When Your Baby Falls for the First Time

Suddenly, your baby falls to the floor. You wish you could freeze time just before he lands. As if you are watching a film that you could pause and rewind a million times, you wish you could keep from witnessing that moment when your child lands on the floor.

But since that isn’t possible, you are condemned to watching how the tiny body of your little one touches the floor while your world turns foggy.

Ways to prevent a fall

There is no way to prevent the fall of a one-year-old child who is learning to walk. Nor can you do anything to prevent a fall when your child is running, climbing or dancing around. But there are thousands of ways to avoid the fall of a baby who can barely move from his mother’s arms.

We simply need to keep these things in mind.

Never leave your baby alone on the bed

No one wants to see their child fall to the floor. However, the majority of falls are caused by accidents that could have been avoided.

One of the number one reasons that babies fall is because someone left them alone on the bed.

Many mothers lay their babies on the bed to dress them, change their diapers, to put clean sheets in the crib, etc. And in those moments, they don’t always have everything they need on hand. So, they walk away from the baby lying on the mattress for just a second.

As the baby doesn’t yet know how to turn over, or if he can barely move, the mother doesn’t even consider the possibility of the child falling to the floor. However, the baby surprises her. While searching for his mother, or trying to see something that caught his eye, he magically rolls over. And by then, in a split second, the baby falls to the floor.

Mom, if you want to keep your child from hitting the floor, never leave him alone on your bed.

Make sure your bathroom is safe

Bathtime is another moment when babies are prone to fall. Those tiny little wiggly bodies, lathered in soap and cradled in your hands, are a real danger.

For that reason – because of the risk of falls – bathtime needs to be made as safe as possible.

In the past, when bathrooms didn’t exist, people bathed their babies over the bed. Although now, with so many advances, this method may seem very old-fashioned. Nevertheless, it is one of the safest methods.

With a sheet of nylon on the bed to keep the cushion from getting wet, place the bathtub over the nylon. Prepare a container of warm water, a glass or jar for pouring, and your baby’s bath gel. This way, even if your baby does slip in your hands, he will not fall on the floor.

When your child is in your arms, you need to focus on him

Lastly, we have a tendency to do various tasks while we are holding our babies. This isn’t just a tendency, of course, but a need.

In this day and age, mothers are no longer the housewives of the past. The 24 hours in a day are not enough to keep up with work around the house, personal needs, resting, and tending to the baby.

When you need to do something while you are holding your baby, don’t forget to be attentive to him. Nothing is more important than that.

Babies don’t grow only based on the amount of milk they ingest, but also – and most of all – because of emotional contact with their mother.

How to react when your baby falls

If for some reason, your baby does fall to the floor, you need to know how to react. So to conclude, we offer the following advice:

• Examine your baby. If he has any cuts and starts to bleed, clean the wound with gauze, put pressure on it, and take him to the emergency room. If a bruise forms, put ice on it to bring down the swelling
• Kiss your baby, cuddle him, and sing to him… When you aren’t feeling well, you fall or something hurts, you feel better when someone takes care of you or at least puts a hand on your shoulder. The same is true for your child
• Pick him up right away but don’t shake him. If he has any injury, you could make it worse by shaking him
• Observe. When someone is sick and goes to the doctor, the doctor always recommends that the patient observe their symptoms – and it’s not just for fun. If your child bumps her head when she falls and suffers a concussion, symptoms will appear soon after that will reveal the injury: vomiting, loss of consciousness, convulsions, nosebleeds, etc. If any of these symptoms appear, take your baby immediately to the pediatrician.