I feel like a HORRIBLE mother right now. I know it wasn't my fault, but I still feel so badly. I had DS napping on my bed, which is a daily occurence. He can roll but chooses not to, so I feel quite safe doing this. Well, the dogs aren't allowed on the bed when the baby's on it, especially the big one. I turned my head to check the time and when I turned back Patches (the big one) WAS on the bed. He got scared bc he knew he shouldn't have been there and in his haste to get off, so he wouldn't get in trouble, he stepped right on DS. All 70lbs of his weight went on my poor baby's face. How could I have let this happen!? I know it's not my fault but it's so hard to accept. So, anyway, the baby laid there in shock for a few seconds and then just started SCREAMING! His cheek immediately started swelling. I figured I should take him to the ER just to MAKE sure he was ok, but thought I'd check to see if my mom agreed. She did and went with me. Fortunately he seems to be okay, just has a small scrape and some bruising, but I'm supposed to be watching for signs of head injury for the next 48 hours. I feel SO awful! Oh yeah, and his head is getting flat too. :( When is enough enough?
Sponsor
LauraLu
10-22-2007, 10:11 AM
Oh I'm SO sorry that happened to you and your son! Please don't feel as if you're a horrible mother, you're not!!! Accidents happen and you absolutely did the right thing by taking him in. If we kept our eyes on our children ALL the time, we would never get anything done and would be walking zombies. My heart goes out to you, but rest assure, you are not a bad mommy!!! I think I might be giving Patches the cold shoulder for a day or two though...
liloulou
10-22-2007, 10:21 AM
Oh I"m sorry to hear this is happenig, but look, your DS is most likely going to be fine.
Just a week or so ago, my DD rolled off of the bed! I totally freaked out and called the dr. who said to watch her, wake her from her sleep after two hours. I did all of this to make sure she didn't have a head injury and in the end she was fine.
But I felt horribly guilty and scared that she was hurt and it was my fault for turning my back for literally two seconds.
But that's the thing, as LauraLu said, we can't have our eyes on them 24/7 and things will happen. We just have to make the best judgement calls as we can and learn and adjust. In my situation, I know now to not let me baby stay on the bed AT ALL, unless I'm on the bed with her.
I hope you're son will be fine and don't beat yourself up over it, just try to learn from each situation for the future.
neshee
10-22-2007, 10:52 AM
Oh sweetie! I know EXACTLY how you feel! My DD was 2years old and fell down our WHOLE flight of stairs!! She hit her head 3 times (top) going down, and I just stood at the top of the stairs like an idiot. Fortunately my DH was home and downstairs and got to her first (I think I was in shock...and it only lasted like 3 secs before I ran down the stairs too). We made her lay still for awhile and checked her over. Called doc and said to just keep her awake for an hour to make sure she didn't have a concussion. She didn't, and was fortunately just fine. I credit this to the stairs being so heavily padded and carpeted. So, after the fire, I demanded the stairs be covered the exact same way, so as to protect from any future incidents. I am sure your son will be just fine. I would have done the same thing. Kids are much more resilient than we think. ;)
luckydarlin
10-22-2007, 09:05 PM
Accidents happen - especially when there are animals in the house. I have a yellow lab who weighs in at 105 lbs and has been our only "baby" until my daughter was born. We always have to pay attention because even when my little one is squeaking a toy, the big pup comes running! What you are describing is something I ALWAYS worry about!
A few weeks ago, I was sitting on the ottoman in my daughter's room with her sitting on my lap and my dog was standing in front of us wagging his tail while I patted him. Next thing you know, he heard something outside and turned and ran - when he turned to run, the side of his face and nose bashed my little on the side of the face. There was that momentary silence and the the screaming and sobbing followed. I felt like such an idiot! All I could think was 'good moms don't let these kinds of things happen' - but let's be honest, accidents happen! We try out absolute best and that's all we can do. My daughter is infatuated with my dog and I cringe knowing that once she's crawling and walking there will be many accidental knock downs.
I feel terrible for you because you felt terrible about what happened. I'm so glad your little one is going to be ok...and you will be too! :)
mcr285
10-23-2007, 04:07 PM
i can't imagine how scary that must have been! but everyone else here is right, you can't beat yourself up about it.... kids are so incredibly resilient, i think they were designed to withstand some pretty scary accidents! examples:
when my sister was not quite 2, she fell out of the upstairs window, landed on her head, and came out without even a scratch on her... oh, did i mention this happened twice?
my three siblings and i have fallen down our stairs at least a hundred gazillion times, and there is ceramic tile at the bottom to break our fall, and we've never had more than a goose egg from it.
several years ago, a little girl i know was warming herself by her fireplace (she was 2 at the time) and her jammies weren't flame resistant and she caught fire... a much worse accident than the others mentioned, BUT today she is a healthy happy teenager with only a few visible scars!
my own daughter, just last year, jumped in a room upstairs, and a picture frame (heavy pewter with sharp corners) fell from a shelf and the corner caught her right in the head just over her eye! there was such a huge deep gash in her head! and i was standing RIGHT THERE! but today, you can barely see the scar...
my niece wiggled off her parents bed at two months old, and their bed is raised several inces higher than normal! that was a little scary! but she wasn't hurt, just angry!
my daughter (same as mentioned above) was leaning back in her chair, and lost her balance and hit her mouth on the corner of the end table... she hit her gums right above her teeth! i was so shocked that there was so much blood, and even more shocked that she still had all her teeth!
my other daughter tripped over my husband one day and knocked her mouth against the corner of the bed and busted her lip really good. he called me and was so scared (men are such babies sometimes!) because again, there was so much blood! she had a good sized fat lip from that one!
my nephew tripped over my sister and hit the corner of an open drawer (she was putting away his laundry and was RIGHT THERE!) and knocked out one of his front teeth and gave himself a good sized fat lip too!
oh! one time my husband was trying to get my older daughter inside, and she was about two years old, and she threw a tantrum while he was holding her hand, and she let her legs go limp so that he was holding her up by her one hand.... he pulled her elbow out of socket!
and i can't even begin to tell you how many times my girls have tripped over their own feet and knocked themselves in the head (usually in the same spot over and over again!)!
ANYWAY.... i could go on and on.... point is, it's not your fault. who could have possibly predicted that a freak accident like that would have happened??? the other point is (and i hate to say it, but it's just the truth...), this is just the beginning! :)
anhyre
10-23-2007, 05:00 PM
Thanks everyone. I know all kids have accidents. My sister got dropped on her head, literally and I snuck off with a bottle in my mouth before my mom realized it. I tripped and put my 2 bottom teeth through my lip. I'm just glad nothing was broken. The size of the dog was what made me take him in. It was his face, after all. He's fine though. Just...cranky right now. :(