Is It Normal for Babies to Hit Their Head

March 09, 2022 Post a Comment

Caput Injuries and Children: When to Take Your Child to the Medico

The different signs and symptoms of a mild injury, serious injury and concussion.

A head injury is a mutual childhood feel that can happen at any age – whether it'southward the newly mobile baby rolling off the bed, the elementary schoolhouse kid falling off the jungle gym, or the teenage athlete colliding with an opposing team member.

If your kid was healthy before the head injury, doesn't lose consciousness, doesn't accept cuts on the head or face, and acts normally after, information technology is probably merely a bump on the caput. In this situation, the most important thing y'all tin can do is carefully observe your child, and should you have concerns, don't hesitate to follow your instincts and phone call your md.

Youth football player

Balmy Injuries

It's normal for kids to cry afterwards they've hit their heads -- information technology hurts and information technology'due south scary. Just crying shouldn't last longer than x minutes.

If your child is alert and responds to you, the head injury is likely mild. To soothe them, you can apply a cold compress for 20 minutes to help the swelling get downwards. You can requite children acetaminophen for pain, merely check with your child's doc earlier giving whatsoever other medication. You don't desire to mask pain or symptoms that suggest a serious head injury. Y'all tin permit your child go to sleep if information technology'south naptime or bedtime, but check on them every two to three hours to make certain everything is OK.

Baby Bumps on the Head

It's exciting watching your child acquire to walk but like whatever skill it requires practice. There will exist falls and near misses, and occasionally there may also be some bumps on the head. Fortunately, most baby head bumps are balmy.

If your kid does autumn and bump their caput, but is alert and responds to yous, watch them advisedly for the next 36 to 48 hours to see if any symptoms develop that could indicate a head injury.

Changes to watch for include comfortless crying or fussiness, vomiting more than once, balancing difficulties when sitting or walking, and being unresponsive.

If your child is exhibiting whatsoever of these symptoms, or has whatever significant swelling over the site of the injury, yous should take them to the dr. correct away.

Serious Injuries

Head injuries can cause changes in retentiveness, judgment, remainder, reaction time, speech and slumber. They can as well cause headaches and more than sensitivity to light and sound.

If your child loses consciousness or exhibits whatever symptoms commonly associated with a concussion following a standoff, IMMEDIATELY remove the child from play and call 911 or become to the nearest emergency room.

The American University of Pediatrics recommends taking your child to the medico right away if they take any of the following:

Unusual paleness that lasts for more than than an hour.
Tingling on one side of the body.
Numbness or weakness of arms or legs.
Losing residuum, stumbling or trouble walking.
Seizures.
Repeated dizziness or dizziness that doesn't go away.
Nauseous or vomits more than than ii or iii times.
Persistent ringing in the ears or loss of hearing.
Slurred speech.
Blurry vision, double vision or pupils of unequal size.
Difficulty recognizing familiar faces.
A constant headache, peculiarly if information technology gets worse.
Extreme sleepiness or difficulty waking up.
Very irritable, dislocated or other abnormal beliefs.

These symptoms are signs of a more serious head injury, and they may happen hours later and, rarely, even days later. That'south why watching your child closely for the beginning 24 to 48 hours after a head injury is important.

Certain accidents are also more likely to cause a serious head injury including a car blow, falling down a flights of stairs, falling off a bicycle without a helmet, falling from 3 or more anxiety off the basis, and higher level competitive contact sports.

CT Scans

According to AAP, CT scans are useful for injuries such as bleeding in the brain or skull fractures, simply not helpful for the diagnosis of a concussion. For the majority of childhood caput injuries, CT scans of children are non necessary.&

CT scans use radiations, and because children'due south brains are even so developing and their encephalon tissue is more than sensitive, unnecessary exposure to Ten-rays may increase their lifetime adventure of cancer, according to AAP.

A physician should just gild a CT scan if they feel it's necessary to rule out a encephalon bleed or serious skull fracture.

The medico should examine your kid and ask about specific symptoms, which is a much amend indicator of how serious the head injury is and what handling is best.

Concussions

Sometimes a head injury can lead to a concussion – a mild traumatic encephalon injury caused by an impact. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea, fatigue and forgetfulness, which tin can terminal anywhere from xv minutes to a few weeks after the impact.

Recovery time can vary greatly from one person to the next. So it'due south possible – although rare – to still feel symptoms of a head injury long subsequently the accident occurred. Children's and teenagers' developing brains, in item, can take at least seven to 10 days to render to normal after a head injury.

If your child gets a concussion, it'south extremely important for them non to get dorsum to existence overly active also shortly. The best early treatment for concussion is rest from both physical and mental activity for a few days then a gradual render to activities.

Getting Back in the Game

All concussions are serious, and all athletes with suspected concussions should not render to play until they see a doctor.

Your kid should never go directly back into a game afterward they has experienced a head injury and they likewise shouldn't return to sports until they are back to their baseline normal wellness earlier the injury.

Usually, a child should have at to the lowest degree 1 week with no symptoms before going back to sports, and the return to sports should be gradual, according to AAP. This process is all-time guided by your child'due south physician.