Oh. My. Stars.

While we are discussing milestones....

We survived another one around here today.

Today, I witnessed my two-year-old tumbling and bumbling down an entire flight of uncarpeted stairs. It was h.o.r.r.i.f.i.c.

She's fine. I was not!!

In case it's of interest to ANYONE else out there, here is how to survive if your toddler takes a skid down the stairs. :)

What To Do
The one thing you shouldn’t do when your child falls down the stairs is scream, “OH NOOO, OH NOOOOOO!!!, JENNIFER FELL DOWN THE STAIRS!!! OH N.O.O.!!! JENNIFERRRRR!!! Even if your daughter’s name is not Jennifer.

Freaking out like that WILL NOT help the situation.

Scene Survey
As you are running to your child take note of the following:

• Is your child crying?
• Is your child moving?
• Is your child bleeding?

If the answers are yes, yes, and no, then that’s great.

Is your child crying?
Your child should cry after falling down a flight of stairs. Crying means that they are conscious and alert. Hopefully, there’s no serious head injury other than a bump on the head.

Is your child moving?
If your child is moving or can move their arms and legs then we can almost rule out any spinal injury.

Is your child bleeding?
It’s obviously a good thing if there is no external bleeding. If you see blood then chances are likely that they are bleeding from either their nose or mouth. The bleeding would probably be minor.

Examining Your Child
Once you reach your child its important to try to remain calm. Your child may be screaming but its important to examine them properly.

Here’s what you should look for:

• Injury to the head, neck, arms, legs
• If they can move
• If they can feel you touching their hands and legs

It’s good to start by asking your child where it hurts. If they tell you that their head hurts then gently feel their head for any obvious injury and bleeding. A bump is common and is generally no need for concern. If they aren’t complaining of any pain in the arms and legs then chances are they have no injury there. If they do complain of pain to either their arms or legs you can easily examine them for possible fractures by following the directions in this past post.

If you are neurotic and still concerned that your child suffered a more serious injury then you could examine their neck as well. Simply feel along the back of their neck for any obvious deformity. If you are not sure what to feel for then feel the back of your own neck to get an idea of what feels normal. After you’ve examined their neck you could ask them to move their arms and legs for you. You could then touch their feet and ask them if they can feel your touch.

Once you’ve determined that except for a few bumps and bruises your child is fine you could then decide if you want to take them to the doctor for further examination.

Like I mentioned before, chances are slim that your child suffered a serious injury from falling down the stairs. The worst thing you could do in this situation is overreact.

As I was holding Sweet K (and freaking out like a maniac!!), I realized - I've never had to be the responsible one in a situation like this before. What do I do!? What do I DOOOO!?

For some reason, unbeknownst to me, they make you pass tests before driving a car, but nothing is required of you before you handle the most precious gift of all!!!

So I came home, calmed down (sorta - that actually took quite some time!!), called my doctor. Oh yeah. And googled "what to do if your child falls down the stairs." Voila. The miracle of the WWW.

I do need to add at this point that Honorable Mention goes to my friend Pearl, who was by my side throughout the ordeal, and has called me twice to make sure that I am okay (based on our observations, Sweet K was going to be just fine), oh yeah and popped by just to drop off my (prescription!!) sunglasses that I'd left behind in my haste to get home and contact my doctor. I also need to add that this is the same friend that arrived with our 9-1-1 call, just in time to take Little M downstairs while I delivered Sweet K upstairs on the bathroom floor. I am so glad that she'd had her three kids already. I'm not sure she'd want to give it a whirl after that :P.

Life is full of moments. Some of them you just gotta breathe through!!

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