Baby Bumps on Head

Source: Baby Bumps on Head

When your child starts to learn to walk, "goose egg" on head may then become common. A bump on the head can look very scary, especially to the adult who were looking after the baby while injury occurred. Luckily, thanks to the structure of our human brain, most of these falls will only cause minor injury to the scalp in the form of a bump and will not affect the brain of the children; eventually the bump will also disappear after some time

Head Injury - When you should call the doctor immediately

In the following situations, parents or caretakers are advised to seek doctor's help right away:

1. Loss of consciousness. If your child becomes unconscious after a fall, this means damage to the head is very serious and you should call the ambulance or doctor immediately and ask the doctor for immediate instruction while you are waiting for ambulance to arrive. Usually you may need to apply CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) until help arrives.
2. Severe headache. If your child complaints about severe headache after a fall, then you should take him or her to see doctor immediately.
3. Persistent Vomiting. This is a sign of concussion. One or two times of vomiting may not indicate a serious injury, but if the child vomits three times or more than that, you should call the doctor immediately.
4. Unusual eye movement or change in pupil size. This is a sign of possible brain injury.
5. Loss of balance while walking. Dizziness after a fall is expected, but if the affected child repeatedly loses balance while walking or runs into things while walking, then you should take him or her to see doctor for further examination.
6. Prolonged crying. This may indicate internal injury such as bleeding.
7. 7. Bleeding that cannot be stopped with pressure.

Head Injury - What to do immediately?

If the above situations do not apply, then you should remain relaxed and do the followings:

1. Apply the ice. If your child allows, gently hold an ice pack to the bump on your child's head. This can help to decrease the size of the bump.
2. Stop the bleeding.Apply gentle pressure to stop the bleeding using a cloth.
3. Monitor the child in the next 12 hours for the following:
   • Most of the child will retreat into sleep after a fall. You should do a partial arousal at an interval of one hour while your baby is sleeping. If your baby fusses or thrashes around to resettle, or wakes up, then it means that he or she is fine and you should just let your baby continue to sleep. Otherwise, you should seek doctor's help as soon as possible.
   • Monitor the change in color of affected area or face. If the face change color to pale, or even blue, medical attention should be needed immediately.

Head Injury - How to prevent a fall or head injury?

1. Cushion sharp corners. There are inexpensive accessories that can help to cushion sharp corner on your coffee table, TV console, or dinning table and they can be easily bought from any kid's stores.
2. Lower your child's mattress as soon as he starts standing up in his crib or bed. Most of the baby beds should allow you to lower down the position of the mattress. All you need to do is to lower down the position of some screws. Do contact the bed's manufacturer if you are not sure what to do.
3. Do not leave your child alone on or in the furniture.
4. When your floor is wet, do not allow your child to move around. If he is running or walking on the wet floor, it is very likely he or she may slip and hit his or her head.
5. While at playground, monitor your child closely, especially if there are older children who are running around. They may bump onto your child at any time.