Children’s Head Injury
My child sustained head injury
Childrens head injuries are unnerving, because they can quite often look quite confronting on the outside, but really we should be a lot more concerned with what is going on inside the head.
In this post we will go through some of the signs and symptoms of a moderate to severe head injury.
I ended up sleeping with my child that night, because it made me feel better. As a parent, you should always do what you feel is best. I was thinking, I won’t get much sleep if I’m in the other room, and I’m constantly worried about him, even though I knew he was fine, and he wasn’t showing any worrying symptoms.
Still, as a mother, I want to reiterate that it’s difficult to see straight sometimes when it’s your own child, and you must do whatever puts your mind at rest.
He was running down a very steep path in the national park. The path was full of great big boulders, and was the sort of place that you should not be running! And he was running fast and he fell, and he hit his head on a rock and his head rebounded backwards.
We are in the fortunate position of having some great friends who are emergency doctors. So although I didn’t take him to the emergency department, I had him checked by an emergency doctor and some of my friends are also emergency nurses.
How to know if my baby’s head injury is serious
A Child With a Head Injury Signs Should Always be Checked by a Doctor
Falls or injuries involving high speeds or falls greater than a metre should be checked by a doctor.
One of the first things that a doctor or nurse will ask you is “did he cry?” They will be trying to find out if they acted appropriately after the injury?
My son cried as soon as it happened. He was quite upset, but calmed down with a cuddle and some reassuring words, and that’s a good sign. We teach all about head injury signs in our baby and child first aid, CPR & allergy courses.
Some red flag signs would be if your child started acting out of character or getting aggressive.
My husband was more focused on the actual swelling bump on his head, but that wasn’t what was bothering me at all. He was saying his wrist was sore, but honestly, from a nurses point of view, I was thinking, I don’t care how sore the wrist is or the leg! It’s what might be going on inside the head that concerns me.
Because we can’t see that, and that’s the worry.
Head injury symptoms & signs
- Did they lose consciousness?
- Did they vomit?
- If so, did they vomit more than once?
- Were they drowsy?
- Do they don’t respond to your voice?
- Is there any memory loss? loss of orientation, time, place? Obviously, a very young child may not be able to answer those questions.
- Any visual disturbance? Blurred or double vision?
- Are the pupils the same size?
- Any weakness in the arms and legs?
- Did they have something stuck in their head or anything, causing any bleeding?
- Is there a large bump or a bruise?
- Did they ever seizure convulsion or fit?
- Any bleeding or discharge from the ear or the nose
- Poor coordination and clumsiness
- A persistent headache, that does not respond to paracetamol
- Difficulty swallowing or coughing
- Sensitivity to noise
- Slurred speech
Child First Aid
There’s no need to wake your child at night. If you, if the doctor’s not told you to. If the doctor wanted you to wake them through the night, then they would have kept them in the hospital to be monitored overnight. If you wake them up overnight, you might just end up with a cranky child in the morning.
If your child sustains a head injury and you are worried or there are any of those symptoms that we’ve talked about today, then do get your child checked by a medical professional.
First aid for a head injury
If the child is conscious and responds well to you, you can apply an ice pack, wrapped in a tea towel or even frozen veg packets for 20 minutes. This may help to reduce swelling which in turn can reduce pain.
Monitor them for drowsiness or vomiting
If they show any of the head injury symptoms above, call an ambulance even up to a few days after the head injury.
Want more? We’ve got you covered…
Our Baby First Aid Courses
Our baby first aid courses are available in person in your home and online. We run classes in your home with groups of 2, 4 or up to 10 in Sydney & Melbourne and you can book in 3 easy steps!
- Pick your class
- Follow the prompts to purchase
- We will contact you within 24 hours to lock in your date of choice
Our First Aid Certificate Courses
We run most of the popular first aid courses Australia wide. HLTAID011 Provide First Aid, HLTAID009 Provide CPR, HLTAID012 Provide First Aid in an Education & Care Setting, RAMOAP (anaphylaxis), Mental Health first aid and CPR/LVR to name a few.
Book your public spot online or contact us if you have a group of 5+ people for onsite training.
Here are some other resources you may enjoy!
FREE GUIDE: Your Virtual Baby First Aid Kit
FREE GUIDE: Introducing Common Allergy Foods & Allergic Reactions
FREE Workplace Emergency Preparedness Plan: Grab this at the bottom of every page!
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