get cranky, cry and/or squirm as though uncomfortable. These behaviors are normal.
But they can also be triggered by nausea and/or a headache – caused by being dropped on their head.
A baby does not respond to nausea or a headache the way a preschooler might.
A preschooler will put their hands to their stomach and say, “My tummy hurts,” or something to that effect. If there’s head pain they’ll maybe rub their head and say, “My head hurts.”
Also, if a baby has a seizure due to brain trauma, this can appear as normal infantile movements to the layperson.
Because a baby cannot generate feedback to the parent, the parent must stay ahead of the wave and at a minimum, report to the pediatrician that they accidentally dropped their baby.
A parent won’t be eager to reveal such an embarrassing accident, but it must be done.
Put your ego aside and admit to the doctor, “I accidentally dropped my baby on her head.” This will very likely not be the first time that the ER doctor, pediatrician or nurse hears this comment.
As for preventing future incidents of accidentally dropping your baby on the head, make sure that your holding arm is wrapped high enough around the baby’s back so that if he arches it during a crying fit, he won’t topple over your arm and fall out.
Furthermore, get in the habit of picking up the baby with two hands, no matter how easy it is to do it with one hand.
Accidentally dropping a baby can also occur when the caretaker slips, having not watched where they were stepping.
A baby’s, and especially infant’s, head is still soft, and thus, brain injury (namely a brain hemorrhage) is so much more likely than if an older child fell.
In practice for 20+ years,
