DD fell off the bed!!

[Tway]

She was sitting up and surrounded by pillows. I was doing the old get-up-for-a-sec and left her in the middle of the bed. And before I even got to the end, I saw her climb on top of one of the pillows at the edge, look at me, and before I could start yelling NOOOO! she tipped and went over.

Luckily her body fell on the pillow, but her head went forward and she bumped her upper lip ad nose on the hardwood floor. She cried for about 20 minutes (until I let her play with her toothbrush).

She seems perfectly fine now, and I feel horridly guilty. A friend who also co-sleeps told me eons ago that DD would eventually fall out of bed--they they all do, at least once.

I don't know why I'm even posting. I guess I feel so awful and got so scared for her and love her so much, I needed to get that off my chest.

[confustication]

Once they are sitting and/or mobile- surrounding them by pillows actually just adds to the height from which they fall. We keep our bed on just the boxsprings- no frame- to minimize how far he can fall- and we *just* put his bed (a twin mattress on the floor) on my side of the bed. DH's side is against the wall. Our 2 yo's bed is at the foot of our bed- about two feet away.

Once they discover movement and gravity- all we can do is minimize the risk- they will fall more than once as they explore boundaries. I'm glad your dd is ok- and don't feel guilty- it really does happen to everyone- even when they are careful.

[mamamoon89]

It it so heartbreaking and scary when little babies fall and cry...but then they are fine! I agree with the previous poster about not having the bed on a frame (or even one that is really low to the ground). I also put pillows and blankets around the edge of the bed to cushion her fall when she was little.

[babygrey]

Originally Posted by confustication

I'm glad your dd is ok- and don't feel guilty- it really does happen to everyone- even when they are careful.

It does feel so crappy when they fall, doesn't it? I second minimizing the height if possible. Sorry you went thru that. After my DD fell off the bed (at a wee 4 months old, I felt HORRIBLE), I was recounting the experience to my grandmother-- a mother of 12. She said she always believed that, if a baby hadn't fallen off the bed by the time they were six months old, you should push them off. I felt better. (and, of course she didn't mean it.. I don't think...)

[Tway]

Thanks, mamas. DD has a great, bit scab on her nose this morning (the little red scrape from yesterday looks much scarier today!), but is as happy as can be. I spent the day in a bit of a funk, although it does make you realize just how much you love and want to protect them.

Guess I just needed a few hugs. They helped a lot!

[lovepiggie]

DS has fallen out of the bed several times, sadly... Our bed is close to the floor though, and he doesn't fall far. In fact, the other day, he rolled out of bed onto the pillows onto the floor, and didn't wake up! I came in to check on him, and there he was, snoozing all curled up on the floor..

[Llyra]

All of my kids fell out of bed as babies, once or twice. It happens. It's heartbreaking when it does, but they are almost always just fine, and it teaches us as parents to be more careful. So I wouldn't spend too much time feeling guilty.

My DD2 fell off the changing table once, and wow, that was scary. She was just a few months old, and I was terrified, but she was just fine. And I remember DH falling down an entire flight of uncarpeted stairs while holding DD1 as a baby, and THAT was terrifying, for him and me and poor DD. Luckily DH held onto her and shielded her from any damage, the whole way down, but DH himself was laid up for four days afterwards.

[Tway]

Originally Posted by Llyra

My DD2 fell off the changing table once, and wow, that was scary.

My sister fell off the changing table when she was a baby. My Dad insists he told her "don't move for 2 seconds" and down she went as he reached for a diaper.

I asked my Mom once if she wasn't livid at him for being careless. And she replied that she couldn't be mad because, a few years before, I plummeted face-first off the table when she was feeding me. So... I guess it does happen to everyone.

[Honey693]

My DD did this a few times. I was so upset I was almost crying. DH walks in, asks what's wrong, I tell him and he looks at me and says "kids bounce she's fine". I look down in my arms and sure enough DD has fallen back asleep, but I was too upset to notice

[MsVyky]

Our DD has fallen out of bed on more than one occasion (not a huge fall, we have an ikea Malm, I believe it only sits 17" from the floor). We have a bed rail, but one bed rail doesn't stand a chance against a mobile baby. We've since moved our mattress into our downstairs den, and are in the process of creating a sleeping room in there with nothing but mattresses until DD reliably sleeps alone and can do so in her own room.