baby trying to walk but keeps banging his head, what do i do?

shelleuk

My 9 month olds decided he no longer wants to crawl anymore and now pulls him self up the furniture and then lets go. He hold himself steady for a few seconds then falls to the floor without bending himself and bangs his head on the floor. Hes done this several times already today, and im worried about him doing himself some damage. He doesn't cry much when he falls. Other than buy a softer flooring (we have laminate) is there anything i can do to encourage him to bend when he falls, so that he falls on his bum rather than his head. Hes got a two year old sister who i noticed recently being nasty with him (pushing him over if im not looking, biting his fingers etc). I seem to be constantly telling her not to do this or that she was fine before he starting moving about which isn't helping because she just does it all the more.

Any help would be appreciated

MX5huggy

Don't worry about it, he is not falling far, and will learn it hurts and change is behaviour to suit.

smartpicture

Babies heads are harder than you think. My daughter never seemed to get the idea of putting your hands out to save yourself when you fall, and was always landing head-first, including down some concrete steps. She was fine.

csh_2

When my son became more upright and mobile I spent a few days pulling him onto his bottom from standing so he realised it was something he could do for himself. After a few days when he was unsteady he would sit himself down rather than fall back like a big tree timber style. Just really teaching a safe fall.
Same thing when he learned how to climb onto the couch I always turned him round and draped his legs back onto the floor til he learned for himself and saved having any face-plants off the sofa

moonbeam2007

shelleuk wrote: »

My 9 month olds decided he no longer wants to crawl anymore and now pulls him self up the furniture and then lets go. He hold himself steady for a few seconds then falls to the floor without bending himself and bangs his head on the floor. Hes done this several times already today, and im worried about him doing himself some damage. He doesn't cry much when he falls. Other than buy a softer flooring (we have laminate) is there anything i can do to encourage him to bend when he falls, so that he falls on his bum rather than his head. Hes got a two year old sister who i noticed recently being nasty with him (pushing him over if im not looking, biting his fingers etc). I seem to be constantly telling her not to do this or that she was fine before he starting moving about which isn't helping because she just does it all the more.

Any help would be appreciated

My son [and most kids] do this. He's finding his feet and he will learn quickly. Sadly there isn't much you can do without puting a helmet on his head which teaches him nothing. In time he will learn and he's not doing himself any real damage nothing a cuddle from Mummy won't fix.

It's hard my son had a big bang at 10 months old and stopped walking until after he was one because he got a shock from it. But then he was off again and nothing stopped him.

moonbeam2007

Just make sure corners of tables etc are covered this will help.

sarahjayne1977

My daughter is 8 months and started pulling her self up few weeks ago, within 2 weeks she now bumps back down on her bum not often does she bang her head now.
Like you i was worried as i have wood floor, we bought some sponge tiles and put on floor but she play everywhere but where they were.

shelleuk

Thanks for the replies, i didn't have any of this with my older two they just seemed to fall onto their bums when trying to walk. Lol i was considering buying him a cycling helmet untill he starts to bend his body. I can't believe how neurotic i have become considering hes my third everytime he bangs his head i finding im checking his pupils to see of they are the same size and responding to light.

skintchick

I have found that my DD bounces! What I mean is she doesn;t seem to get hurt by stuff that makes me wince. Short of trying to teach him to sit on his botton from standing as has been suggested, I'm not sure what you can do really. But it is the way they learn and we just have to be there with the cuddles and reassurance.

heretolearn_2

He'll soon learn from the ouch factor. Kids heads are pretty hard and he isn't falling very far or with any real force/weight. It's not like us falling over and whacking our heads.

Perfectly normal mum to worry about it though, don't feel silly.