HELP! Daughter fell off of couch

While my mother was over, my daughter fell off of our couch. She did a back flip and landed on her back with her head cocked. She was crying the hardest she has in a VERY long time. And as a result, she almost began to pass out and may even have for a split second. When I was an infant, I would do the same thing -- cry so hard and pass out and it seems like my daughter inherited this. Even to this day when I cry very hard I hold my breath. She seems okay... although a little more subdued (my belief is because it is naptime). I called my pediatrician and the nurse said to just bring her in - they would do a cat scan. I just put her down and will be waking her up in 15 minutes. If she doesn't wake up easily, then there are some obvious issues (i hope and pray that it isn' the case). I hope this doesn't sound awful and I do not mean it to but is a cat scan really necessary? I am actually quite po'd with the doctor's office that they didn't give more guidance on the matter (ex. check for pupil dialation, etc). And I also feel like the doctor's office is making me feel like a horrible mother that she fell off the couch. HELP. Freaking out.

 

I would just take her in. Better to have the scan done and find out that it's nothing than to continue to worry. Between the fall, the severity of her crying and the time of day, it may very well be nothing, but I would take her in - just in case. Please keep us updated!

 

I'm sorry I don't have any advice. I have no idea what's involved with a CAT scan, but I would be worried sick - like I'm sure you are. I think the best thing you can do is rule out all possibilities, even the most remote one's.

I'll be thinking about your little girl, and hoping everything is alright.

 

Ugh, I don't know what to do. When I went in first time, she was still up just chilling (which she does alot). Now I went in and it did take a little longer for me to get her up but they had a pretty active afternoon (my son is out cold) so I really don't know if it's cause of the fall or cause she is tired. I put her back to sleep and will wake them both up for the night at 330. ON top of all of this is my poor husband's birthday which looks like we'll just have his birthday dinner tomorrow now. The thought of going to quick care and having her go through a cat scan is scaring me!

 

Obviously I didn't see the fall -- it sounds like it was pretty dramatic -- but if she is acting normal once she wakes up again, I would probably just keep an eye on her till tomorrow. I am not a doctor and have no experience with head injuries, but unless she fell several feet onto concrete or something (which she didn't), I bet she is OK. And you'd be able to tell if she had hurt something other than her head (like if she wrenched her neck or landed wrong on her wrist or something), because it would hurt and she'd be upset.

It sure would have been helpful if the nurse had given you some guidance on how to tell if a scan was really necessary -- she may have just offered to do one because she assumed that's what you'd want.

 

Do you have a dial-a-nurse service in your area? You can call and ask a patient nurse (not a busy office nurse) all the questions you want. My cousin used to work for dial-a-nurse. I think it's a great service, I think it was sponsored by Mercy Hospital. I would not "just do a CAT scan" do you know that a CAT scan exposes children enough radiation to be the equivelent of 200 to 4,000 (depending on the machine and the tech running it) chest x-rays at once? CAT scans can be a life saver--but they are being overused. Call a nother medical professional who will talk you through what happened today and how your daughter is reacting so you can make an informed decision about her treatment.

Tell DH happy birthday, I'm sure you'll have a great dinner, today or tomorrow.

 

The reason they don't give you much advice over the phone about it is because of liability. By relying on your interpretation of signals, they're opening up themselves to a lawsuit if you "miss" a sign and don't end up bringing her in. In that regard, I'm not surprised they suggested you bring her in before diagnosing her.

That said, considering that our boys have taking flying tumbles down the stairs, I'm not terribly worried about a fall off the couch unless it's onto tile or something like that. But bringing her in and letting them at least check her out visually is pretty reasonable.

--> Andy

 

I know once when Peyton was about 6 months old she fell off of a bed and landed hard on a wood floor. I call our pedi office and they had me bring her in and just checked her over. She was fine, but better safe than sorry. I don't think I would have wanted them to do a CAT scan unless there were some other things going on also. JMO

 

My mitchell fell off the counter (he was standing up on it apparently) right onto his head/back. He cried harder than I have ever seen him cry. He then "zoned out" for about 30 secs.. I took him to urgent care and they told me to immediately go to ER for a cat scan. After sitting in the er for 3 hours they saw him, diagnosed him with a concussion and sent us home. We never had the cat scan. They said if there is anytime at all where there is a loss of consciousness, a cat scan should be done. They also told me that symptoms would get dramatically worse as the day goes on, not stable/better. My son was running around the ER like a mad man so we pretty much knew he was fine. But I felt SOO much better knowing that drs checked him over.

I would go in....I am sure you will rest much easier knowing she is okay.

 

I would take her to see someone. Can you make a regular appointment with your pedi for tomorrow?

Like pps said... keep an eye on her behavior.

Don't feel like a bad mother. Things happen in an instant and sometimes even when we are close by, watching.

Stay strong.
Good luck.

Happy b-day to your dh.

 

For her PM nap, I woke her up every 20 minutes. The kids were really tired. After she had her PM bottle, she seemed to be herself just fine - laughing, playing, trying to climb (goodness!), playing with brother, chatting. Pupils dialating fine. Appetite fine. Did not throw up. No bumps. Moving around fine. My husband got home and relayed a bunch of stuff his co-workers said. And he didn't think it was necessary to bring her in. I of course checked on her a few times last night and she did wake up twice but went back to sleep shortly after. And she seems totally fine this morning too... so I believe she is fine. Although I am totally tormented from the ordeal yesterday and now panicking everytime she cries that she is going to pass out (which we'll be asking the doctor about.... maybe I'll find out why I did it when I was young too!). We have a visit with the doctor on Monday for shots/etc. Thanks everyone. I appreciate it. Oh, my husband and I did have his birthday dinner. But we didn't eat until past 9 last night.