Julie at “A Little Pregnant” has this post up about a recent gaffe she committed with her wee one. Judging by the 2oo+ confessions/comments it seems she’s not the only one with a guilty story of neglect.
When I committed my own personal “boner” as she calls it, I felt so bad I was almost calling social services to turn myself in until every single parent I tearfully admitted it to snorted and told me their own stories. It’s official: if you haven’t dropped/forgotten/set fire to your new baby yet it will happen. It’s like an initiation into the world of parenting.
So, here’s my story, just in case you’ve just left your newborn in the frozen food section of your local supermarket and need some reassurance:
Eve was 3 months old and I was racing around getting ready to go out to my Pilates class (my only form of social interaction with people my own age at the time) so I had my bag over my shoulder, my water bottle tucked under one arm and Eve on the other. The stairs in our house are very narrow and steep and I was barrelling down them because I was, as always, late. Somewhere around the 4th or 5th step from the bottom my ankle twisted underneath me and I crashed forward down the stairs, bag, bottle and baby all sent flying through the air. Eve hit the wall right at the doorway of the kitchen and the hallway (I’m not sure if she hit it straight or if she got the corner…I don’t like to think about that it makes me feel a bit woozy still) and landed hard on the laminate floor.
The next few seconds were the worst of my life because she just lay there, face down on the ground, not moving not making a sound. My husband who had heard the commotion leaped from the living room and scooped her up. Still no crying. I was sitting at the bottom of the stairs unable to move thinking I’d broken my ankle but not caring. Finally Eve started crying but it wasn’t her usual cry, it was more of a strangled whining noise. Matt ran out the door and into our neighbour’s house and got him to drive them to the hospital. I was left to shuffle myself to the phone to ring my mum and have her come and get me.
It all worked out fine though. Eve spent the night in the hospital for observation but she had only been winded and we couldn’t even find the bump on her head the next day. I’d sprained my ankle and had to use crutches for a couple of weeks (not easy with a baby let me tell you) but neither of us were the worse for wear. Well, other than the mental scars I’ll have for the rest of my life.
18 replies on “If You’ve Ever Dropped The Baby”
Hello Claire–just found your site, and love it! Eve is an absolute doll, and it looks as though she survived her little flight down the stairs just fine 🙂
And can I just say–I. Love. Ireland. So much! I spent 4 weeks at Trinity and then 2 weeks backpacking around the coastline a few years ago and it’s become my life’s dream to get back there someday.
Yesterday I had put my son into his stroller/carseat without buckling him in. The carying bar was not latched so when I removed the carseat from the stroller it dumped my baby out on the street. OMG I have never been so scared in my life. As a first time father I never thought I would be the reason for my sweet child to be injured. Thankfully he had no serious injuries besides scrapping his nose and head. Worst experience ive ever had.
My wife is on her last day of work before becoming a stay-at-home mom for several months. I’m on my last day (only the 4th) of being home with our son (and our friend’s daughter) while she ties up ends at work. The day was going great. Our son awoke from his nap earlier than expected, but that’s nothing new. He was bright-eyed and chipper, so we set out for a little play time while the girl continued her napping. My son (not quite 5 months old) and I were on the couch with my feet up on the couch, when the pacifier fell out. Something about that thing falling out seems to trigger an instinctive movement to try to catch it before it can hit the floor. I honestly don’t know what exactly happened next , except to say that suddenly I was grabbing my son’s ankle as he was dangling upside down off the side of the couch. I quickly scooped him back to my lap and started checking him out to see if he was OK. He was and is fine, but the image of him hanging upside down by his ankle will probably never leave my head. I’m still not sure if he stretched out just as I was reacting to the silly pacifier or exactly how he fell. I’m still not sure how exactly how I caught him, but I’m so glad I did. I still feel terrible at the thought of the whole incident, and what might have been. “In the blink of an eye…”
until finding this blog I had all but forgotten about the incident I had with my first baby. I had put him in his car seat and thought that I had buckled it in. We were going to grandmas when a car pulled out in front of us and I hit the brakes to avoid a wreck. When I hit the brakes the car seat and baby went flying into the dash and crash landed in the floor board. I alomst wrecked the car trying to get off the road to check on the baby. After getting stopped and off the road I managed to get the seat off my son and to my amazement he was laying there just playing and giggling. I think that it took me about 15 minutes to regain enough composure to continue the trip to grandmas.
Who created those darn changing tables anyway? They put those really nice sidebars to keep the baby from rolling off. It seems that maybe they would have made the legs a little bit more sturdy. I know I am a big guy, and maybe I shouldn’t of leaned on the table as I was changing my boy, but I did, and well the whole thing just collapses, baby and all. I nearly crushed him with my own weight because I could barely catch myself as I fell. Well at least he didn’t get hurt.
