About 3 weeks ago, I was changing the Happy Baby’s diaper on his changing table.
I saw that we had run out of diapers in the little bin I keep them in, so I turned away for a second to grab a new box.
And that’s when I heard it.
The thud.
Oh my goodness I would not wish the feelings I felt in that moment on anyone.
I scooped up my precious fallen baby and the two of us cried enough tears to fill an entire IKEA store.
As I clung to the Happy Baby, frantically trying to make sure he could still track my fingers and respond to my voice, I felt a heaviness take residence on my chest.
How in the world could I let something like this happen??
After all he’d been through – had I really just added a major fall to the list??????
The guilt was palpable.
The hubs and I worked together to make sure our son was okay. I knew that he hadn’t hit his head on the way down – he’d landed on his side, so that was encouraging, but my heart was heavy with fear. After everyone had cried enough, there was nothing left to do but sleep, so we laid the Happy Baby down in his crib.
As soon as the door to his room was shut, I disappeared into our bedroom, found a corner, got into the fetal position and wept.
Then I sent out a text asking for prayer from a few close friends.
I called the Happy Baby’s chiropractor (a member of our church) and tearfully asked if he would be at church in the morning and would he be willing to fix any problems. He was so kind to me and said yes, he’d be there.
Finally, I called my pastor’s wife.
By the end of our conversation I learned 3 things.
1. When God says fearfully and wonderfully made, He was not kidding around.
My pastor’s wife told me was that God made babies to have softer bones than adults – that they are designed as these incredibly resilient, elastic little beings.
It’s like He knew beforehand (well, obviously, since He is God) that the busy-ness of being a mom would occasionally allow for accidents, so he went ahead and graciously provided protection for those precious babies in advance.
I think dropping the Happy Baby was harder on me than it was on him!
With that said, sometimes babies DO get hurt, so if you dropped your baby, please make sure you take all the proper precautions. Keep a watchful, diligent eye on your child. Take him or her to the doctor if you notice anything unusual – you know your baby best. Seeing a doctor will probably help you have the peace of mind you need after something traumatic like this happens.
2. God Loves Me (and my baby).
I cannot even begin to express the agony I felt for allowing such a terrible thing to happen.
Like I physically almost threw up from feeling so awful.
But as I sat there beating myself up and spiraling down a slippery slope of self-loathing, I felt the Lord’s tender reminder that He loves me.
He showed me that in spite of my many, MANY parenting mistakes/failures/accidents/weaknesses, He still loves me and extends His amazing grace even to the most horrible of situations.
I will never be a perfect parent. I will fail so many more times than this (although I think I learned my lesson to never leave a child unattended on a changing table).
But God will ALWAYS right the wrongs, because that is what He is in the business of doing.
Even if my baby had been seriously hurt, I know God would have brought about glory for Himself somehow.
We must not forget that He loves and cares for our children even more than we do.
This was the message God whispered to me over and over and over again when we were in the hospital with him. When he was given powerful chemo drugs for 6 weeks, daily antibiotics, and a host of other medicines that I worried would forever effect Happy Baby’s development.
But we saw our boy grow and be strengthened in spite of those things.
After all he’d been through… Yes, this was just one more way God got the glory for what He is doing in the Happy Baby’s life.
3. I am not alone.
This may sound like I am making light of a very serious thing (like please don’t go carelessly smashing your kids into door frames or leaving them unattended on high places), but let me just tell you. As I spoke to my pastor’s wife and she told me about how her 4 month old had fallen from the kitchen counter in his car seat down to the tiled floor below and how he is totally fine now (although she joked ‘debatable’) – I felt better.
Then 5 out of the 5 girls I texted asking for prayer wrote back with their own story.
My baby fell off a 4-foot-high bed, my baby fell off the ottoman, I dropped my baby right out of my arms, my baby nose dived out of the car onto the cement pavement…
And all of them – the babies were fine.
I suddenly did not feel so alone and some of the guilt I was carrying began to dissipate.
I had somehow found myself inducted into a secret community of mommies who had dropped their babies.
Are you in the club?
If so, hear this – you are not alone. You are loved. It will be ok.
And try not to let it happen again. 🙂
🙂
* * * *
What do you think of Happy Baby’s spiked hair?
And check out who is sitting up by himself now!
Plus, he has 2 teeth and is gnawing on absolutely everything in sight – including shoes, chair legs, and diapers (among some of his faves).
He even waves and says, “Buh-bye!” when someone leaves a room.
Still haven’t started solids yet, though… He just instantly barfs at the mere presence of non-milk substance in his mouth (which is strange because he can shove an entire shoe in there and keep it down just fine)… But I am confident that we will get there one day (and I do pray that one day is soon because I don’t know how much longer these tatas can stand being tugged by that dreaded pump). 🙂
Thank you to everyone who prays for the Happy Baby and our family. When my heart gets tired or I am tempted to be discouraged, I think of all of you and thank God for the sweet community I have here at Happy Home Fairy.
Much love!
-Julie
I belong to the Baby Dropping Club too. Not that I wanted to join… And I’m a first time mom!
