(experience wanted)- who else has a child that could get injured standing still in a

[battlemaiden]

padded room?

 

I have one child in particular that in constantly getting injured! Everyday, throughout the day, I hear the screech of this 3yo's voice. She trips, falls, scrapes, bumps etc...

 

She isn't quite at Emergency Room status (although a couple of the cuts could have used a stitch or two). She is just covered with scrapes on all knees and elbows and she has bruises all over. Her vision is fine. Between her intensity, her general ability to leave a wake of destruction, and now this injury streak, I'm begging for input.

 

Is it because she is so intense? Is it because she is the second youngest of six? Is it because I'm not monitoring her enough?

 

Thanks.

 

Jo

[Crissy]

Sounds like my younger sister. She was *always* getting hurt.

We believe it was due to the fact that she tried to keep up with our older brother.

[AudreyTN]

My dd7 has always been like this. She can be standing still and just "trip" How? I have no clue.

 

 

[Hen]

My second daughter was like this, partly probably to keep up with older sister (by 18 months ) who does everything easily and well...

 

anyways, dd was always falling, tripping, you name it. She finally started to get timid and afraid to try things I think because of all the falling, so we put her into gymnastics for about 9 months and it gave her confidence and a measure of grace.. I was glad we did it. That was really the only reason we put her in a class, she was about 3 or 4 at the time, it was a little kids class, no pressure, lots of sumersaults, jumping on trampoline, walking a balance beam.

[Sue G in PA]

Sounds like my ds5. One day he was sitting at the table eating his lunch and the next second he was on the floor! He just, sort of, fell! We all just stared at him trying desperately not to laugh at this kid on the floor. He started crying, of course, so we had to stifle those laughs. Another time he was honestly just walking from the table to the kitchen and tripped over what looked like a pencil on the floor (only thing nearby larger than a speck of dust!). Then there is my dd11...very accident proned. She will also just sort of trip over nothing or find the ONLY think in the room to bump into, etc.

[Sophia]

# 3 and # 6 are both like this in my family.

 

# 3 (dd) began visiting the e.r. at around 18 mos., and thankfully now keeps her injuries at a safer (?) level.

Ds is now 21 mos. and has yet to visit the e.r., but just tonight, I commented to dh "Look at ds's face-there's bruises all over it".

 

What's kind of funny is that they both have an amazing pain tolerance.

Neither one of them will cry over a fall or bump that would instantly reduce my other dc to tears.

 

Intense?

 

Dh and I both have often said our dd "lives out loud".

You better believe she's intense!

Ds looks like he's going to be following in his big sis's footsteps.

 

Dh and I pray alot :-).

[Vida Winter]

when she was between the ages of 5-11 she could be literally sitting in a chair and end up falling on the floor. She is a lot better now (13) but still plays rough and gets a lot of bumps and scrapes.

 

Dana

[Lolly]

We put her in water and she absolutely took off. Not so much to run into in a pool. She is, literally, a champion swimmer. She is now 13 and still runs into doors as she is walking through them, trips up the stairs, and finds every corner to hit, and bumps into walls. I have noticed it is worse when she is growing. She just can't seem to figure out where her arms and legs are when they lengthen. :)

[Bee]

So far no injuries bad enough to send her to the emergency room but bumps and bruises and I don't know how many times she has fallen out of a chair,bed or off the couch.She's also a very intense child,always active,never stops moving or talking.She's quite graceful in the water (like Lolly's daughter) but she has swam into the side of the pool more than once.

[Karen sn]

I once read that magnesium (or maybe it was manganese) helps kids who don't have a clue where they are in space. The kids who trip over nothing and get hurt all the time seem to me to not really have a good feel for where their body parts are in relation to the world around them. I can't remember where I read it - Adelle Davis maybe? I will look today and see if I can find it. I'll get back with ya this afternoon.

[Lizzie in Ma]

In fact, other parents joke that if my dd is on an outing then theirs won't get hurt.

An extreme example. She put one foot in front of the other wrong on her 8th birthday and managed to fall doing it and snapped both arm bones! Walking!!!!!!

