Here is my son's normal sleep schedule:
Wake up at around 9:30am
Go down for a nap at around 1:30pm
Wake up from nap at around 4:30pm
Go to bed at around 10:30pm
So yesterday, he woke up about a half hour early. No big deal, but by nap time he was a crabby little boy. Of course at about 1:25pm he fell backwards and caught the lower back of his head/upper neck on the corner of the coffee table (I was grabbing his pillow and blanket and walked back in the room just as it happened, so I saw everything but was unable to stop him). There was a red bump where he hit, but no bleeding. He didn't lose consciousness. He cried for a couple of minutes but then went back to playing. His pupils were the same size as normal. He was walking and talking fine.
Since it was so close to his nap time I called my doctors office and asked if it was okay to let him sleep or if I should keep him up. They told me to keep him awake for about 2 hours and then if he was still acting fine it should be okay. Well, he was a tired crabby monster for those two hours but was still acting pretty normal so I let him nap. He napped from 3:30pm to 6:pm. So he slept an hour less than he normally does, but the time was only an hour and a half later than normal.
I expected him to not want to go to bed at 10:30 and didn't push the issue. I started to get tired at 11:30 so that's when I started trying to get him to go to sleep. Now normally he goes to sleep pretty easy... Pillow, blanket, sippy of water, favorite stuffed monkey, and mommies lap is all it takes and he'll be out in about 5-10 minutes. Nothing I did last night could make this kid go to sleep! He was yawning so I know he was tired. He wasn't fighting to go play. He just sat in my arms, wide awake, watching TV (I normally have the TV on while trying to put him to sleep so that I can watch it, so this is nothing new to him. As long as it's a "grown up show" he's not interested). At 1am, I brought him to bed with me and tried laying down with him in there. Nope. Now he wanted to play peek-a-boo with the blankets and dig through daddy's nightstand drawer. He was up until 2:30am!!! Then this morning he woke me up at 8:30am (So an hour early than usual) and he is wide awake! I can barely keep my eyes open. And of course it's hubbies turn to sleep in (I get tomorrow morning, and I am looking forward to it so much at this point that I wish it was nighttime already so that I could go back to bed).
So anyways, I know that you are supposed to be concerned for increased sleep after a head injury but are you supposed to be concerned for the opposite of that? He's acting completely fine otherwise.
It does sound like his schedule is messed up. It was funny when you said you were tired waking up at 8:30 - to me that is sleeping in LOL.
I actually just took a concussion training class a few days ago. Increased sleepiness is the standard symptom, but they are discovering that slight changes in sleep pattern or even insomnia can be a symptom of a head injury.
They told us that when a student suffers a head injury to let them rest in a semi-dark room. Sensitivity to light is also a symptom of a head injury. Let them decide how much sleep is needed or not needed. They should also be kept from any inside or outside activity where they could re-injure themselves.
I would give it another day or two for his body to return to normal. If the sleep patterns are still off, you should call his doctor to see if they want to take a look.
Bump on the head I have always followed this never let them sleep if they fall asleep suddenly head to the ER or call the pediatrician they will also tell you to head to the ER so might aswell go without wasting the extra minutes talking to the nurse.For some reason my husband and I give a sucker.It helps calm them down so fro we can apply ice and check them over it takes their mind off what happened.
I think his schedule is messed up and it should right itself when you get back on track. If he had any head injury, it would have shown up by now. You did the right thing by contacting the doctor but the time for a problem is past. You can't tell about the extent of a head injury by looking at the size of the bump - but pupils of equal size, coherent speech, normal behavior all indicate the absence of a problem. An extra hour here and there is the result of the schedule problem.
Sounds like he's just off his schedule, cranky, and over tired.
Just get him back on schedule and he should be fine. Nothing I've read indicates that trouble sleeping is a sign of brain injury. If he's been able to stay up all day, you're out of the woods on that issue (plus doesn't sound like he had any other signs of concussion), now you've just got to deal with getting him back on track.
Good luck, mama.
Megan C is correct. I recently suffered a concussion and developed hyperactivity. The Dr. said it would be about 3 months before the brain would shift back to it's position and in the meantime the symptoms I was suffering from.......odd hours of sleep, light sensitivity, perhaps my ears would ring now and again and I'd experience a sensation of "being on a boat". ......were part of the head trauma. I had to take it easy and once I was examined and in the clear, Dr. said to sleep and not watch TV. I had to relax my brain and let it heal. I'd give his ped a call and double check.
He just got off schedule is all. Good luck tonight i find it usually takes a day or two to get mine back on schedule once they fall off of it.
I do not think the bump on the head is related to the sleep issue. I was always extra cautious about head injuries because you can not always tell if they are really okay. Signs to look for are nausa, headache, dialated pupils, but nausa is the big one. Kids get bumps on the head all the time and most of the time they are fine. The rule of thumb is to wake them every 2 hours the first night. If they wake up fine, and they have no nausa, they are fine.
His sleep issue is probably because his schedule got off track yesterday.
He sounds fine. He woke up late from his nap (6pm) so I bet that is why he didn't want to sleep. My daughter was like that when she was younger. If she went off her schedule at all, she was up all night. I bet by tomorrow he is back on his regular schedule. Good luck and I hope you get to sleep in tomorrow!
Sounds like he's over tired! I would try and get him back on schedule ASAP! It's hard when they are crabby!
He's just off schedule. Do your best to try for a normal nap-time today and bedtime tonight. I bet he's back to normal tomorrow.