The ‘first’ (yes, first!) time that I dropped him, he was 6 weeks old and in his car seat. I went to put the carseat on a counter at work – I was taking him there to show him off – and I thought the counter was deep enough. It wasn’t. He toppled, but barely cried. Over all, not too bad, I guess.
The ‘second’ time that I dropped him was about a month or so ago as he was learning to crawl. I thought he knew that he was at the edge of the bed cause he went to the edge and stopped. So I turned around to grab a sweatshirt and Boom! he crawled right over and fell off head first. He cried alot more that time, but he did okay and a few minutes, crawled away – safely. On the floor.
What an excellent reminder that we are not in control. Our precious Lord and Savior is and He watches over our little ones. Thank you for the awesome story about your son and God Bless you and your family. You have one more prayer warrior!
I did not have my baby properly restrained in her infant carseat/carrier thing, and she fell about 3 feet to the tile floor. Like you, I wept like a baby. In fact she stopped crying waaaay before I did. We just celebrated that baby girl’s 10th birthday yesterday, and she is happy, smart (it’s not just me that thinks so…she’s in the gifted and talented program at her school!), and has a heart for missions and charity work.
I love the first point your pastor’s wife made…God knew that we mommys have too much on our plates and get distracted at times! I’ll have to remember that point the next time a young mother calls me crying.
I have tile floor too and am wondering what type of mat or carpet I should get just to prepare for the inevitable? I know there is a big chance that he will fall off the bed some day….
Love this post. Luke and Faith both rolled off my bed more than once! You’d think I’d learn! Lol!
Oh Julie honey, I read this and I felt like crying for you. I am so glad that YOU are okay.
I don’t mean this in an ugly way, but I am so glad you dropped him! I’m a mama too and not a baby hater in any way so let me explain that- you are the mama to little boys and a 2 1/2 foot fall is going to be minor to what happens in the years to come. That fall was just God’s way of letting you start practicing your “stay calm and assess how bad the injury is” skills and it’s best to start trying those out early on. Congrat’s my dear you did exactly what all good Mom’s do! You made sure he was okay, then you let out all that fear and worry in the form of tears and finally you called on the experience of others to find comfort. I tell ya, the one we need to check on is the Happy Hubby. If your’s is anything like mine the whole thing was roughest on him. Mine says the worst feeling in the world was the feeling helpless he had when this happened to us because not only does he feel super protective of the baby, but his wife as well and there we were both giving him something to worry about at the same time! But just like you guys, we all made it through it fine and all the tumbles and scrapes and other injuries that have come in the years since.
This fall has showed you what a tough little guy the Happy Baby is. Actually, it was just ANOTHER way God is showing you that. Look at how far that child has come against the obstacles he has faced in his little life! He is a testament to faith and prayer!
Of course as mama it doesn’t make you feel any better because you feel like you have failed to protect him in some way. But there again is God saying “Julie, no worries- I got this”.
And that adorable little pic of him SITTING UP BY HIMSELF with that spiky hair!!!! He even looks like a little tough guy. I think I see a hint of mischief in those little eyes too like they are saying “just you wait Mom, you’re not gonna believe what I do next”!
Add me to the didn’t-snap-the-baby-in-the-infant-carrier drop club. He was 6 weeks old. We were on an island 50 minutes from the mainland by boat. I picked up his carrier that he wasn’t strapped in to because I was going to walk two houses away with him. I was in a restaurant. The handle wasn’t snapped in place and as I exited the restaurant he just spilled right out on to the ground past the threshold in to the gravel! Gravel! My fresh-out-of-the-womb baby was face down in the gravel and his 20-month old sister was right on my heels as a witness to this horror (not to mention the whole restaurant)! I scooped him up and ran from the restaurant! i kept it together until i got to the house we were in and told my husband, in sobs, that I’d broken our baby! Now he’s 12 years old, 5′ 6″ and no worse for the wear. Those drops are surely way worse on mommy.
Love u Julie <3 🙂
Well, looking at the posts, you are certainly not alone!! I don’t have kids, but nieces and nephews. I’m sure I dropped them, stepped on them, watched them as they went right off a step, tripped them…you get the idea! All these little oopsies prepare us for the bigger ones, build character, and make us trust in Father God more deeply. I think you are a wonderful & beautiful mother and your kids are blessed to have you! Love and adore your family…it’s all good!!!
I joined the club 47yrs ago! He was asleep on the changing table while I was changing him….I thought….turned to dump the diaper and he rolled off! He was only 2 months old and I thought I’d killed him. NOT. But, God is good and faithful. After a frantic trip to the Ped’s office with my father driving like a maniac, all was well. thank you for your story.
The biggest thing I gather from reading this post is that your baby is BLESSED to have such a caring, loving, and wise mommy!!! We’ve had a couple similar experiences in my home, too! Whew, I feel a bit more normal now! Oh by the way, the whole chiropractor thing… A-M-A-Z-I-N-G right? My first thought when I read the title was, aw I truly hope she knows about the magic of chiropractic care…and of course, being the awesome mommy you are, you do! Our chiro has seriously worked wonders for us. Anyway, have a blessed Sunday and thanks again for another fabulous post.
