Near miss accident

[calm]

Had an awful experience tonight. I had my twins on the bed ready for cream and pyjamas. They are never left on a bed on their own because they roll very quickly, and both my mum and me were there. I was undressing one and I'm not even sure how it could have happened but in a split second one twin had turned himself 90 degrees and was just disappearing down the side of the bed. In another fraction of a second I pounced and got him before he fell, holding him by his clothes and quickly pulling him up, he cried for a second because of the roughness but forgot about it a second later and happily laughed and wanted to play. If he had been in his nappy, or full of cream, I don't think I would have made it. I wanted to die, and so did my mum. We just can't explain how it could have happened with both of us there and how we were positioned. In Spain we generally have hard tiles too, not carpets, because of the heat, so I dont' even want to imagine how the fall would have been, well I don't want to imagine, but the intrusive thoughts are going overboard. I have been so lucky, and I went from kissing him and hugging him, to sitting silently in horror. Its still very much with me and I realise however careful you can be how very easy it is for an accident to happen anyway. My darling boy, I am so horrified

 

[BabyCleo]

Awww calm, im so sorry that happened! Remind yourself, nothing bad DID happen. You got it under control very quickly. I understand the tile thing, I was born and raised in Australia where we also have no carpet and more tile due to heat. (Now I live in Canada, so its carpet everywhere lol)

Try not to let those thoughts cross your mind of what could have happened. Its hard cause I have those thoughts too, but when those thoughts cross your mind, try and think of a positive thought instead.

Big

 

[CaptainMummy]

Hugs!!

Try not to dwell on it, your LO is perfectly fine! I know how it feels to be thinking 'what if that ha dhappened...' but it didnt, and Im sure you will be more aware next time! (not that you werent being careful, rhey are just super fast at that age (they are slightly older than my dd3 iirc?))

 

[Cattia]

I know just how you feel - a couple of months ago my DD almost got hit by a car outside school and it went over and over in my mind for weeks. Try to distract yourself and think about other things if you can, you were quick enough to stop it happening so no damage is done and you will just torture yourself if you dwell on the what ifs.

 

[calm]

Thank you everyone. I think I thought I was being careful, but its true that I've been very tired and not well lately, so I think that together with the stress that looking after the children entails it made me less mindful that normal. Having said that, I feel more aware how very easily an accident can happen, even if you are super careful, it just takes that split second, after yesterday I could never even begin to judge a mother who had a similar experience or worse. I will certainly try to be even more careful from now on. I have actually read people on BnB talking of their child accidentally rolling of the bed, its just as I was saying our cold hard floors could have made all the difference between a bump on the head and something worse. Anyway, the experience served to get better insight on it all, so have to let go and try to be as careful as possible. Thanks girls

 

[Erised]

For what it's worth, both my older girls have fallen off the bed at various stages in life. Off the sofa too, one of them right onto a floor lamp causing a massive shiner on her head and a scratched up nose. Non of them onto tiles, but all onto laminate flooring so not a soft landing either. It happens, no matter how much attention you pay and it really is no more than an accident. You can't prevent things forever (besides, you managed to stop it!), don't beat yourself up over it =)

 

[Larkspur]

Almost every kid I know fell off a bed sometime in their first 18 months of life!

 

[minties]

Both of mine have fallen off beds multiple times as babies. We ALL have these moments.

Sophie was reversed into by a car in November and I still feel like I let her down. The intrusive thoughts are there on a daily basis. We can't always stop the accidents but we can be there to kiss and cuddle them afterwards.

 

[calm]

I know. It was more a reality check of how easy accidents can happen more than anything else. I don't think I was careful as I could have been, but then on the other hand accidents are going to happen whatever and however. They just seem so small (8 months) to fall on our hard floor and for it to be okay. I have probably been spoilt as a mother though as I've been lucky then have never had a bad fall or even been ill. I think I have a few hard moments to come, because kids are kids. I've worked enough year as a primary teacher to see terrible falls, once a helicopter came to the playground to take a girl that had had a bad fall. Being a mother is the best thing ever, but the pain is on a different level too

 

[MindUtopia]

Try not to worry or feel bad. It happens to everyone at some point. When my daughter was 8 months old, we were getting ready to go to a friend's wedding. I laid her down in the middle of a double bed. She almost never rolled anymore, even though she started rolling at 3 months. I turned my back literally for 5 seconds to walk across the room to get the hair dryer. By the time I had reached the hair dryer and was about to pick it up, I heard a thump and cry. She had somehow propelled herself about 3 feet across the bed in these 5 seconds and rolled off onto the floor. She was fine. Upset and genuinely in shock for awhile. But completely fine. My husband also fell down an entire flight of stairs with her when she was about a day old. And there have been many more incidents since those. It happens. Babies and toddlers are pretty resilient and made to fall down. Obviously, be cautious and careful, but don't let it stress you out too much. It will happen, but it will also almost always be totally fine.