Try to look on the bright side of this situation: Your daughter is not injured and she sin’t old enough to remember what happened. All parents get little freebies carefully disguised as Bad Mommy/Daddy Moments. These are typically more traumatic for the parents than the children. You aren’t a bad mom. We have all had our share of learning opportunities as parents and our children love us for our efforts.
… my daughter was three weeks old… my mother and i were bathing her and finish… we bathed her in the bathroom sink because it fit just great for her and we could handle her well and have control so she won’t slip out of our hands… well…we left the warm water running until we were done… once we were done… i turned off the water… i, thinking that my mom had taken her out completely, turn off the cold water…and the hot water got a tiny part of her thigh and my moms arm… as little of a space on her skin that it was i am sure it was way too hot for her because she was crying at the top of her lungs…my mother was ok and eventually after a few minutes so was my daughter… she did not get a serious burn but the little area that got some hot water was pinkish red…that water was HOT… by the afternoon she was fine…being her normal self…to this day i do not turn off the water untill i have her wrapped up in a towel and in my arms… lesson to learn…with a baby you can not rush… we must take our time to ensure that they are safe…accidents will happen but if you can take precautionary steps to avoid avoidable accidents…then do so…
my daughter is now 4 months old and the happiest baby…and now i’m working on making sure her dad buckles her in before he puts on his seat belt…he sure does like to rush at times…
You are absolutely right. How many of us can say we have not neglected our babies ever. My LO is 8 months old and is more active than ever. If it’s up to him, he wants my attention every waking second of his life (and he doesn’t sleep a lot). I have my own life too, and I barely have any social interaction with adults these days. I would not blame anyone in any of the stories here.
And today we get the news that another child has been left in a car in a parking lot and does not survive. I am so sad for that family. I regret this family did not have child reminder technology in their vehicle.
I am not criticizing this family. I am a parent and I understand how these things happen, and it just as easily could have been my family.
Please, everyone with young children, get one of those child alarms for the car seats in your car.
Wow – that must’ve been a little traumatic for you! I can’t wait to have kids so I have my own horrific stories to tell friends and family. Unfortunately, none yet.
I feel so much better hearing these stories. It’s not that I’m glad they happened, but I’m glad to know that I am not the only guilty of these little…moments.
Today my baby and I were out to lunch with a friend. As we were walking out to the car, I noticed a bee and told my friend to watch out. Well, I guess that darn bee heard me because it came after me. I tried to just back up a little without panicking, but next thing I know it had landed on the car seat right next to the baby’s foot! So I quickly turned around, trying to get the bee off of the seat. I guess the seat slipped out of the nook in my elbow because it was all a blur as i heard my friend say ” the baby!” . I had taken a few steps away and my baby’s seat had crashed to the ground, still rocking! He appeared to be fine, smiling at me. I just could not believe I had actually dropped him and almost ran! I feel terrible! I guess these things happen , but I will not forget how scary that was and how bad I feel!
btw, only five months old.
i was holding my little cousin yesterday ( 11 months old). I set him on the counter for a few seconds, at first he was fine, he was holding a book and throwing it down ( likes to see objects fall)and as i bent down to pick up the book there he went right of the counter and onto the wood floor, i felt and still feel bad now. These are the moments i wish i could go back in time and stop it from happening.
My one month old and I were sleeping on the couch and I have no idea what happened. One minute I’m passed out the next I see my baby on the ground. I don’t know if I rolled over, if she stretched and rolled over or what. But I picked her up she was crying and I held her so close to me. I felt horrible! But she seemed to be okay. I think more than anything she was hungry; cause after I held her I fed her and she went back to sleep.
That exact same thing happened to me last night!! I am so glad that I found this site. I still feel like the worst mother ever and I refuse to tell anyone that that happened because I just feel so awful. I’m still going to call the doctor tomorrow (it happened at about 4 am Easter Sunday morning) just in case. I’m just so thankful that I’m not the only mom that has ever done this. I was holding her and then all of a sudden I woke up and heard a thump and her crying. She’s only 4 weeks old so that makes me feel even worse.
well i am glad i am not the only over exausted mom around my 6 month old son had been up for 3 hours a night every night from 2 am to 5 am for 3 and 1/2 months. last night he slid off my lap…sleeping one moment awoke to find him crying on the floor . I am feeling so guilty!!!!!! He seems to be his usual self , happy and laughing , bouncy and energetic but i feel mortified that i allowed this to happen. working part time with 3 kids and hardly enough sleep is not a great combination. My husband is finally going to chip in and get up a few nights…thank goodness. I sympathise with all who have had a similar situation.
I feel so bad okay so my cousin 6 months i don’t know if this is good or not she cried a little and was normal for the rest of the day but i accidentaly dropped her she can’t walk so she like fell face first into a blanket and she has been having bathroom problems so she pottys on me and i accidentally drop her. Is this a good thing or a bad thing is she ok?
Hi Maigen, I’m not a doctor and I couldn’t possibly say whether she’s ok, all I can say is if you are worried bring your cousin to see a doctor. Good luck.