My daughter fell off the changing table and my son fell off our bed. Two kids. So how does that grab ya? Both kids are wonderful (my daughter is now 19 and my son is 8) and all I can say is that for childhood, that fall was the practice fall for them. More serious spills are on the way. Especially, for boys. 🙂
Didn’t drop him, but wanted to share how beside myself I was as he learned to walk on our tile floors… The first time he walked into the kitchen, mouth bleeding, I think I would have fainted if (doc) hubby hadn’t been there. I finallly asked our (wonderful) pediatrician if he thought I should buy him a FOOTBALL HELMUT! His laughter broke the mesmerism of fear!
Julie: I love your ‘confession’ as only you can write it. Can you imagine how many times babies were dropped and banged up in cars BEFORE car seats, like when I had my babies over 40 years ago? Merrie Beth (see post above) was one of my babies
. She was strapped in one of those baby carriers that rocked and that we all set on the back or FRONT passenger seat while we drove everywhere (mind you, that’s all we had back then).
Many times when you were going too fast, or rounding a bend, the whole device would slip off onto the floor, and I remember once thinking I had killed my baby when that thing went flying into the back of the driver’s seat and then onto the floor. But God HAD fearfully and wonderfully made children, even back then!! Also toddlers stood up on the back seat floor and when you would stop suddenly, they would bang themselves up. So thank God and techology for all the much-safer devices we have now. Now if everyone would just learn to buy low beds and low changing tables, we’d be even further advanced in the dropping-baby world. Love the Happy Baby’s new spiky hairdo, though at first I thought it MIGHT be a result of a scary fall!
Dear sweet Julie…if you only knew! My oldest baby fell off the exam table in his pediatrician’s office when he was 8 months old! I thought they were going to take him away from me forever. He is now 27 beautiful years old and being all boy growing up, endured much worse tumbles than that one! Thank you for your sweet posts, they always make my day!
Oh sweetie. You def are not alone! Every mama goes through a scary moment or two with their kiddos! With our first baby I watched him fall down our stairs. He looked like a rag doll flying down the stairs!! It was awful. I cried harder and longer then he did!!! Then out second fell off our high bed more then once!! We are all human and do the best we can!! You’re so sweet to share it helps so many others feel much more at peace knowing they are not alone!!
You sweet dear, I feel for you! I think all the advice you were given by your friends are right, and I’m glad they made you feel better! I don’t have a dropped-my-baby story (I don’t have kids), but when I was just starting to walk, I tripped and fell into my Mom, and my Mom is in a wheelchair and I cracked my head open on the metal of her chair, blood dripping everywhere. I think she probably could relate to all the feelings you just went through!! And my husband may disagree 😉 but everything came out just fine, apart from a little scar above my eye. Like you said, God is watching out for his children and just like he made sure I hit her with my eyebrow and not my eye, and possibly do terrific damage, he too was watching out for your angel.
Hope you are both feeling better now!!
BTDT! I discovered #several# of my kids could roll over the hard way. They are all fine. Even the one Daddy dropped while being a human amusement park ride.
I love your thoughts on what babies’ resilience tells us about God. And, realizing He has something special for our little ones that *shouldn’t be here* but are!
You are never alone, Julie! We are all part of the club. Sebastian has woken up to a tile floor while we were sleeping together at Grandma & Grandpa’s in Arizona. My sister, you are not alone and Praise God he looks after our children and hears our prayers of protection. I love you and thanks for sharing your soul with all of us. You are so special to so many. God Bless and thanks for your amazing talk on Friday! Lots of goodies for our hubbies!
My little one fell off a retaining wall and broke his arm- on mother’s day!!! 🙂
Sent from my iPhone
You most certainly are not alone! Thank you for sharing, it makes all us Moms feel better! I love your sharing what the Pastor’s wife said. God is awesome in his making us resilient! As I read that you are comforted by knowing we all are praying for you and your family, I had a real warm hearted feeling! In praying for others, I can focus on God and not myself, or things of this world. Thank you for your blog! I truly enjoy it!
I think every Mom has dropped her baby at some time or other. With my first child, I had gotten up to go into the kitchen. He was very little and not rolling so I felt it was okay to leave him. Then I heard the THUD and cry! I thought maybe I left him too close to the edge. DUHHHHH!! He rolled off again.!! Still I didn’t realize that the child was actually rolling off…. How dumb was that????? The third time it dawned on me. LOL He’s 26 today and a productive member of society. LOL I guess I didn’t do so bad after all. Hugs to you Momma!!! I say next time you do something dumb. Call your pastor’s wife. She sounds pretty smart 🙂
You are so precious! My little guy rolled off the changing table, too, when his big sis spilled a glass of water all over the floor behind me and I turned around and apparently completely forgot I had 2 kids. At the same time. Yes, the fall was shortly after he spent 45 days in the NICU. And he was (and is) FINE. I reacted exactly the way you did. Bawled with him, bawled even more by myself later. I felt like a horrible mom. But God trusts me with him, so I had to learn to trust myself, too. And let me tell you, it must have been his surgeries, transfusions, procedures, etc., but he is one tough little dude! You’re a good mama for caring so much, for hurting with your son, for making sure it never happens again. I’d only worry about your mom qualifications if you DIDN’T feel horrible. 🙂 I’m sure they’ll bring about falls of their own in the future. We just gotta keep these boys covered in prayer! Praying the Happy Baby gets the chow thing down soon!
