I never thought this would happen...

We were at the mall tonight buying DH a birthday present and I layed my LO down on the sofa bench to change her. A gentleman with 4 little ones walked up at the same time and I thought maybe I had stolen their bench. It is hard to remember how it happened but I looked up to say that I will be just a moment and they can have the bench, I heard a thud, and to my horror looked down to see my LO Jude laying in the floor looking up at me. Then she let out a wail. I grabbed her up and hugged and hugged her. She calmed down pretty quickly, but then my tears came. Oh goodness it was a terrible feeling. The man (whose wife was in the store and he with his 4 LOs) was so calm and kind. He pointed to each of his children and told me all the "bouncing" they had done in their life up to this point. He looked at Jude and said, oh, she is just fine. Anyway, needless to say we left. The bench was very low - maybe a foot, or 16 inches off the ground, which of course was hard, like concrete. I have watched Jude all night and she seems fine. No swelling, a little red patch on the side of her head above her ear, but otherwise, no different behavior, has been laughing and playing and went to bed after feeding as normal. I am a wreck of course. Besides the point of feeling like a terrible mother who swore would never let this happen (boy am I humbled now) I just want to make sure I am doing things right. Do I need to wake her up to check on her if she seemed normal? Just as a precaution? Or am I overthinking this? My DH is comforting but also says she is fine and I am just freaked out. He says to let her sleep - she was up for 2.5 hours after this happened with no odd behavior. She has been STTN the last three nights so there is a good chance that she will tonight. I wonder if I should wake her? I cannot wait until this horrible feeling passes - I am so mad at myself. I feel like I always have a hand on them when they are on a surface - how did I just forget to do this this time? REALLY irks me.

 

Oh, Betsy, :hug: we are all human! I know you're freaked out (we all would be) but SHE'S OK. I can't tell you how many times I've felt like The Worst Mom of the Year for things like this. It's SO easy to get distracted...by the twins, by others, ANYTHING. I think we should have a sticky just for bird-brained things we've done...misery loves company, you know.

Breathe.......
Eve

 

Huge hugs, because I know how it feels (probably all moms have had this happen to them at least once by the time the kids are one), but she is fine. I know it seems horrible at the time, but really she didn't fall that far. I have had kids roll off the sofa, bed, etc. as babies & they are always fine. Scary for them & for mommy, but she'll be okay. :hug:

 

How is Jude doing today? Did you let yourself sleep? I know it can be very scary but the fact that she calmed down so quickly shows that she really is okay. My biggest "bad mommy moment" was when I got home and realized that I hadn't strapped 6 month old Jake into his carseat. I couldn't believe it and I cried for about 6 hrs. But, I'm just that much more careful about it now. :grouphug:

 

Big :hug: How did you and Jude do last night? When the twins were 6 months, we stayed in a hotel overnight for my SIL's wedding. I had Sophia on the bed and literally turned my back from one second and that quick, she rolled off the bed. I was horrified and so mad at myself. She was fine and got over it a lot faster then I did. I think what you are feeling is normal and I think this is something that typically happens :hug:

 

:hug: I hope he is feeling well this morning. It sounds like you did everything right in terms of checking on him. We all make mistakes. :hug:

 

:grouphug: We've all had moments like this. When my oldest was nine months old, I had set her down on the edge of the grass by the driveway for a minute to do something. She'd been sitting on her own for a while at that point so I didn't think anything of it. She tipped backwards and somehow spun around so that she cracked her head on the asphalt. I freaked!! She cried instantly and other than a small bump on her head she acted just fine. I did go in and check on her every hour between putting her to bed and me going to bed but didn't wake her fully. I just woke her enough that she stirred normally. :hug: momma!

 

My two year old has fallen off stuff since she was little. The first time was like you, I was sitting in a chair with her in my lap. She was about six months old. She leaned way over backwards - but to the side - and just fell out of my grasp. Landed on hardwood flooring! OMG! I totally freaked out! But she was fine.... She has since rolled off the couch once and off the hotel bed as well. Of course those were at different times in her life, the hotel one was when she was 1.5 years old, but you still feel horrible for letting an accident happen.
Hope you are both ok and getting some rest today.

 

My DD fell off of our bed when she was 3 months and our bed is pretty high. I freaked as well. When I called the ped they asked if she was bleeding out of her nose or ears, she wasn't. I ended up taking her in anyway and she was fine. I know what you mean though about things happening so fast that it's hard to even know exactly how they happened.

 

My youngest twin fell off the couch while I was at work. My husband was watching her and he was hysterical. He was so freaked out and very scared. She was ok but my husband was totally scared. I think most parents have been through this. Don't be too hard on yourself.

 

Thank you (to everyone else too.) She is doing great and not showing any signs of anything other than being herself. I checked on her every couple of hours last night and she had her regular night of moving around the crib - but she STTN. BTW - last week I drove to yoga with them - they were buckled but I forgot to tighten the straps, which is why they were able to have them in their mouths chewing them when I got to my destination. I must be losing my mind. Need to nap more.

I did not sleep well but I expected that. I am still a little stunned trying to go over in my mind how I took my attention away - I can hardly remember how it happened it was so fast. She was laughing and chewing on her toy within seconds. My DH is being so sweet today - he knows how mental I can get. I told my good neighbor with a 3 month old - I felt like I had to warn her of my mistake because her baby is rolling a lot...heh heh. I think I am over the worst feeling of it - but I am feeling like I will be a paranoid freak for a while now. I asked my husband to please learn from my mistake and to be extra cautious.

 

Hey Betsy, so sorry this happened! I can imagine how scary that must of been for you! PLease don't beat yourself up as like pp's have already stated we are all human and make mistakes, it was an accident.. that your Jude has probably forgotton about 5 times over. I'm sure that all of our twns will take a fair few bumps to the head while finding there feet. I'm so glad Jude is ok though, must be a tough cookie lol

 

Aaron launched himself off of the bed - onto the hardwood floor - more than once. And the kids have reminded me to buckle them into their seats. :blush: Whether people admit it or not, we've all had a similar experience and similar guilt. :friends:

 

:hug: I'm glad you're feeling better. My twins haven't fallen off anything yet, but both of my older kids took a tumble off my bed at some time during their first year. No matter how attentive you are sometimes things just happen. Fortunately, kids are pretty tough to break.

 

:hug: :hug: Add me to the list of "been there done that"! My oldest launched himself out of the crib at about 10 months old (to this day we have no clue how he managed it, nothing to stand on, crib rail up, crib mattress all the way down). He also fell off the bed in our camper and got a black eye on the step at 18 months old. My oldest dd fell off the SAME bed when she was about 10 months old, no black eye at least. She's also rolled off the couch.

We've also forgotten to buckle a child at one point or another, it's easy enough to do, even if you are being super cautious!!

Welcome to mommy-hood! :hug:

 

don't beat youself up too badly...mine rolled off the couch, I dropped Abby onto the toy bar on her bouncy seat when I went to set her down and she wiggled the opposite way, they've had shiners, goose eggs etc...no scars yet!