Falling/frequent bonking his head--Should I be concerned?

[lkmiscnet]

My 12 mo old will fall and conk his head several times a week or sometimes a few days in a row, as he is learning to pull up to stand or he simply loses his balance when kneeling or reaching for something. I'm not always right there to catch him.

Are their heads made to withstand such conks or do I need to worry about concusssions from frequent head bonks?

We have wood and carpeted floors, both subject to head bonking.

[dislocator3972]

I hope not. My 9 month old seems to LOVE the sound of her head bonking into the drawer on our side table. She's also a big fan of dancing which includes swinging her head fiercely and frequently bonking into anything within range.

I've never heard of a child having any actual problems from the normal standing up and falling down stuff. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread though to see what everyone else has to say.

[Llyra]

Don't worry about it! Mine all bashed their heads on a regular basis, and they're all fine. I would worry about falls from heights higher than baby's head, but the ordinary bumps that come from learning to walk and run have happened to pretty nearly every human baby since humans existed. It's nature's way of getting you ready for the REAL bumps, like when they're six and fall headfirst off a fast-moving bicycle, or when they're 11 and crash their sleds headlong into trees and stuff. This is like desensitization to get you ready for that day!

[omelette]

I was wondering this the other day. Mine is 7mos and pulling up to standing but he is so wobbly. He doesn't realize this of course and thinks he can do it holding on with only one hand. Needless to say there have been many bonks at my house.
And we just took out all our carpet and put in wood. I wanted the old carpet out before he was crawling and putting his mouth on it but now I wish we kept it for a bit longer to soften the falls.

[mamadelbosque]

If they do, then my ds1 should be severly brain damaged - we too have all hardwood floors w/ only light rugs covering parts of them (and we didn't get them till ds1 was walking pretty well, tbh), and he has fallen and hit his head on floors, chairs, counters, rocks, logs, etc, literally HUNDREDS of times.

But, he's fine. So, I really wouldn't worry

[2boyzmama]

Most likely he is and will be perfectly fine.

BUT...my first son did a similar thing at 6 months old. He had mastered sitting independently, then suddenly one day started falling over again and bonking his head really bad. It lasted several days, and finally I said "he's going to end up with brain damage if this doesn't stop!" and I took him to the dr.

Double ear infection.

There had been no other signs. No fever. No fussiness. No sleep changes. Nothing. But his ears were both pretty bad. And after a few days on meds, his balance returned to normal.

For him that was the first of a string of ear issues that ended up being allergy-related, and once we figured that out, he's never had an ear problems since.

SO...if it continues, or if you think it's different for him, then it might be worth a check of the ears. But most likely, he's just getting his "land legs"