When my baby was two weeks old, I strapped him securely into his carseat to take him to a ped appointment, and started down the stairs to the basement, where access to the garage is. When I was on the first step, my heel caught on the hem of my coat, and the handle of the carseat slipped from my hand. Step by step, that carseat fell down the stairs, turning around and around and around until it landed right-side up, *thunk* on the (carpeted) basement floor.

O.M.G.

I raced down the steps, falling as I went (was so shaken) and lifted him from the carseat. He was crying, but stopped quickly, and we sat on that floor for a good 20 minutes before leaving for the ped, because I was shaking and afraid to drive. The ped looked him over and said he was fine (and he was).

It has been 10+ years and I can still see it, in slow-motion, and hear that clunk clunk clunk sound.

Anonymous wrote:OP -- I am the one who started the "worst mom on earth" controversial thread. We are bed laying baby dropping buddies! Sorry, I have a completely inappropriate sense of humor at the best of times. Anyway, I just realized yesterday that my son can actually roll himself over from his back to his tummy. No idea he could do that, and given that he was five weeks early, totally proud of him. Just, you know, piqued with his sense of timing.

I took him to the ped today for his ER follow up appointment, and she told me that she dropped all three of her kids off the bed at some point. And he husband is a ped too. She said they felt like total failures.

OP here. I read your thread! It made me feel less awful. I do not think you are the worst mother on earth. Seriously, it helped me a lot to have other moms post that their kids fell and they still turned out okay. I told my coworker and she told me that she dropped her niece on her head several years ago. At least baby is okay (far as I can tell).

OP -- I am the one who started the "worst mom on earth" controversial thread. We are bed laying baby dropping buddies! Sorry, I have a completely inappropriate sense of humor at the best of times. Anyway, I just realized yesterday that my son can actually roll himself over from his back to his tummy. No idea he could do that, and given that he was five weeks early, totally proud of him. Just, you know, piqued with his sense of timing.

I took him to the ped today for his ER follow up appointment, and she told me that she dropped all three of her kids off the bed at some point. And he husband is a ped too. She said they felt like total failures.

Anonymous wrote:Seriously, I keep hearing that thunk. Haunts my dreams.

OP here. Me too. Over and over again. For the PP who said I should have known better, well obviously it is my fault and I f*cked up.

If you are interested in the long version, as best I have figured out: he had just woken up, he was on the bed blocked in by pillows on either side because he is rolling. I was with him in the bedroom, then went to switch the laundry (next room over). And I think he just scooted forward and dove off the bed, flipping over and landing flat on his back. This is based on him trying to dive off my lap or out of my arms a couple times later that day. This is the first I have ever seen him actually scoot forward. He is not good at it, but yesterday it was all he wanted to do. i still feel terrible all the time. I couldn't sleep last night. I made my husband trade places with me because at midnight I was still laying there staring at the spot he fell. Hoping this crushing feeling goes away eventually.

Anonymous wrote:just want to add... having just had a lecture on radiation... I wouldn't ask for a CT scan on a little one just for peace of mind. I don't want to be alarmist, but there is a lot of radiation in a CT scan and you don't want to have more than you need over your lifetime. Also, the younger the child, the more dangerous radiation is. (though again, radiation is not the hugest cancer risk there is, I don't want to scare people who really need the scans. It's just that we all probably will need some over time, and it's better not to have them too young if you can help it.

I was going to post something similar. An article in the WaPo a couple of years ago talked about the big doses of radiation in CTs-- something like 100x the amount in an x-ray. I recall something like experts estimate that by 2030, 2% of all cancers will have been caused by medical radiation. Something to think about next time you or someone you love is considering getting a CT. From the article it sounded like a lot of doctors don't even realize how much radiation you get from CTs so may order them more frequently than is best. I would imagine that lower dose CT machines are being engineered, if they haven't been already. If anyone is interested, the NYT had a series on medical and dental radiation a year or two ago. Very interesting.

OP, my baby fell off the bed, too. She was about 6 months old, and I actually had my hand on her belly as I turned toward the dresser to put some laundry away. She flipped right over my arm and onto the floor. I remember seeing it like it was in slow motion and when she hit the floor with the side of her face, the word that jumped into my mind was **SPLAT**! She had a slight bruise on her lower cheek. I felt terrible!

Seriously, I keep hearing that thunk. Haunts my dreams.