Yeah, Julie, you’re right. Join the club. I think the greatest lesson is tucked in the middle of that post…He loves them even more than we do. (So hard for me to fathom. But He’s God and I’m just me.)
Thanks for sharing…..:)
I’m another one who has dropped her baby (or rather was in the wrong place to catch her when she fell). My little girl was about 5 months old at the time and we were waiting to see the out of hours doctor because she had an ear infection. I put her in her pushchair because she needed feeding and I needed both hands to get the lid of her bottle. I didn’t strap her in, after all she was only going to be there for 10 seconds and she was right in front of me. Unfortunately she chose that moment to show me a new skill, she pushed herself forward and toppled head first onto the floor, knocking herself out.
I thank God that if this was going to happen that it happened where is did, you have never seen a nurse run as fast as the one did who was called over when I went to the receptionist in tears saying that my baby was unconscious, They were brilliant with us, they checked my baby over and calmed me down. Then they called an ambulance who took us over to the hospital to see a pediatrician (we were waiting to see a GP and they decided that we needed a specialist to check my girl over). The good thing is that she was none the worse for wear and you can bet that I never did that again.
While I don’t belong to the baby dropping club, I have my fair share of scary moments. Hugs to you!
Hi Julie
I am sorry you had to go through this, i can totally relate and feel the weight in my heart as I too had my daughter roll off the bed…. Horrible feeling !
BUT most importantly, As I read your post you know what came to mind right away?
Where is the HYPOTONIA the doctors had diagnosed? Gone !!!! Glories to God !!!!! You precious baby can roll !!!! He has great muscle tone !! Look at him seating up straight in the beautiful photos !
Thank you Jesus for this sweet happy baby!
1. I have whacked just about all 4 of my kids’ heads on the changing table. 2. When a neighbor’s #4 child was brand spankin’ new (like you could still tell her age in hours old) the neighbor handed her to my husband. He dang near fumbled her right onto the floor. 3. When my #2 was starting to roll around he was on our bed. DH and I were having a “discussion” and I left the room and went into the bathroom across the hall. DH thought I was watching the baby and thinking I was watching him DH let him roll right off the bed. He’s fine. 🙂
I remember crying the first time my daughter got scratched – God gave me a perfect child and now the package was damaged. I also worried about dust getting on her clothes. LOL Seems funny now, but at the time it was SERIOUS! 🙂
Some forty-odd years ago, I almost did the same thing…turned for a second and my son rolled off the changing table. Luckily I turned and caught him just before he hit the concrete floor. I will NEVER forget that horrible feeling, and I am so thankful to God that I was able to catch him. You can be sure I paid better attention after that!
You are so awesome for sharing this with your readers!!! I wish I could have read something like this years ago when the EXACT same thing happened to me. My one and only child is now 7 yrs old. He is a bright, intelligent, loving, normal, straight A second grader 🙂 He fell about 3 feet down onto the hardwood floor. I thought I would DIE at that moment. I was shaking and crying. All that kept running through my head were those “new mom”, freaky thoughts…. “I think I’ve just killed my baby!!” I called our local hospital’s “on-call” # and the nurse assured me of the same thing your pastor’s wife did……children have soft bones, etc.
I calmed down then called my mother and she reminded me that I rolled off the sofa when I was a baby onto a tile floor and I was fine.
GOD IS GOOD and He looks after exhausted, sleep deprived, multi-tasking, hormone imbalanced mothers because he knows we have the most important job in the world!!
I LOVE your blog! Thanks for sharing. Keep up the good work
I shared your link on my facebook… you are real and I want the other young momma’s to be able to find you! I am a Mimi now, but when I was a young momma I would have loved to been your friend on blogland ~ you would have helped quench some of the fear our of the early months of motherhood. In the midst of this scary thing that happenened, you did so many right things! and you even moved on to sharing with (and educating) others and making us laugh, not at you or your baby, but laugh at ourselves as mothers with how amazing motherhood is, and that any of us come out of it alive or that some of us even move on to have more than one child ever. You could include my children in this story, and if you write about the child whose head got banged or bumped because you hadn’t quite learned about the extra length over the elbow as you walk them, they could be included there as well. Keep writing and sharing your life, your light is so evident!
Godspeed,
mary (mimi)
I stumbled across this post after Googling “my baby fell off the changing table” because, I too, am a part of the mommy-dropped-baby club. My off-the-charts active 9.5 month old reached for a duck on the floor….while he was on the changing table. Mommy was reaching the other way, for a bunny. (Gotta keep him busy while being changed.) Head first onto the carpeted floor from the changing table. The only thing that has made me feel better is this blog post. Thank you.
