My son fell from the top of our stairs to the bottom(15 carpeted steps) today. The worst is that I saw it happen. He has been going up and down our steps for quite some time now, though I have always feared that he may slip and fall. We were upstairs getting an item out of the bedroom, when I turned around he was gone and I heard him falling. I ran to the stairs ans saw him continue to fall. He landed on his back and just looked up at me. I could not get there fast enough. I swooped him up and I started bawling. He never fussed(though he never does when he gets hurt, pretty tough kid). I think he was confused because I was crying. He had no injuries at all!! Thank the Lord! But now all I can picture in my head is him tumbling down the stairs. How do I get over it?
I am typically very calm when he falls and such, but I guess watching it was too much to handle. He is all boy and FEARLESS!
Wow. I feel better already, I guess just knowing that I am not the only one with a fearless child helps. Thanks for all the great words of encouragemnet. I know I would like to, but I can't be there to hold his hand all the time :-)
It goes away with time.... I had a similar thing happen BUT we were at my in-laws and everyone was sitting at the bottom of the stairs and I was the one at the top with my son. You feel horrible but it will go away when another accident will take over ;).
Hi J K. I'm not going to try to sound insensitive, because I do understand how scary it is when your kids hurt themselves. My husband fell down the stairs with our 10 day old precious girl! I rushed her to the ER and demanded head to toe X rays. The same girl tumbled down the whole flight of stairs one day when the gate was down because we were having a sleep number bed delivered and assembled. She literally "rolled" head first down the stairs. One thing you have to make yourself understand is that kids get hurt. Kids have accidents. Kids break bones. Kids get cut. It's just what happens. Sure, some kids are more accident prone than others, but every kid gets hurt sometimes. We, as parents can do our best to keep them safe, but we are not 100 people who are able to watch and protect every second. Cut yourself some slack. I cried when my kids first got hurt too, but try to realize that he is totally okay, and that it won't be the last time that he falls like that. Even when he's older and okay to go up and down stairs, he's still going to have falls. My four and five year old still fall down a few steps now and again.
I went through the same thing shortly after my second son was born. I was nursing him, and my oldest son, who was 2 at the time, was coming down the stairs after waking up. He fell down about 8 stairs. I was like you, I was watching him come down, saying good morning, and then he came tumbling down. I lost it! I screamed his name, put the baby down, and went running to him. I think I was what scared him. He was fine. He is also fearless, but scared me to death. Two years later, there has been many more incidents that make you kringe, but they are resilient. It's only the beginning of the wonderous world of boys :)
T.
Hi,
TIME will help....our first fell off the bed on my husban's watch and while she was fine, HE was devastated. Our second just fell out of the stroller and on the the floor at the park district on my watch - I unbuckled him to take him out..just then my daughter said something to me so I turned around to answer her and my little one slid right under the stroller tray and ont he the floor. He too was fine but it was so traumatic to watch! I think most every parent you meet would be able to tell you and "oops" story - things happen so quickly and we have to forgive ourselves for being human and making mistakes! Thank goodness your son is ok and realize this probably isn't the last time you'll feel this way...
I totally understand your emotions, I feel the same!
Unfortunately kids (especially the fearless ones, I got one of them) will get hurt and there is nothing you can do about it. You can be so careful and babyproof everything and still they find a way.....
Kids do learn fast though. Often when something really turned into a painful experience they will learn fast how to avoid getting hurt like that again.
my son did the exact same thing at my parents house, and when I got to him he was laying at the bottom of the stairs laughing histerically. My husband and I have since installed baby gates at the top of each of our stair flights in our home, because the little one thinks it's a game. The best piece of advice I received was to not react too strongly when they fall. IT's really hard, but now when he bumps his head or the like all I had to learn to smile instead of showing him im nervous. If they're really hurt they'll let you know, but half of the time they won't hurt themselves and will either look to you to determine what their reaction should be. My son has since learned to handle bumps and bruises on his own, and either shakes, rubs or laughs it off. through this he has gained some independence and I am a lot less nervous about dealing with the regular injuries which come with parenting a small child who is learning to explore his surroundings. It hopefully will also prepare me for when he will realize (as most kids do) that it's fun to go down the stairs in laundry baskets or pillow cases.
