Good rule of thumb for toddler injuries?

Question

So my son is 16 months and of course extremely active. He is bumping into things constantly and falling all over the place. I do my best to prevent serious injury but bumps and bruises are just part of toddler hood. 
My question is if anyone has a good rule of thumb for head bumps. If I took my son in every time he bonked his head I would live at the ER but the past two days he has fallen pretty hard and it resulted in two pretty nice sized bumps. He was fine 30 seconds after I picked him up and running and acting completely normal. 
For future reference, when is it a good idea to take them in and when is it not a big deal? Second boy due any day now and I feel like this will be good general info to have 😂

Answer

The instructions that my first aid/CPR instructor (also a retired EMT and local coroner) said that many serious brain injuries that result from falls or sports may not be detected at the ER until a minimum of 24 hours later. He suggests the normal precautions, like checking eye dilation to check for concussion, and to watch for any severe drowsiness, lethargy, or change in speaking patterns. His suggestion for falls is, after doing major checks like the ones listed to check for immediate injury, when they do lay down, put a white towel under their head. Check them every hour and make sure they will still wake up, and check the towel they’ve been sleeping on. If there is any blood or clear fluid that has leaked from their ear, take them in immediately. If not, check them again the next hour. I think he said for smaller falls, do this for 12-24 hours. For more major falls, do so for at least 48 hours.

Answer

If you were to call the nurse line, they would say just to monitor him if he’s acting normally, walking normally, not vomiting, and his pupils are the same size and react to light.

Answer

If it forms a goose egg and they are acting normal, they are fine. If they start acting funny, especially drunk, and/or their skull caves in take them in immediately. Don’t let them nap right away, wait for awhile, because you could miss symptoms. Kids are tough and it takes a pretty hard bump to do any real damage, especially at that age.

Answer

My daughter who is 16 months is the same way. We just keep her up and awake for 2 hours after the fall, unless she has a pump knot. If the pump knot doesn’t come out after putting ice on it that’s when we know to take her. Because it’s not swelling out and it could possibly be swelling in.

Good rule of thumb for toddler injuries?

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