Sweet Cristin, welcome to the club. 🙂 You are an awesome mommy. xoxo
Thank you so much for sharing your stories! My daughter has had some delays from the beginning. Tomorrow we are going to the developmental disabilities clinic at a children’s hospital. I have fretted over this day way beyond the normal parameters of worry. I have felt physically ill and unable to focus on the present moment for the past 6 weeks since receiving the paperwork in the mail. But your one sentence “God loves him more than I do,” has given me peace for the first time about this process. God bless you and your family!
Nikki, you precious mommy! I am sorry that you are walking through this difficult season of unknowns with your daughter! It is so hard to surrender our children to the Lord, but yes! When we do, we find the perfect peace of trusting that He does know what is best for them (and us). I pray for your strength today! “I will go in the strength of the Lord…” Psalm 71 Hang in there… You are doing amazing and your daughter is so blessed to have a sweet, dedicated mama like you. 🙂
I could never begin to thank you enough for your beautiful response. It was perfectly timed! I read it right before I left and I kept that Psalm close to my heart throughout the process. I had to put it to work immediately in the hospital parking garage. “Doesn’t this car in front of me understand that I don’t have time to sit still while they wait for a family of 5 to buckle in for subprime parking? “I will go in the strength of The Lord. Patience, I need strength for patience Lord.”
Two hours later, after an intense interview about her development I was discharged with the worst news yet. Wait. We will wait 3 months before we decide our next move. Everything in my mommy being wanted to handcuff myself to their table not leaving until more was done. But, I sighed, and repeated the words you gave me, “I will go in the strength of The Lord.”
My flesh wants to feel like I have failed, but my spirit knows that I already have failed. I can’t do this on my own and God is teaching me a new art of dependence on Him. Surrender.
If I ever run into you, I might have to give you a bear hug!
Thank you so much for this!!!
Thank you for sharing your story. My son fell off the changing table last night, and I have been feeling like the worse mother in the world. I needed to read this. Thank you for reminding me that God is watching over our kids. God bless!
Thank you so much for posting this…last week as I was getting the stroller out of our rather high truck, my 1 year old fell sideways from the seat to the concrete… She seemed totally fine 5 minutes later… But I still feel like I will never forgive myself, and I still worry that the fall could have done damage I can’t see… I’m seeing my dad next week who is a chiro, I am going to have him look her over… I do thank God that he made little people so resilient, I think about how much it would hurt if I fell from that same place… My poor baby, I am on guard to never let it happen again!
This is the greatest blog! I literally just dropped my son on his head about an hour ago and have cried uncontrollably, called my mom, and then did a search to find out if I was the only mom in the world to have this happen! Thank you, I feel better to know there’s even a club- maybe you can teach me the secret handshake 😉 On a positive note, my baby boy is just fine and cried a small fraction of what I cried! He ate his cereal, drank his bottle, and rocked to sleep with daddy (that’s when I let my tears flow). I suppose all’s well that ends well!
I babysat three little kids and I turned around for one second to throw the diaper away and heard the little 10 month old baby girl hit the floor. I’m pretty sure the sound of my guilt was louder than the actual thud. I felt terrible! I couldn’t believe that I had let her fall. I knew that you weren’t supposed to leave the baby unattended but all I did was turn around for one second. She turned 1 yesterday and her family is very very close to my family so I see her a lot. She is a perfectly healthy, beautiful baby girl and thanks to you, I feel quite a bit less horrified 🙂 thanks for posting
Thank you so much for this. This helped me so much. God Bless You.
My daughter rolled off her changing table today and I feel not only like a terrible mom but completely broken. This precious gift I’ve been given and here I go turning my back thinking there’s no way my sweet girl can fall. I’m petrified there’s going to be some kind of long term damage and I’m to blame. Even as a nurse when it’s your child it’s so much different. Thanks for sharing your story. It’s helped me feel just a little bit better!
Thank you so much…it helps a lil with the guilt…been feeling nausea the whole day bcos of the guilt…dropped my 5mths old preemie boy (corrected age 3mths old) 2.5ft down frm his tub on stand…down onto the bathroom floor hitting his head on a vy vy sharp edge of the tiles that separates the bath area & the toilet…he landed face down…brought him to ER…ethg seems to be ok…he laughed n played with the nurses…doc told me ethg is fine but if i want assurance then he could do a CT scan which he will be sedated n exposed to radiation which is not gd for him…so i decided to go home n monitor him for 24hrs fir vomit n all the other symptoms…so far no problems yet but i couldn’t sleep…feeling guilty n how he fell kept replaying in my head…so i googled n i found ur post…ohhh thank u for sharing this…i really hope God wonders did protect him frm what had happened but my guilt still eats me…
I just tripped over my rocker ottoman when I got my daughter out of her crib. It was like slow motion, and I had her until about a foot and a half off the floor, she flew out of my arms and I saw her land on her back but saw her head bounce back on the carpet. She waited at least 5 seconds before she cried but she wailed so hard, as I was trying to recover from falling ontop of the stupid wooden contraption, I picked her up and held her and she just cried and cried and cried. I changed her diaper, and have been examining her play and what she does for the last 15 minutes.