Other than that she is always banging into things that she knows are there, tables, chairs, door jambs. I think she just lives at full speed.

[stephanie]

padded room?

 

I have one child in particular that in constantly getting injured! Everyday, throughout the day, I hear the screech of this 3yo's voice. She trips, falls, scrapes, bumps etc...

 

She isn't quite at Emergency Room status (although a couple of the cuts could have used a stitch or two). She is just covered with scrapes on all knees and elbows and she has bruises all over. Her vision is fine. Between her intensity, her general ability to leave a wake of destruction, and now this injury streak, I'm begging for input.

 

Is it because she is so intense? Is it because she is the second youngest of six? Is it because I'm not monitoring her enough?

 

Thanks.

 

Jo

 

Yes, I have a ds12 who is exactly the same. He will trip over the air. Daily he gets injured and it's always some freak accident that would never happen to anyone else. He has SPD and we have recently had an evaluation by an OT. It's like he's not aware of his body in space. He's always bumping into walls, and people as he passes them. If you post on the special needs board you will get a good response. There are a lot of moms over there who can chime in on this if it could maybe be something more. HTH

[Laurel]

You're definitely not alone. The only reason the 2 1/2 year old has not been to the ER yet is because his dad is a doctor. Otherwise, he would have had to go twice - for a big gash on his face, under his eye, and a huge gash in the back of his head.

He also has a knack for running around directly underfoot, so people run into him all the time. He walks/runs into walls. He is a master climber - he scales the shelves in his closet, and makes his way to the top bunk. He runs around with his hands in his pockets, and then when he falls he doesn't have his hadn to protect him, so lands on his face.

He's pretty resilient, and takes everything in stride. (My favorite thing, though, is when he falls, he comes over to give me a hug, as if to make sure I'm still there, and then runs back off - usually falling once or twice on the way. So sweet...)

[Cindy in FL.]

Yes! My 8 yo was that way. Thankfully he has outgrown most of it. We used to joke that he couldn't walk across a room without getting hurt.

 

Cindy

[Ellie]

He was one of the few children I have known who was *truly* hyperactive (terrible birth experience was probably the culprit there). He was in constant motion, even when he was asleep--he was wrapped like a mummy in his bedclothes every morning.

 

Happily, he managed to grow up:) He was a star football player in high school, even though he was only 5'9", because he was scrappy, lol (he was offered a football scholarship but knew those college guys would stomp him into the ground). So he became a pastor instead :)

 

I don't think it's her birth order. I think she just came that way :-)

[momo4]

"Is it because she is so intense? Is it because she is the second youngest of six? Is it because I'm not monitoring her enough?"

 

Yes, to all of the above. My 4th is just like this, I am ready to call the sweet little one scar face. Thankfully he will have lots of years to heal his scars. He is my most intense, the youngest of 4 boys, and there is just no way I can monitor him like I did the first. Although, I don't really think monitoring would make much difference, I am sometimes there when it happens and there isn't much I could have done.

 

I console myself with thoughts of what a dynamic adult he is going to be. AND watch him the best I can.

 

Momo

[Tressa]

Yes, I do. My youngest is always getting hurt. He knocked out his tooth when he was 3. We have been to the ER for stitches. Lots of little things, too. My son has balance issues, but I think that he would be that way even if he didn't. Sometimes I just think he is in a hurry. :)

 

You could talk to his doctor at a normal checkup if you are really concerned. There are exercises that can improve balance.

[HomeOnTheRanch]

We have one. He has sensory integration issues, so we've been working on that and the injuries seem to have lessened.

[GothicGyrl]

You know how Calvin(of Hobbes fame) was always getting "attacked" by his bike?

 

That was me. And it still is. 35 years old and I can stand perfectly still and fall down. I trip over my own two feet. If there is one wall in the house on the opposite side of said house, I WILL hit it. From the other side. I simply cannot walk like a normal person, not get a bruise, not fall, it just isn't in my vocabulary :)

 

I still cannot ride a bike or skate. But like someone else's daughter, put me in water and I take off. Funnily enough, I CAN dance.

