I am the worst mother ever :(

[Pogo0685]

My 8 month old fell out of bed tonight I feel like a failure. We had his crib next to the bed and have slept like this for his whole life sofar and today he nursed to sleep like normal then crawled to the end of the bed and fell of. Swine flu is rampant at our local hospital so I am just observing him but I think he's ok. If not I can take him in at 7 am to his regular doctor. But I'm 99 percent sure he's ok. But where do I go from here as far as sleeping goes? Tonight we are both on the floor, but we can't sleep on the floor all the time, do i move him to his crib full time now? I really feel like the biggest failure in the world

[Cutie Patootie]

Awwww! You are certainly not the worlds worst mother. If it's any consolation, my ds fell out of our bed when he was aroun 6 mos old. Dh had him on his chest and was snoozing and he slipped off. Dh felt horrible, but ds was okay.

Uh-oh...baby waking up. I will write more later.

[Fujiko]

Oh, hun, don't feel too bad, it happens. It happened to dd like four times. She was only a little shook up each time and calmed down after some mama milk. Once she had a bruise on her forehead from hitting the siderail on the way down (oh that sounds horrible), and once she fell onto a tile floor, but she was fine. My mom, a nurse and mother of my crazy brother (which definitely qualified her to assess head injuries), was there when both of those happened and wasn't too concerned. I'm sure you've looked online on signs to watch out for, like lethargy, vomiting, etc (I am sure there are more). Just hug your little one tight, forgive yourself, and settle in for the night.

When my DD became more mobile and could crawl off the bed (or as I guess I should put it, after the third or fourth time she fell off), we decided that unless we were present in the bed with her, she would sleep in a safer spot. We had a small crib that was next to our bed. She still co-slept when we were sleeping too. ETA: to clarify, the crib wasn't siderailed to the bed, so she couldn't get out of it/fall out of it. It was just next to and perpendicular to the head of our bed, against the wall.

[ommom]

you aren't a failure at all!

he's probably ok. babies are amazingly resilient that way. our DD took a tumble down 3/4 of a full flight of stairs last week. i think most babes have incidents like that at one time or another.

if you want to continue sleeping near each other, you could have your sleeping surface on the floor til he transitions to the next thing. it can be for "all the time" for a while - at least til you transition to the next thing or til he is able to keep from fallin' off.

[Kirsten]

Not even close to worst mother ever. It was an accident. Sounds like you learned from it and it won't happen again.

If you have a baby that crawls that much and that his doing it doesn't wake you, I'd put the mattress on the floor if you aren't down with putting him in his crib. Does he sleep between you and dp, or between you and the sidecar? Do you fall asleep when nursing (I know I did - but my kids only coslept when they were brand new, sick or I was too exhausted to nurse sitting up)?

[Pogo0685]

Thank you mamas. Its just so scary when they fall. I do think he's ready to be in his own crib though because last night he kept waking up and crawling away, so say I would have went back to bed he would have fell off again I'm sure. I never wanted to co-sleep it just was the easiest thing for both of us. I was going to put him in his crib durring my thanksgiving holiday from work but I think I will do it tonight. He usually started the night sleeping between me and crib and then finished the night between dh and I. He's wide awake today so I just hope all goes well today and tonight for his first night in his own bed. Thank you again mamas!

[LionessMom]

do you have the crib sidecarred or just next to the bed?

[rabbidfly]

our toddler fell out of her bed, our bed, her grandparents' bed. i think she even fell out of a bed playing around at ikea.

they cry, you cuddle them, you marvel at the cool purple bruise the next morning.

one thing i've learned - they are tougher than i ever gave them credit for.

and just as quickly, they learn how to avoid falling and it never happens again.

no worries, it happens to many of us with active toddlers

rabbidfly

[dawningmama]

Each of my kids fell off the bed at least once or twice before they were a year old (I could never count the number of times they fell after becoming more mobile around the one year mark!). We took precautions like moving sharp edged night tables and, when they reached the age of "falling" because they were tryin to get off and explore, we put towels or blankets on the floor next to the side they usually used.

Babies fall, it's kind of what they do. The best we can do is keep it to a minimum and make the ground soft.

[hrsmom]

did my last post go? I was saying my baby fell off the bed a couple of times and once off a counter. Hopefully he did well in the crib. Mattress on the floor works well, too.

[2goingon2]

All of mine rolled off at one point as well. Don't beat yourself up!

[thixle]

My 11 mo old thinks the only way to get off the bed is head first Well, she "knows" feet-first, but she's going to be a professional stage-diver when she grows up. We have comforters on the floor around the bed now

I felt horrible the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd time she did it... after that, it became a game to her.

[Pogo0685]

I feel so much better knowing that im not the only one this has happened to. Its still not good, our bed is kinda high its one with the 2 drawer high dresser thing underneath it. But he seems ok today, he has been a little more fussy than usual but hes getting 3 teeth at once and with the falling off the bed, and the few other falls hes had this weekend he is doing very well (he is trying so hard to learn to walk, all he does is stand and try to take steps away from the things hes holding onto), id be at home crying not wanting to move or do anything.

[askew]

Mine fell off and hit his head on the night stand on his way down. So not only did I feel guilty enough about it, I had a bright blue bruise on his forehead to remind me for weeks. He was fine though, brushed it right off and went about his day.

I did, however, teach him to get himself out of the bed by 9 or 10 months. He would scoot backwards, hold on to the cover and slide over the edge. We practiced for a few days and then he got it, and could get himself of the bed safely.

[InMediasRes]

My DS fell out of the bed a number of times. One memorable time, he was about 10mo and I woke hearing a strange noise. There he was in the CLOSET, playing happily in the shoes! He had fallen out of bed and just crawled over there without making a peep!

I couldn't believe it! Don't feel too bad. It happens to the best of us, even with really good precautions.

[Pogo0685]

Last night he slept in his crib, I had to get out of bed 6 times to feed him but im hoping to cut out 1 or 2 feedings a night because I think they are just for comfort and not because hes hungry.

angelika13: how did you teach that? my son seems to not understand anything I try to teach him, am I just expecting that he will be able to learn stuff to early (like waving and such)?

[larzanna]

My Dr. said, "that's the reason the soft spot is on the top of the head...its a really hard spot to hit when they fall!"

I am getting close to my DS moving around....good to read ideas of what to do next.

[chocolatefish]

DS fell off the bed when we were staying at my parents. Naturally I had just that evening dismissed my mother's worries that he would crawl off the bed and would really be safer in a cot... and in the middle of the night he got confused and went looking for me in the wrong direction and fell off making such a bang that he woke everyone up. And he had a big bruise to show them all! So I had guilt and 'I told you so' to deal with at the same time!! argh.

But he was fine.

[Katie T]

We have our matress & box spring on the floor but all of our kids have fallen out numerous times. My 3 yo will still fall out & doesnt even wake anymore poor guy but it must not hurt to bad if he can sleep threw it. Your NOT a bad mom!

[Pogo0685]

I do feel much better now reading all your stories, and yes it sucks when they can say "I told you so" now if I could just get my little one to sleep in his crib, he sleeps no more than 45 minutes at a time, its horrible and I miss so much having him in our bed just because he slept and so did I for the most part!