Flipping Your Child?

well, if that were true my kids, nieces, friends children, and the little girl I nannied would be dead. Never heard that before, sounds like an "old wives" tale to me.
L.

lol, that is funny. . . the crazy stuff people think! If that is true my kid would have had her liver shoot out her mouth a long time ago! Upside hanging happens on a pretty regular basis around here. To not upset gramps, I would just smile and nod and try and not hang kiddo upside down in his presence. No use trying to "school" him--he means well.

My dad did it to us, I do it to my DD... I don't think it's a big deal if you are just playing... now if you were hanging him upside down for minutes at a time, I would be worried. lol.

Shaken baby is caused by the brain sloshing against the skull. Frontal brain slosh being the most common, and 2nd most damaging. It can be caused by jouncing them too hard on your knee, shaking them back and forth -usually out of anger/frustration, lobbing them into the air and onto a bed (especially repeatedly), running up and down the stairs while holding an infant or young child... but NOT from just turning them upside down, flipping them around, or any other FLUID motion (tossing a child into the air and catching them doesn't usually fall into the "danger" category, because it's a fluid motion - circular... if you caught them with straight elbows so they jerked it would fall into that category... but their neck and ribs would also break from that kind of impact.) The reason why lofting them onto a bed can cause shaken baby syndrome is the sudden stop at the end of the arc. Try it yourself (we're more solidly built). Leap into the air and onto the bed. Even though there is *some* give -depending on the bed- it's still a very sudden stop... and as adults -and older children- know to tense and curl up as we land... very young children land all flang dang and relaxed.

If the motion you're talking about is the one I'm thinking of (I used to do something similar with my toddler - it's almost like dunking them... not a violent yanking up and down)... and it's fine.

In RARE cases, can organs detach? Sure. In rare cases their bones can break merely by holding them (glass bones), or if the scratch themeselves they'll bleed to death (hemophilia/xmas disease). But in an ordinary healthy toddler? No. Or every toddler who ever did gymnastics, or who hung upside down from the monkey bars, or who was picked up by their feet by a parent (most of us have) would have detached livers.

Note: A far bigger concern is their ARMS dislocating at the shoulders (from spinning) easily fixed by making them keep their elbows bent. (You can't have 'loose' shoulders while keeping your elbows flexed... try it for fun). BUT you were holding him by his ankles. The joint where the femur meets the hip is the *strongest* joint in the entire body. The femur nearly *always* breaks before that bone will dislocate. Which is pretty cool. The only people -usually- who can dislocate their hips before the bone breaks are infants (under 1 year) and gymnasts who have spent years over stretching those tendons and ligaments. As a matter of fact the "gramma broke her hip" usually isn't her hip... it's the tip of the femur inside the hip socket.

So relax momma. You're fine.

If that were true we'd all be dead LOL!

We have 1-year olds in our gymnastics classes and 3-year olds that go upside down all the time. Never heard of one having any organs detach, and I've been teaching for 20 years.

You just want to be careful you don't jerk their arms or legs (can pull them out of the socket) and watch their head and neck.

Wow, must be an old wives' tale. My hubby is a physician and flips our 4 yr old just about daily. I doubt he'd do so if he knew of any concerns with the liver.

And your father got his medical degree from?
LOL.. Sounds like something my grandmother would have said.. you should have heard all of her medical advice.. She was always blessing herself and saying silent prayers (while her mouth moved) each time my father played with us like that..

Just humor him with "Oh really? Never heard of that before.. I will check that out., Thanks".

it's called the upside down machine at our house. Never heard of it causing trauma, but if you're that worried you can always talk to your doctor to ease your mind.

If that is true my son is in serious trouble ;) Just a wives tale, sorry you got so freaked out.

Shaking a toddler is dangerous (see shaken baby syndrome) but hanging upside down is harmless. All kids love that. We do it all the time, here.

As a kid, our family doctor would take sick babies by a leg and check if they tried to lift their heads back up, as sign of good health.

As stated below, bigger risk is to dislocate the shoulder when you lift your kids by the hands/arms. We never do this, always lift them by the underarms.

nope . It's an old wives tale.
I flip my kids all the time and both are fine.
No liver or brain injuries :)

Whoa, sounds like an old wives tale to me....I have never heard this before and I have alot of medical knowledge.

If you didn't find anything on google, chances are--he made it up and or wasn't comfortable with you doing that but didn't know how to tell you.

M

Oh boy! We have done this to all our kids! My dad did it to us all the time. Grandads and Grandmamas when they get a little older they get real protective when rough housing. My mom stills says "your hurting him" and really all we were doing is wrestling or even tickling she get her up and arms. So he will probably be just fine!

I have never heard of anything like that before. As long as you are careful, have fun.

I do it to my daughter all the time, my dad did the same to me, with no ill effects.

Oh boy.
When I was little, my dad used to turn me and my sister upside down all the time. We loved it! It never hurt us. A friend used to turn my daughter up and hold her by the ankles and gently swing her back and forth. "Tick tock, tick tock, you're a little time clock." She loved it and it never damaged her.
I think your son will be just fine and Grandpa was over reacting, but that's just my opinion.
You would know if you were being too rough with your child. If he was afraid or it was hurting him to play the "money" game, he would cry and you'd know.
Other kids will play way rougher than trying to shake change out of his pockets.

Best wishes.

Don't worry...i've never heard of a child dying from an upside down liver because he was hanging upside down. Grandpa just sounds cautious.

Sounds like an Old Wive's Tale to me. I'm sure the liver is tacked down pretty well. Even in other organs that we know can get twisted (ovaries, testicles, kidneys, etc.), it's not due to someone getting tipped upside down (or in any other direction).

never heard of it and that is a way daddies and big brothers play with the kids. as long as they are shaking gently not rough I let them do it.

Not true. Kids have been hanging upside down from monkey bars, older relatives hands etc. since time began.
He's still okay. And children over 3 years of age do yoga in yoga classes in upside down poses.
Tante L. the certified Yoga Teacher.

Everyone I know flips their kids.

Sounds like a "old wives tale" to me. My aunt always complained about not letting the blood rush to their heads...in other words, don't leave them upside down. You don't want to "shake" them but flipping upside down and a small shake should be fine.

some one in my family said something to me about it but it was not to flip the child before they are a year old other than that everything is ok

I wouldn't worry about it.

Hahaha, that is a good one. I have heard all kinds of old wives tales but never that one.
My daughter loves playing upside-down....