Often, a baby spins on the changing table for the first time just when you leave him or her alone for a moment. Or the first crawling attempts lead straight toward an unsecured stairway. Nearly half of all accidental injuries in the home are falls, and often the child lands on his or her head. Because the severity of a head injury is so difficult to assess from the outside, the child must be monitored for complications for some time after the accident.
Symptoms may be delayed
For example, even a mild force to the head, which may appear harmless on the outside, can cause bleeding on the inside. The pressure of the escaping blood can cause tissue damage in the brain. The tricky thing about this is that the symptoms of the injuries can appear much later than the fall, namely after 24 to 48 hours! Even severe injuries are not always immediately recognizable: At first, only a few symptoms appear; hours later, the child’s condition deteriorates dramatically.
Typical head injuries
Various injuries can result from a force to the head, such as:
Concussion: the most common and mild result of a head injury. The child is usually unconscious immediately, but only for seconds to a few minutes. Sometimes the unconsciousness is so brief that it is not even noticed by the person helping. Typical symptoms include dizziness, headache, a memory lapse related to the accident, nausea and vomiting. The child appears tired or dazed; there may be multiple vomiting with a time delay (after about 30-60 min). The skull base fracture can be recognized by the leakage of blood or watery neural fluid from the nose, mouth, or ear. Bruising around one or both eyes (so-called spectacled hematoma) is characteristic, but it appears later. The child is usually unconscious, sometimes convulsions occur. If organs of the inner ear are affected, dizziness, nausea, and vomiting may occur. Brain contusion, cerebral bruise: Violent impact on the head can cause blood vessels under the skull to burst. The bruise that forms as a result can put pressure on the brain. Either the child is immediately unconscious or suddenly loses consciousness with a time delay. It is also possible that he or she complains of increasing headaches, followed by nausea, vomiting, hiccups, paralysis and psychological changes (restlessness, listlessness, memory impairment). If the pressure is not relieved, impaired consciousness and even coma may result. The child’s life is in danger and requires urgent intensive medical care.
Measures to be taken after a fall with head injury
- Ask him age-appropriate, clear questions, such as, “Do you know where you are? “, “Would you like me to read you a story?” While doing this, watch your child closely for any unusual changes in behavior.
- Lay him flat with his head slightly elevated, cover him warmly and provide rest.
- Try to soothe the child (give him a familiar cuddly toy, tell him a favorite story); however, he should not fall asleep.
- Check their pulse and breathing regularly. Do not leave the child alone in any case.
- Notify the emergency physician if: the child becomes unconscious, vomits profusely, is drowsy or dizzy, exhibits behavioral abnormalities, complains of severe headache, has seizures, fluid (watery or bloody) leaks from the nose or ear, the child’s pupils are unequal in size.
In case of unconsciousness and regular breathing:
- Notify the emergency physician.
- Place the child in the stable lateral position (children under two in the stable prone position) to keep the airway clear.
- Record the duration of unconsciousness accurately.
- Check their pulse and breathing regularly.
In case of cardiac and respiratory arrest:
- Notify emergency medical services.
- Begin mouth-to-nose resuscitation and chest compressions immediately.
- Continue with the measures until the emergency physician takes over!
How can you prevent head injuries?
- Make your home childproof: windows should only tilt or be secured with bars. The same goes for stairs and balconies: they should be secured with railings or grates. For corners and sharp edges of furniture, there are special plastic caps.
- Non-slip socks at crawling age or slippers at toddler provide safety at home and in kindergarten.
- Never leave a child unattended on a changing table, high chair, in a crib or stroller.
- Walking learning aids (e.g., walker, baby walker, baby walker) are not recommended. They can cause accidents in which children suffer serious head injuries.
- When riding a bicycle, the helmet is mandatory for children!
- Play and climbing frames or swings pose a significant risk of falling. Especially do not let small children play there unsupervised. If these scaffolds are on a soft floor or lawn, the danger is reduced significantly.
