It is common for babies to  bump their  heads especially when they are learning to  roll over, crawl or walk. These head bumps (goose egg ) may cause you to panic because of  how quickly and large they appear.  However these injuries are limited to the scalp only and seldom indicate an underlying brain injury. When swelling occurs, most of it protrudes outwards. This is because the baby’s scalp is right under his skin.
 

How to treat a bump on your child’s head ?

• Wrap an ice pack  in a thin towel and hold it on the bump from  2 to 5 minutes at a time while applying some pressure. Do this for  about 20 minutes. You can also use a bag of frozen peas. It is important to cover the ice with a towel to prevent  cold injury ( frostbite) to the skin
• You can distract your child from the discomfort by feeding or nursing him or reading a book with him.
• After this, continue to monitor the baby for any unusual behaviors.  If there is a brain injury, signs may show immediately or show slowly over a 24 hour period.
• It is okay to let the child sleep after the injury if he is behaving normally. However do check on him every 2 to 3 hours. If you are not comfortable with your child’s color or breathing pattern, try to wake him  up and check his pupil, arm and leg strength and level of consciousness. If you are not comfortable with your baby’s behavior, call the emergency number right away.

What are some of the signs of brain injury ?

 
Some  of the signs of brain injury includes the following :

• crossed eye, unequal pupil
• persistent vomiting
• blood or watery fluid oozing from the ear canal
• unresponsiveness
• child looks confused or drowsy
• walks with difficulty or clumsiness
• baby is pale
• convulsions
• baby cries for more than an hour and is restless and irritable
• slurred words or having difficulty sleeping
• changes in breathing pattern ( becomes shallow and slow)
• baby changes from being alert to very sleepy

How to prevent head bumps ?

 
You can reduce the risk of your child getting a serious head injury by taking the following steps.

• use appropriate car seats for your baby and wear seat belts
• always use appropriate safety equipment such as helmets for biking, skating,  horse riding and contact sports
• make your home child proof as much as possible such as covering sharp corners of furnitures, and avoiding the purchase of furniture with glass. You can also place gates at the top and bottom of the staircase and move chairs and tables away from windows
• lower the child’s  mattress as soon as he is able to stand in his crib
• keep an eye on your child at all times if he’s started climbing furniture

 
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