I googles “dropped my baby” and your blog came up. I wanted to see what signs to look for if there was something wrong but reading this blog has been 100% a blessing and exactly what I needed to hear. I feel like the worst mom ever, but It does make it a little easier knowing the club is a lot bigger than expected.
Thank you for sharing, I’m sure you know it means a lot to so many mommies.
Christiana, I am sorry to be so late in responding to your comment… I am praying that you have felt the Lord’s grace and peace these last several days! You are a great mommy who had a tough experience! I am sure that your daughter is doing well. 🙂 She is so blessed to have a mama like you! Thank you for leaving a comment here and I am so glad you are in the club now! :-))))
Thank you for posting this! I am a first time mom of a 8 1/2 month old and left her alone for the first time on a changing table while I washed my hands (poopy diaper). Something in my head told me go back in there but I literally was so close, I was going to be right back then I heard the thud. I ran in and saw my sweet girl crying chest down on the floor. I’d say it was a 2ft high fall. I check every part of her body to see if she flinched from any injury and showed her a cartoon and she was fine and went for a nap. Her appetite was great after and she played. I’m probably over reacting because she’s so nosy and observant 🙂 but I feel like she isn’t listening as well as she used too. I hope and pray to God it’s just me. Thank you again. It’s unfortunate, but I am glad I’m not alone. I will NEVER leave her alone again!
I too am part of the baby dropping club. G-man’s first couple falls were actually on daddy’s watch, he fell off the couch several times with his dad right around 4 months when he was learning to sit up. And he falls off the bed a fair bit, which is why our bedframe is against the wall and our matress and boxspring are in the floor lol. And of course he has self induced falls related to learning to sit stand and now cruise. G-man is now 10 months 9days and had his first serious fall yesterday. Prior to my pregnancy I was very clumsy, but somehow throughout my pregnancy and my first 9 months PP I managed to be pretty darn graceful, no twisted ankles, running into doors walls etc, and once he was here no dropping the baby slipping with him etc. however in the last month I have been getting clumsier and yesterday I was carrying him into my dr’s office, my ankle rolled and I fell to my knees. In a split second that seemed like forever I watched in horror as he snapped backwards and slammed his head on the rough blacktop. I immediately starte bawling and hi dad just drives up and asks
If we are ok, calm as ever. I don’t understand how he can be so calm. Meanwhile rushing through my brain are things like concussion, bleeding on the brain. Internal decapition. G-man of course is fine. He stopped crying after a minute and went back to beng his usual trouble making self but I felt like the worst mother ever. This is my first baby, but I’ve always taken care of kids and I’ve often been the one my friends come to for advice and reassurance, but I guess it just different when it’s your own.
Ah my 8 month old son slipped off the counter this morning pushing a can and fell face first on the kitchen floor. I have been worried sick all day over thinking everything every cry every little thing and I’m still worried even though he seems completely fine but your blog just made me feel a thousand times better. Thank you!
Lauren… how is your little guy today? You are a good mom. Don’t forget that.
I’m so glad I come across ur blog today my daughter feel from the car seat today it was prob a 1′-1/2 fall but bc she fell two weeks ago from my bed. I felt so bad and worry at the same time. It’s the worse feeling in the word don’t wish and nobody else. Please pray for my daughter, and thank you for this post.
Just saw this on your “Best Of” and wish I had read this the other week when I dropped by newborn (thankfully onto the couch because I caught myself but she totally flipped and it freaked me out). I thought I was the only one. Ah, such relief reading your words and remembering GRACE. So grateful for your blog, Julie.
Two days ago I was changing my 10 month old, and took one step backwards to grab a onesie for him. When I looked back my stomach jumped into my throat when I saw my precious son falling through the air. He hit his garbage can then onto a blanket (that was thankfully left on the floor). Then came the screams… and tears… I tried not to show him how upset I was, but I was shaking… I nursed him and he stopped crying. I texted my husband who had to be at church early… then I called my step mother who is a nurse and she hurried over to check him. He was his usual happy self, with a red mark on his forehead and one between his shoulders. Although he’s fine, I still feel so guilty…
well, I guess I am in the club too. this morning my 9 month old daughter fell off the changing table. I, like many of you, turned for a second to grab a diaper, which I remember thinking ‘oh this is the last one’ while having that you-need-to-turn-around-right-now feeling. as I turned back around, I see her mid-air falling the three feet down to the floor, head first. apparently I have reflexes like a cat and grabbed her (butt, thigh? something squishy) just as her head hit the ground, so thankfully she didn’t receive the full impact but she did end up with a big red spot in the middle of her forehead and on her nose. She cried and I cried, but she was up and moving around with no problems within ten minutes. But being a first time mom, I was still terrified so I brought her down to the ER just to be sure. And she was fine, we were in and out of the hospital within an hour. Oh my God, but that terrible sick to your stomach feeling, knowing this could have been a million times worse and the simple fact the whole thing could have been avoided. I just feel terrible 🙁 I am so incredibly thankful to God that she is ok, I prayed and thanked Him so many times I have lost count. Thank you also for posting this blog, reading about other moms who have had the same experience makes me feel a little better and not so alone with something that was so scary to go through alone this morning.
