Scarriest instant as a parent

[kfowler]

I had something happen to me this past Friday that really shook me up. I was walking down the stairs at my house holding my 10 month old daughter ,our first child, and slipped and fell. When I hit the stairs, she bounced out of my arms and landed on the last step, then bounced onto the landing hitting head first.

My first thought was I killed her. She started screaming immediately which was good in at least it didn't knock her out. We then saw that she had movement in all her extremities. We immediately called 911. The paramedics checked her out and she seemed to be fine. I ended up having to sleep next to her crib and wake her every two hours to make sure she was alright. Not a fun night.

So it turns out she's fine. In fact she probably came through this better than me. She has no visible signs of falling. I on the other hand have this massive bruise on my back from where I hit the stairs.

I tell you, this whole thing really shook me up. Even the day after, I was still pretty upset about it. Looking back I even had my free hand on the rail. Kind of one of the freak things. Hope I never have to go through something like that again.

So, ever have scary moments like this?

[aca247]

i had something happen to me like that when i was abut 1 my mom slipped on the kitchen floor and accidently dropped me on to the kitchen table where i hit my head and then rolled of the table and fell on my butt.

[ks8829]

My son fell of his three wheel cycle and hit his head on the concrete pavement, he feel down a steep set of stairs overseas and was bleeding, he hit his head on the window ledge and caused bleeding. Thank goodness not all in the same year.

[Danattherock]

Oh don't worry... eye got dropped on my head wen I wuz a yungun. Nutting wrong wid me.....sing like a bird and microwave somse oranges.... do dah, do dah.... oh I wish I was in dixie...away....... waht were we talking bout$$ seriously, I am an ER nurse and I assure you, kids bounce well. If hardwood stairs, don't polish/wax/clean in any way, just use water. Don't wear socks. They (kids) are tougher than most parents think. Speaks well of your character that you are feeling guilty, but don't dwell on it. Accidents happen man!

[Paulbee]

When my eldest took early retirement.

Nothing makes you feel older than having a pensioner son.

[NormH3]

There will most likely other moments that will scare you just as much. My youngest daughter had a gun pointed at her and robbed several years ago. It's an eye opening experience and makes you feel really helpless.

[kfowler]

...kids bounce well.

The more you talk to fellow parents, the more you realize how true this is. They are much tougher than me.

[just hit it]

I have a 3.5 year old and a 6 year old. If you have kids something like this is going to happen occasionally. Like a previous post said, they are a lot tougher than we think, they do bounce well. That said I understand how you feel, I'll bet you concentrate more the next time you come down those stairs with her.
Congrats on being a dad, you will soon find out why parents get all mushy about their kids. The funny thing is that once they hit the two's - three year range, you will also understand why some animals eat their young.

[goblue107501]

That has been one of my bigger fears as a parent. We have two sets of stairs in our house and when I am carrying the 3 year old I have always been paranoid that I will slip and drop her and she will go head first to the floor.

We have had a couple scary instances with her. Once she was in the yard playing on a small slide that is 3-4 feet high. She gets to the top and loses balance and falls back on the ground. She cried for a few minutes, figured out everything was okay, and then got right back on. Another time she was walking down the steps on here own and slipped and hit her chin. Had to go to urgent care and get a few stitches for that one.

One thing I will mention for the rookie parents and those with younger kids. Kids are pretty tough. They get bounced around, bang thier head, knees, hands, etc. A little attention and a kiss on the boo-boo goes a long way. The biggest thing that we have realized over the years is when something happens to a little one, if they are crying but not hurt, it is because they are scared of what just happened. A little cuddle time and something to 'change the subject' (whatever you do to make them laugh), will sometimes cure all.

[zeg]

At a Halloween party in my office, my three year old and his friend found the foosball table. Just a word of advice-- keep your kids the heck away from those. I looked to see him standing up against the table with his neck right against where one of the posts comes out... had his buddy pushed that post in before I'd pulled him away, it could have been a real disaster.

A few minutes later, we got a bit of a scare when my son found the emergency shower (the party was on the floor of the office where labs are located). Blaring alarm and water dumping out of the ceiling. Scared the crap out of the little guy, and daddy got to spend the next hour mopping up the floor. Fun fun fun...

[glebert]

Mine was when my oldest son (now 4) was nine months old. He was sitting on the floor in the hallway, I was sitting in the living room with him in sight. Unbeknownst to me the dog was laying in the hallway just out of my view (I can't remember her laying there at any other time). The boy leans over and must have pulled on her ear or eye because the dog starts barking and going nuts, Alex is screaming and bleeding from his forehead and eyelid. I assumed that the dog had bit him. No one else was at home, and the bleeding didn't stop with direct pressure, although it wasn't bleeding profusely. I started feeling lightheaded and really hot, so I called 911 just in case I passed out. By the time they got there (which was amazingly fast, maybe two minutes) the bleeding was stopped. We did take him in to get stitches to minimize scarring. Also realized that the dog must have scratched him (as opposed to biting him), probably just flailing about when she was frightened.

I'll tell you what though, paying your property taxes is a lot less aggravating after you have called 911 and had a fire truck and an ambulance at your doorstep almost before you are off the phone.

[KillaK]

thats horrible - good thing your kid is fine though.

you gotta hold them high and tight to the rib cage - thats how you prevent fumbles.

[TakeDeadAim]

Oh don't worry... eye got dropped on my head wen I wuz a yungun. Nutting wrong wid me.....sing like a bird and microwave somse oranges.... do dah, do dah.... oh I wish I was in dixie...away....... waht were we talking bout$$ seriously, I am an ER nurse and I assure you, kids bounce well. If hardwood stairs, don't polish/wax/clean in any way, just use water. Don't wear socks. They (kids) are tougher than most parents think. Speaks well of your character that you are feeling guilty, but don't dwell on it. Accidents happen man!

I had not laughed so hard in the forum in such a long time... thank you !!

[jdjanda]

You'll have more, it does twist your stomach when they are hurt.

Couple of nights ago I heard screams upstairs from my 10 year old son. I was not sure what was happening so I made a mad dash up the stairs.

His Hermit Crap got a hold of his hand, it hurt, for once it was an event we could laugh and joke about.

[golfcourseasart]

Seeing your eight-year-old's head disappear from view in his seat on a fairground ride THEN having him admit he'd almost slipped out altogether. This, after you'd let him go on by himself because you were too scared.

Possibly my all-time low as a father...

[pxc]

My daughter is 10 months old. So far we've had only one big scare. She fell asleep in her pack-and-play a couple months ago on her back. Somehow she flipped over while asleep without us noticing and had her head shoved into the corner. My wife went over to make sure she was ok and she didn't appear to be breathing. Prodding didn't wake her up. We were pretty alarmed but when my wife picked her up she started awake with this "Huh, waz goin on?" sleepy look on her face.

She's taken her first few steps so she's now hit her head a bunch, but nothing too serious. Some of the hits she's taken to the noggin seem pretty harsh but she is pretty resilient. Usually a hug will do the trick and she's back to playing.

[pingman]

i'm 16 but damn i feel for you and parents all over. i was a horrible kid, like, daring. i would even climb on my roof!!! i've busted my lip open, broken some bones and put my parents through alot. im hoping when eventually, God willing, i get married and have a family, my kids aren't as bad as i was. hopefully they're mom was a good kid!

[Stumpy]

I just hope my kids don't have as many trips to the ER as I did growing up.