When to Call the Doctor after your Child Hits Her Head

fa_babyhitshead.jpg
13 comments Send to friend Print this article

When we hear the awful thud of a child's head, our breath catches. A prompt cry after the injury is reassuring. It is normal for a child to feel sleepy after hitting her head, and is even O.K. for her to vomit once. The following is a list of signals that tell you that you need to talk with your pediatrician. If your child is (or has):

  • Under six months of age
  • Unconscious, even briefly
  • Crying for longer than 10 minutes or prolonged irritability
  • Vomiting repeatedly
  • Bleeding or other liquid draining from the ears, mouth, or nose
  • Rapid swelling just above the ear
  • Bruising around the ear or eye
    • Unable to walk or talk normally
  • Acting strangely or drowsy
  • Unequal pupil size
  • Severe, worsening headache
  • Neck pain or stiffness
  • Seizures
  • Skull indentation or large bump
  • Great force of injury (car accident, long fall, baseball bat, etc.)
  • Worsening symptoms or symptoms improve then worsen

If any of these symptoms or situations are present or if you have any concerns, call your physician right away. Your child may be fine, but you should be in touch with an expert. If your child is unable to get up by herself immediately after the head injury, don't move her. Call 911 and wait for emergency help to arrive.

If none of these symptoms are present, it is fine to let your child sleep, as long as you wake her every half hour for the first six hours after the fall. After this, awaken her at your bedtime and again four hours later to check on her status. If at any time your child seems to develop a suspicious symptom, call your doctor immediately.

Reviewed By: 
Khanh-Van Le-Bucklin M.D. & Liat Simkhay Snyder M.D.
3.727275
 
 
 
  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <cite> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd>

More information about formatting options

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Image CAPTCHA
Enter the characters shown in the image.

Comments

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2012-02-10 08:45.

what do i do

My daughter is 5 and for two year she complains that her head hurts and its hot she cry I'm just thinking its a head ache is this something serious
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2012-02-06 00:29.

very scary moment!!!!

this happened to my baby just about an hour ago and i got really scared she cried once and then she kept her breath in and turned red for a while i held her head up and within seconds she was concious and breathing but looking very very sleepy and wanted to cry but couldnt.......this really scared me but she acted and was up and going like her normal self.....but i would love to know what was it that hapened to my baby?

Reply

DrGreene

Breath-holding spells

Sometimes when babies hold their breath and turn red they are having what we call a breath-holding spell. They can be triggered by a fall or a surprise.

This is a typical scene: A little child is playing happily, something upsets her, she exhales forcefully with a brief, shrill cry -- but she doesn't take another breath. You wait, but she still doesn't breathe. She looks as if she's crying, but no sound emerges. She begins to change colors, her face strained, and still she is not breathing...

You can read more about them here: http://www.drgreene.com/qa/breath-holding-spells

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 2011-12-19 14:58.

My son is 22 months he jumped

My son is 22 months he jumped on and hit his head on a fire place. His eye swelled almost shut and bruised and has a cut. That was saturday night and now tow days later he is throwing up. He isn't grabing his stomache like he has before when its been a virus. Could they be realted should I call my doc
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2011-11-25 10:42.

Is it bad??

My 8 month old has been crawling up on things and just fell and hit his head on the corner of the wall. He cried and got a little welt in the shape of the corner. Of course I picked him up and as I was rocking him he fell asleep. It is around the time he takes naps but Im worried I need to take him to the doctors. I was reading and it said to check for pupil dilation so I tried to wake him up and picked him up but he wouldnt even open his eyes. Should I call the doc?
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2011-11-08 17:43.

i need help

my daughter is 3 and hit her head at daycare about 2 hrs ago! Now her ear is still really red and a little bruised...
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2011-10-07 14:15.

My sons two months and when I

My sons two months and when I left him out the car seat he hit his head he cryed real Qiuck then ate and fell asleep should I be worried he's being sleeping a lot.
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 2011-08-21 22:07.

what happens if the place

what happens if the place where the baby hit his head is soft? and you can poke it?
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Fri, 2011-04-01 08:33.

True story happened yesterday.

If you do not see the fall and the daycare says she is doing fine but its a big not should you get the child and see the doc. and if its been a hr and she still has not showed any signs can she go to sleep for a 1 or 2 ..
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2010-06-30 07:49.

Falling Out And Hitting His Head Repetitiously

My son is around the age of 22months. So close to the terrible twos... He Falls out when he doesnt get his way. The bad part about it is im not always close enough to catch him when he falls out. What is a sure way to keep him falling out and hitting his head? What Could Happen If He Keeps Hitting His Head?
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 2010-05-13 18:50.

using tylenol

what can i give my child for the head hurting after the fall if they show not side effects? tylenol or motrin
Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Tue, 2010-05-04 16:47.

Head Injury-Fall from A Stroller

My daughter's 2nd birthday was April 30, 2010. We were shopping for fun clothes to wear to her first visit to Disneyland. Somehow she managed to undo the restraint straps in her stroller. I turned around just in time to see her standing facing the handle of the stroller and then the horrific sound of her forehead hitting the concrete floor. I scooped her up into my arms, waiting for her to catch her breath. Her screams were reassuring, but the huge green-blue golf ball size contusion was terrifying. That night we kept her up several hours and woke her periodically through the night. It is now 4 days later and the swelling has gone down to a bruise, but the inside of her eyes by her nose turned black and blue as well. She is fine and was able to meet Mickey Mouse after all. Parents please don't turn your heads even for a minute when your toddler is in a stroller, even if they are restrained. We are lucky. Our daughter could have been injured so much worse.

Reply

Anonymous's picture
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 2011-11-23 20:25.

Help plz

My daughter is almost 2 and she fell out of a cart and had the same big contusion on her head. That was four days ago. Now I noticed her bruise is also on the corner of her eyes just like ur daughters. I was just wondering. U don't think I need to take her to the ER do u. I mean she seems fine other than the bruise and it doesn't even hurt her. I have been trying to find advice all day and just found ur post and almost exactly the same. Thank you so much