I dropped one of my 3 month old twins from the bed this morning. I fell asleep with her on me and I was very close to the edge.
Oddly enough, I had a dream someone dropped her and I was startled awake. All of the sudden I heard that awful “thud” as she fell to her tummy.
She cried for all of 2 seconds as I picked her up and wept and prayed- Thankfully I had recently re-dedicated my heart to the Lord, that gave me peace, I know God protected her, I know He forgave me- He wasn’t mad at me and that meant I didn’t have to be mad at myself..
Thank you for your post, it warmed my heart, just to know someone else is in my boat.
Thank you sooo much for this post. My daughter (8 months) just fell off the couch. The sound was heart wrenching & her father (in a panic) blamed me for not keeping a better eye on her. I am glad that you are a God fearing women bc with what Im going through this post was music to my soul. <3
I am so pleased to have found this blog. I have been beating myself up all day. This morning I tripped over the cat whilst carrying my 6 month old baby, I completely lost my grip and he fell out of my arms backwards and head first onto the floor. He cried for a couple of minutes and has been fine since. Even the paediatrician confirmed he was ok.
I on the other hand have been upset about it all day thinking I am an awful mom! It is much harder on us than them but I know there are much worse tumbles, cuts, bruises and falls to come! Thankfully God had us moms in mind when creating these precious little babies. This blog has really helped cheer me up after a bad day ?
I am a grandma to my 5 month old grandson and this morning my grandson rolled over from the couch to the floor
Thank God it has a carpet and he cried for a little while
Please pray for him
I feel real bad and I’m praying
I after that I put the cushions on the floor next to the couch
I m trying to be more careful
Thank you for this website that I’m not the only one and that God watches over this babies
I’m a grandma to a 5 month boy 5 yr old girl
Thank you for posting this – my baby boy just fell off the changing table and I feel horrible – thank you for posting uplifting thoughts.
Well may God bless you for this blog…I had to read it through tears in my eyes though. I just dropped my 3 n half month old son and the horror I felt…cannot be put into words. My mind is racing at all the things that could be wrong…from swollen brains to cracked skulls to chipped teeth which haven’t even come yet…(ridiculous I know)….I almost wish I could have an MRI machine in my extra bedroom to make sure he is as perfect as he has been since i brought him home. I was holding him and I left him on the couch to check on my dinner on the stove and before I knew it….that dreadful thud. My heart was in my mouth…I’m still so shaken. I picked him up…rubbed his forehead and gave him pain killer syrup because I cannot imagine him in pain. Funny enough he was smiling at me and chattering away…before he dozed off….and I’m not taking my eyes off him.
I never thought that would happen. I never thought I would drop him…But your website really helped me.
I REALLLY NEEDED to read this I just woke up to my 4month old crying because she had fallen from the bed! I NEVER let her fall asleep on the bed but I guess I was feeding her and fell asleep before her. My husband says he moved her closer to him but left her on the bed before he fell asleep. My first thought was thank you Lord God for having your angels protect her from it being worse but I must say I did feel like the worst mother alive. I felt condemnation. Thank you for sharing your experience with biblical and Godly people’s perspectives it was really a HUGE help to read this article. God Bless you and your family. This article was really inspired by God to help mothers like me know we are not alone, God is watching over us and our babies, and we are not complete failures as parents!
Thank you so much for posting this blog. I came across it tonight while looking for an answer to whether or not I was a horrible mom for not taking my 15 month old son to the ER after he fell off of the changing table a few days ago. He only cried for a maybe a couple of minutes and then was perfectly fine after that – no signs of injury or concussion. I feel like the worst mom in the world. My husband has been so supportive and keeps reminding me that these things happen. All I could think was, ” I know that, but I don’t want things like this to happen to our baby.” This blog post was so encouraging, & I truly feel like God was speaking to me through it too. Especially the 1st part. As crappy as this whole situation is, I’m thankful I’m not alone. I need to continually remind myself that God is keeping a close eye on our children and that He’s protecting them. Thank you for your post. May God bless you & your family.
You do not know how much I needed to read this post and comments today. Last night I was carrying my 14 month old and he wiggled from my arms and fell. I totally lost it and was a wreck. I blamed myself for being a bad mother, my job it to protect my son and I feel like I failed. My husband calmed our son down and told me to get it together. I did and we watched to make sure he was fine. He was back to his normal self within 10 minutes. Put him down for bed and I have never prayed as hard as I did last night. I hardly slept and when I heard him stir I jumped to check on him. I actually took him into the spare bed to cuddle with him and watch him sleep. He woke up this morning like normal and was his usual trouble making self. I also like the quote your pastor said and that will be put in the memory bank. Thank you again for posting your experience so we Moms don’t feel alone
Sweet Marianne, I am so sorry about what happened to your little buddy, but so thankful that God brought you to my site when you needed it! May the Lord bless you with His peace and favor today.
