3 year old bumped his head and now is throwing up...should I be worried?

[mtemm]

my husband thinks I am totally overreacting here. my 3 year old fell off a chair and hit his head hard on our hardwood floor...it sounded awful, and it took us a while to get him calmed down. he seemed fine after that, but an hour or hour and a half later he threw up. he's never thrown up in his life, so that alone was weird. he didn't overeat, and hasn't acted sick at all. we put him to bed at 7 (about a half hour after he threw up) and at 9:15 he threw up again.

I called the ped to see what we should do, and the on call nurse said rule of thumb is if a child throws up twice after hitting his head like that, he needs to be seen. so dh is off to the ER with ds now.

I really don't think anything is wrong with him, he has seemed fine except for the throwing up. but I can't imagine not taking him in, either.

should I be worried? am I overreacting? I wish I had been the one to take him. dh is crabby about it, but pretty much insisted on it (no idea why).

 

[Serena]

His being upset and crying may have upset his stomach. Try not to worry, kids are amazing.

 

[mtemm]

but see, he didn't throw up until long past his crying. and he has cried like that in the past and not thrown up.

 

[jenimay]

my husband thinks I am totally overreacting here. my 3 year old fell off a chair and hit his head hard on our hardwood floor...it sounded awful, and it took us a while to get him calmed down. he seemed fine after that, but an hour or hour and a half later he threw up. he's never thrown up in his life, so that alone was weird. he didn't overeat, and hasn't acted sick at all. we put him to bed at 7 (about a half hour after he threw up) and at 9:15 he threw up again.

I called the ped to see what we should do, and the on call nurse said rule of thumb is if a child throws up twice after hitting his head like that, he needs to be seen. so dh is off to the ER with ds now.

I really don't think anything is wrong with him, he has seemed fine except for the throwing up. but I can't imagine not taking him in, either.

should I be worried? am I overreacting? I wish I had been the one to take him. dh is crabby about it, but pretty much insisted on it (no idea why).

According to this website, someone vomiting after head trauma should be seen. I hope he's okay, but I'm with you, better safe than sorry.

http://familydoctor.org/084.xml

 

[JennyMominRI]

Vomiting after a head injury could be a sign of a concussion...You may want to take him in.

 

[crazyme5kids]

He should go to the ER to be seen. Throwing up is an indication he could have a concussion.

 

[Serena]

I would have taken him in too. I hope he's alright.

 

[Katy Belle]

Mild concussion. Two of my 3 boys have had them. If they throw up twice then they do a brain x-ray to make sure there is no skull fracture or brain bleeding. A concussion is a brain bruise. Mine both had mild concussions and were fine. Sounds like he still recognized you and your DH, so he probably escaped the memory loss part, I think it will be mild.

With both of my boys it was an hour before they threw up.

Don't worry he will be fine!
Katy

 

[OceanAnnie]

Another better safe than sorry. You guys are doing the right thing by having him seen. Try not to worry, if there is anything out of the ordinary he's in the right place.

I'll keep your little one in my thoughts and prayers.
Keep us posted on how he's doing!

 

[Katie]

absolutely, you should be concerned.

I am a Ct technologist, so I see alot of head trauma. vomitting after a head trauma is a sign of head trauma. Kids are resilent and will most likely be okay, but yes, take hime to ER now.

Any time my kids fall and take a hit to the head, I am diligent for keeping them awake for 2-4 hours after the fall, and then i wake them up hourly .

Keep us posted, and most likely, your son will have a CT scan and be home soon!

 

[Aidensmom]

You are definitely doing the right thing by taking him to the ER, and I think you should not worry too much because after all you are getting him medical care, they'll know what to do.

 

[RadioNate]

Like others have said the vomiting could be a sign of a concussion. Did he have any trouble waking??

 

[SplshMtn99]

Aren't you NOT supposed to sleep after hitting your head hard? I always remember in the movies, lol, people slapping faces to keep them awake & walking around.

Hope he's ok.

Oops, never mind. That site above says you don't need to keep them awake, but you need to wake them hourly & ask them questions. Good to know.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Absolutely take him in. Head trauma is nothing to play with. He could be fine (he probably IS fine) or he could have real damage. If there is real damage and you find out too late, the results are devastating.

It isn't like a broken foot or a cough. It's his flippin brain.

I cannot emphasize it enough, GET HIM CHECKED ASAP!!!

If you can't decide, just remember that what you are risking is his brain function and/or life. You really want to gamble on that?

If you STILL won't take him in, at least wake him up every 2 hours and make sure he knows his name and is quite himself.

You really should take him in.

 

[THE HAT]

Please let us know how things go at the ER. I am glad you called the dr, and are having him checked out.

 

[Katie]

no sleeping after a head trauma...that is correct!

Why didn't you go with your husband to the ER?

I have learned always error on the side of caution.

when my youngest was 4 months old, he had croup. He was "barking" and did sound bad, but working in the medical profession, I didn't want to be one of those "crazy" mothers, so i just kept taking him in the steamy bathroom.
My husband finally had enough, and said I am taking him to ER. We walked in ER at 2:00 AM, and the triage nurse looked at him, and rushed him a room, called Respirtory STAT, and he was admitted to PEDS ICU.

okay...next time, I will be a "crazy over protective" mom....

never lived that one down!

 

[Cool-Beans]

Aren't you NOT supposed to sleep after hitting your head hard? I always remember in the movies, lol, people slapping faces to keep them awake & walking around.

LOL, it is an old wives tale. You will not slip into coma from sleep. Once we've checked them, we tell them to sleep. Good for 'em. I don't know WHY they always do that on TV. Probably because it is more dramatic than saying, "You're tired? Go to sleep."

People with head injuries need to be awakened every two hours and have neuro checks done. That's why we wake them up, to make sure they are OK and haven't slipped into anything dangerous.

 

[SwedishMeatball]

Scary feeling for sure. When my son fell off a chair and bumped his head it was all the blood from just a tiny gash that caused me to panic and rush him to the ER. You'll feel more at ease that he gets checked out. I hope your little guy is feeling better soon.

 

[mtemm]

no sleeping after a head trauma...that is correct!

Why didn't you go with your husband to the ER?

I have 2 other kids at home and no one to watch them, so I had to stay behind.

thanks everyone for your input. I am glad dh took him in, although still wish it was me that had, since he was being such a, well, pita, about it.

if it does turn out to be a concussion (hopefully mild!), what do we do for him? how is it treated?

 

[JennyMominRI]

LOL, it is an old wives tale. You will not slip into coma from sleep. Once we've checked them, we tell them to sleep. Good for 'em. I don't know WHY they always do that on TV. Probably because it is more dramatic than saying, "You're tired? Go to sleep."

People with head injuries need to be awakened every two hours and have neuro checks done. That's why we wake them up, to make sure they are OK and haven't slipped into anything dangerous.

I hope this is true because Ed bonked his head tonight..Not really hard, but he is on comouden and I worry..I'll be waking him every hour to make sure he's sleeping.