A few days back, a Singaporean mum had a scare of her life. Her baby fell off the bed and started behaving differently. Worried, the mum rushed to a hospital. Turns out, the 7-month-old baby had suffered a fracture of the collarbone. The baby was treated promptly, but to warn other mums to exercise caution, she wrote a Facebook post.
Nur's story
In a Facebook post, Nur tells us how things transpired.
On 17 October 2017, at about 5 pm, her 6-month-old daughter fell from a bed. The circumstances are not mentioned clearly, but Nur did not think much about it as according to her, it happens at times. However, her daughter started crying and would not stop. For the next 8 hours, her daughter became less active and refused to eat much. She only had one bottle of milk.
Nur was worried, so she took her daughter to the KK Hospital emergency department. The doctors there examined the baby and took some x-rays. Turns out, the baby had fractured her clavicle - the collarbone. Luckily, she had escaped a head injury, something that would have been disastrous.
Babies and fractures
As the ones of the baby are growing, they fracture in a different manner. The most common type of fracture seen in the paediatric age group is the fracture of the forearm, seen in 1 out of 5 fracture cases in children. Clavicles rank 4th with about 1 in 12 cases. It is not considered normal if the baby falls off the bed. The good thing is, many times, these fractures are avoidable, like in this case.
A parent must take proper care to avoid falls, especially from a height like beds and cribs. And that is why most of the baby's things have a safety mechanism as a part of the design. A crib or a cot comes with specific age restrictions and safety instructions. It is dangerous to leave the baby unattended on the bed. A fall of more than 3 feet for that age can be dangerous.
Baby-proofing the house
To avoid injuries in children, you need to babyproof your home. Here are the most common things that are involved in baby-proofing the house.
- Use side railings on the bed to avoid accidental falls
- Get interlocking mats or a thick carpet surrounding the furniture as children may fall from it accidentally.
- Use non-slip foot mats in wet areas, especially in the bathtub
- Lock away all the household chemicals, detergents, pesticides etc
- Secure the electrical sockets
- Check the corners of the furniture, apply appropriate soft padding where needed
- Get security gates for the kitchen, stairs, bathroom, and wherever you feel it is necessary
- Keep the sharps away
Here is an article explaining what you need to do in even more detail.
What to do if the baby falls off the bed
In the event that the child suffers from an accidental fall, he is at the risk of going into shock. Here is a video explaining fractures and what you can do to manage it before going to a hospital. This is from the UK, so the emergency telephones differ. Dial 995 for an ambulance in Singapore.
Don't ignore unusual behaviour in children especially after a fall. If the fall was on the head from a height more than the child's height, you should be extra-observant. Rush to a hospital if the child
- is drowsy, starts slurring, or is suddenly very sleepy
- vomits forcefully
- becomes pale and cold to touch
Here are the useful emergency numbers in Singapore. Keep a printout of these at home.
To sum it up
- Falls from a height or a bed is not normal in children of any age
- If it happens, keep a look out for fractures, drowsiness, vomiting, signs of shock
- Babyproof your house, use railings on your bed if your child co-sleeps with you
- Learn the first aid to managing falls and fractures
- Don't give food or water to a drowsy child, just go to a hospital
Stay safe, mums, and keep your children safer.
(Source: Facebook. Images: Screengrab)
Also, read 7 ways to make your kids feel safer by each passing day