[Robin Hood]

One of my dds SEEMS like she gets hurt more, but I think it's just an attention thing. I have tried to ignore her knowing that although the pain could be certainly felt, that any injury is minor, and the more I ignore, the louder the cries. My dh and I have to snuff our own giggles it is so humorous. Most of the time I tell her to "cowgirl up", that 9yos don't need to cry like that. But......

 

I was amazed just after Christmas. My other 9yodd is a dare devil and my main occupation in life has been to keep her alive. She has never had a serious injury yet but has had a few close calls with death - I am serious - but no injuries. The "Crier" is ever so cautious and hysterically loud at the slightest fall or bump. She took a jump off some stairs on my cousin's porch while visiting and landed badly. The cry was so different that I knew it was broken. A trip to the ER confirmed my suspicion. The careful and cautious "Crier" does seem to get more cuts and abrasions and the death defying dare devel mostly grits her teeth and keeps going for it.

[Jennifer in MI]

My dd has this issue because she has Sensory processing disorder and doesn't know where she is in space. It's really frustrating at times:cool: but we hope her new occupational therapy will help.

 

 

My ds who is always hurting himself has this too. We went to an occupational therapist for a while and then I realized that many of the things she was doing with him, I could just do at home. It was good to find out that there was a reason!

 

My ds is now 11 and he can ride all the biggest roller coasters and spin and never get dizzy or sick. He actually CRAVES this type of activity and is better when he gets it. My dad built him a spinning thing out of a heavy duty lazy susan. He can play on that for hours and not get dizzy!

 

I hope you find what works for you!!!

[Lady Katherine]

My 13yo can. But I think it's because he's grown six inches in the last year.

[Stirsmommy]

Oh both of my ds are this way. The oldest had to remove a splinter the size of a toothpick from his foot the other day. I watched it happen and I still don't get it. Sadly I know exactly where they get it from... ME. I still run into walls and the newel post on my stairs has left a permanent bruise on my right bicep. For me I am just a klutz. I honestly just don't pay attention; I am to focused on my own thought to pay attention to details like where the door way is. I am the sort of person who does best if focused on the task of getting up the stairs but I rarely do that so we call the procedure falling up the stairs around here. Dd is far more grounded and although she ends of with freak accidents they aren't common.

Melissa

[Michelle T]

It amazes me how he hurts himself just sitting still. Well, actually he's never quite sitting still. He is endlessly fidgeting and moving around, and seems to just bump and hurt himself all the time. His legs are covered with bruises, even his pediatrician was amazed!

Michelle T

[cricket1178]

who just spent all day Thurs. at the hospital. Her ds fell on his sister and broker her arm, then later that evening he slipped on the ice and broke his collar bone!

[Denise in IN]

Is it because she is so intense? Is it because she is the second youngest of six?

 

Yes. and Yes.

 

My ds3 is like this. I've dubbed it "third boy syndrome" - always on the go, getting great ideas about what to do by watching the older sibs, and always trying to keep up. Not such a great combination...I'm hoping it gets a little better as he gets older (a girl can dream, right?). :o

 

Hang in there, ((Jo)).

[Lisa in Jax]

I haven't read all of the replies, so pardon me if this has already been suggested, but... have you considered that she might have issues with sensory integration? My dd from India falls of her chair at the dinner table at least once a week. She has very little sense of her body in space, and her movements are often too big for the activity. I think she has some issues with SID, and we'll be getting an eval soon.

 

HIH,

 

Lisa

[Sparkle]

My oldest dd is like this. She seems to be outgrowing it somewhat. I think dance classes helped her. Her nickname for a while was "Injury Girl". The other dc had nicknames like "Super Boy". She was Injury Girl, though, 'cause it seemed that a day never went by without her getting a new scrape or bruise.

[Kathy in MD]

where his body was in space and also helped him with his inner ear balance problems. Some good sports to follow up on OT are martial arts, swimming and horseback riding.

 

I, on the other hand, was a klutz when I hit my puberty growth spurt.

[mcconnellboys]

Not much help, maybe, but I seriously considered wrapping my youngest in bubble wrap and buying a cute helmet he could wear around all day.....

 

Regena