I know this response is a little late but it is a great story to tell now that my daughter is 16 years old.
When my daughter was 2 she came into my husbands office crying. I kept asking her what was wrong but could not understand her because she was crying so hard. I had just figured her older sister had hit her again. So I asked her to show me what happened. I followed her as she started walking up the stairs. The next thing I knew she was falling down the stairs. She was showing me exactly what happened!!! After that I never asked her to show me what happened!! At least you didn't have your child falled down the stairs again. She was fine but it was a hard lesson for us both to learn.
Hi,
My 18 mos old daughter did the same thing about 6-8 weeks ago. She fell down 13 carpeted stairs and landed on carpet. I was going after her to get her and just grabbed air as she took her tumble. She seemed more shocked than hurt and seemed to be doing fine. However, like you, I couldnt get over it.. so finally after about an hour or 2 I called the doctor and went and had her checked out. She was fine. I was so out of it until I went to the doctor. If you want peace of mind, just go get him looked at. You will feel much better. I know how you feel!! It happens to all of us :)
Aarti.
My daughter fell down a bunch of carpeted stairs today. I was in the bedroom getting dressed. My pregnant wife in the bathroom with the door open. I heard my wife scream,and I ran out of the room catching the tail end of her fall. I ran down the stairs scooped her up,handing her to my wife. It just so happens my 3 year old pushed her when she was sitting at the top step. So she fell from a sitting position. She cried immediately. She eventually stopped and returned to her regular self. My wife watched her and noticed nothing unusual. My wife said she felt that our daughter was ok,after checking her out. I'm the nervous one. Than after talking to my mom,telling her what happened,I became even more paranoid. Mom saying,"Take her to the er." So my 1 year old daughter seems perfectly normal yet my mind is anything but.
I had the same problem a few years ago, although it wasn't my child that fell down the stairs, it was my neice. I was overcome with guilt because I was right there when she went for the stairs and I couldn't stop her in time. She did not get too terribly hurt but it was very traumatic for her, her parents and me! I guess you just have to come to terms with the fact that these things happen sometimes and as long as he wasn't hurt, time will help you to get over it!
My son fell down the stairs at about 22 months too. I am in a trilevel and on the main floor he was upstairs , got to the steps and tumbled. I totally freaked out. Ran to get him he was about 22 mo at the time. I was screaming oh no oh no. Yes I cried too... did he... of course not did not even phase him.
Well not long after that he purposely would go down the stairs and go oh oh no no. Laughing at me each time!!
I know I felt guilty for a long time oh what could have happened. So be careful and pray ALOT!!
My 20 month daughter now goes up and down stairs on her own she sees her brothers sliding down and tries to do it too. Its like a big joke on me for them to make ME think they are falling!!! Good Luck!! :)
My son came to the kitchen when I was getting him a sippy cup then, being a rambuntious 2 yr old boy, he turned and ran and fell right into the corner of the wall in the entry way. As I was filling his cup, I saw him crack his head and heard it. I ran over to him and he was crying on the floor with a lot of blood. I swooped him up and cleaned him up and had to get a damp towel and some ice and then called my husband. I felt like I could barely dial his number - felt like I was ready to pass out - a little woosey after seeing my own son crack his head. I thin that mother's have this sense where we really do feel their pain. Anyways, I felt so aweful about it - he will have a scar on his forhead- my husband came home and we rushed him to the urgent care. The doc put this durabond stuff on his head and kept reasuring me that he would be okay. When I took him the next day for a followup to the regular doctor, he said that, "he's a boy and things like this will happen and there was nothing I could have done to stop it from happening". We can childproof our homes as much as possible but they are still going to get hurt. My 3 1/2 yr old daughter on the other hand hasn't had any bad accidents that required a trip to the doctor. One time though, when she was about 2 1/2, she was walking along side me in the park and I was pushing the stroller with my son in it. She tripped on a crack in the sidewalk and scraped her chin, upper lip and even nose up. I felt so bad, I also started crying. He'll be fine - and you'll be okay as well.