I realize this is an older article, but I could not leave this page without commenting. My 5 month old fell off the bed last night when I got up to answer the door. I normally would never have left her sleeping there, but I was in a panic to put on my clothes and I FORGOT she was on the bed! I sincerely was thinking I had put her in the bassinet. 2 minutes later while in the living room with my neighbor, I heard THE THUD. This is the sort of thing I would previously have bad mouthed parents for doing. It has given me a sense of humbleness like no other. With all of the “child neglect” currently in the news, (the little boy and the gorilla, the 2 year old and the alligator), people want to last out, place blame and point fingers. This experience has given me a deeper understanding of what motherhood is about. I will never again speak negatively about a parent not watching their child closely enough. Yes, it’s true that some parents don’t (just take a trip to Walmart and look around), but accidents happen even to careful, diligent parents who love their children more than anything else on earth. I have learned so much from this experience. In each one of my bad experiences in life, this verse has held true:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28
My EIGHT DAY old baby and I were lying on the couch I fell asleep for a split second and jerked awake to also hear the awful thud. He had rolled off the couch and onto the floor in just that one second. My husband was angry with me for letting it happen, asking why I didn’t tell him to take the baby if I was tired. I felt horrible only to be made to feel worse by my husband. And if that’s not bad, when he was four months ago I was getting him out of his swing at 6 am he woke up very early and I put him in there after nursing him and fell back asleep on the couch next to him. So when he started crying again I woke and was delirious I think reached for him to pull him out of the swing, tripped and he rolled out of my arm onto the wood floor. Again, I cried for hours. Even days. He cried for two minutes…. I still feel guilty about those moments and he just turned two. He is perfectly healthy and as wild as they get.
4 days now and i feel like the earth is on me.so much heavyness
4.5 MONTHS NOW IM SO PROTECTIVE but it happend to me too.
I knew that she will fall,for that reason when i had houseworks or i need the bathroom i just put my baby down on the floor.ALWAYS ALWAYS.But i left her in my bed 😢😢 with pillows around her…and i went to bathroom for 2 sec…and i swear to God..one voice in my mind says me:go BACKKKKK
I saw her on tilled floor..from my high bed 😢😢😢😢 im crying…my angel is ok but im afraid so much.I think i need a doctor moreeee than my little baby.God bless all the babies and mine too
Julie,
Reading this made me feel a whole lot better. I was feeding my 7 month old in a high chair and I leave for a split second and she fell right down. I know accidents happen but when this did and she started to cry, I felt like my heart was being ripped from my chest. She’s quiet an active infant and I should’ve known better. Reading this post made me realize that it happens but not to allow it to ever happen again. Thank goodness, no trips to the ER. She’s sure one resilient little princess!
Thanks Again, this brought me comfort. <3
Oh my gosh I have been afraid to tell anyone thinking they would take my baby from me!! Last night my 6month old would not go to sleep! I rocked her from 9pm to 3 am and she would fall asleep and the second I’d lay her down she’d open her eyes and smile…after 5 times of that and hours of rocking in sick with a cold and exhausted this has been a struggle all week of her sleeping and I was rocking and rocking and I dozed off for a split second waking up to her rolling out of my arms to the floor..it’s soft carpet and not a far fall from my lap but I felt like the worst mother ever until reading this! I know it’s older but I had to comment it made me feel like I’m confessing my sins! Getting it out! Thank you so much for this post!
Hi Julie,
Thank you so much for this article. My baby is 6 months old. Yesterday he fell from our bed. I feel devastated, I’m still worried right now but your post makes me feel better.
Thank you again
This morning my baby fell from the changing table. I was on the last snap of his onesie after changing his diaper when he lunged forward so fast that we went head-first over the side. Somehow I managed to catch him by the ankle, but his cheek hit our diaper pail (which is stainless steel). He started crying and, hours later, I’m still choking back tears at work. I’ve never posted on a blog before, but want you to know that this post is everything I need right now.
Thank you so much for doing this post I been feeling so down today feeling like I can’t be the mom my children need i just drope my baby when coming down from the car because I was in such a rush to get my oldest sons invitions for his 8 bday thank you because God shows me he loves me through everything you wrote God bless!
I know this is old but thank you so much for this post, I really needed it. Last night, I fell asleep with my 3 month old on my chest, I was just so tired and I know she likes being held. I awoke hearing the thud and my baby crying, my arm loosened as I was sleeping and she rolled off of me and fell on her side on our hardwood floor. I picked her up and my husband calmed her but I completely lost it, I was wailing so loud I woke up our 4 year old in the next room. My husband told me I have to be calm for the kids sake and that no one is perfect. Our daughter was fine and smiling not even 2 minutes after the fall and she doesn’t even have a knot and is acting completely normal but I was and am still devastated. I am not even a first time mom, how could I let this happen? What if she has issues with her brain because of this? I am eaten up with guilt but reading this has let me know even more that God protects our precious babies. Trusting in God is all we can do in times like this. Thank you for reaffirming that for me.