12-Month Baby Fell Off Bed And Got Injured – Child Abuse Accusation!

A baby fell off the bed, got injured, and the doctor involved the CPS (Child Protective Services). The parents are facing a child abuse accusation after their baby fell. 

Read about the situtation and the mom’s question here.

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Mom’s Question:

My 12-month baby fell off the bed (around 18 in high) to the matted ground when my wife and I were several steps away. He cried right away and started vomiting 4 or 5 minutes later, though he was fine without any external injury. During the next 12 hours, he vomited several times during this period. So we went to the hospital, and the doctor ordered a CAT scan of his head and found a bruise at the edge of the brain.

The pediatrician said there will be no long-term impact on his brain, but they got the CPS involved and accused us of child abuse, and removed our baby from us. Their reason is that they do not believe such a fall will cause this injury. So now we are really in a suffering situation.

Has anyone on this forum ever heard of similar cases? I mean falling off a bed at such a height and getting a similar injury? Any information is appreciated.

BTW, we suspect his vomiting may quite likely be to his bad digestive system at that time period because he just had diarrhea and fever after his 12-month vaccination, which was just 3 or 4 days before his fall.

We have dedicated all our efforts, mentally and financially, to our baby and just got into this miserable thing. Any information is appreciated.

Child Abuse Accusation After Baby Fell

I understand you are going through a very tough time, and I can only offer you a few pieces of advice, but I hope they help you!

First, when a baby sustains an injury to the head, they vomit a lot. This is just a typical sign of a head injury.

Second, as for a fall not being able to cause that type of injury. I would have to see the injury to be sure of its location and the object that your child hit after falling but bruising to the brain actually is caused by an object hitting someone’s skull OR someone’s skull hitting a hard object, which means it is highly probable that one can sustain this bruising to the brain by falling and their head hitting a very hard object/surface.

In my opinion, it is invalid for CPS to say that this type of bruising cannot be caused by a fall because it very likely can be.

The only thing that seems to be in question here is the height she fell from. If she only fell from 1ft, then it is not likely it would result in this type of injury, but with enough force driving her towards the ground (i.e., a roll onto the floor), a fall from about 2ft may very likely have caused it.

I cannot say whether CPS is completely right or wrong if I am not there to asses the full situation, but if you obtain a good lawyer and fight against CPS allegations to regain custody of your child, bring pictures and anything you can to prove this was merely an unfortunate accident.

I wish you the most luck with regaining custody of your child. I hope this helps a little bit, and I wish I had more!

Paula

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More Babies That Fell

• Baby Vomiting After Fall: Why and What to Do About It
• Baby Fell Off The Bed: 10 Injury Warning Signs, What To Do
• Toddler Fell Off The Couch And Eyes Rolled Back – ER?

Paula Dennholt

Paula Dennholt founded Easy Baby Life in 2006 and has been a passionate parenting and pregnancy writer since then. Her parenting approach and writing are based on studies in cognitive-behavioral models and therapy for children and her experience as a mother and stepmother. Life as a parent has convinced her of how crucial it is to put relationships before rules. She strongly believes in positive parenting and a science-based approach.

Paula cooperates with a team of pediatricians who assist in reviewing and writing articles.