Toddler Headache After Head Injury - Do I Worry?

Updated on September 25, 2006
S.B. asks from Lewisville, TX
6 answers

Two weeks ago, my 2 1/2 year old son dove into a window sill and ended up with a huge gash in his forehead that required stitches. At the ER, they did a CAT scan and it came back okay. Starting last week, my son has been running a low-grade fever (99-100) and has also been complaining that his head hurts. I really thought he meant his injury, but last night, he was in the middle of playing and just stopped, grabbed his head, and started screaming and crying - he was inconsolable for about 15 minutes. I was able to give him some Tylenol and he calmed down and fell asleep in my arms - slept straight through till this morning and woke up without any complaints (but he's really too young to answer the questions so it's hard to know how he really feels.)

Needless to say, I'm alarmed and have thought of a thousand things it could be from just a cold to West Nile, but I'm also linking it back to his head injury. I have an appointment this afternoon with his doctor - and I want to make sure she doesn't blow me off as an overreacting parent - does anyone have any experience with this? A head injruy followed by headaches? Any advice for me? Anyone else have toddlers that had a contiuous headache?

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So What Happened?

Thank you to all of you that let me know I wasn't overreacting! Thankfully, the doctor agreed - she is very concerned - and we are still watching him. I have had to chart all of his activities for the past week - sleeping, eating, etc. - we did xrays to see if it was sinus related - it is not - he still says his head hurts (but this is a toddler - who knows if it still hurts or if he's going off of the memory that it used to hurt), so we are looking at an MRI. Our doctor is pretty sure he did receive a mild concussion, and now we're going to check out if it did any swelling of his brain, or maybe it just triggered a migraine (they run in my family) - if it turns out to be something very serious, you can bet I will be posting to let you mamas know and be on the lookout for your own kids. Again, thanks to everyone for the concern. SO glad to know I'm not alone!

More Answers

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D.A.

answers from Dallas on

Hi S.. I have a 2 1/2 yr old son also -- these boys really know how to make a momma's heart stop, don't they! Although we've been to the ER twice in the last year, it was never b/c of a head injury, so I do not have specific experience with that. BUT, if at any time, for any reason, my child started screaming and crying out of the blue and seemed to be in serious pain, I would be very concerned, and would certainly take him to the doctor asap. You ARE NOT over-reacting, and don't let anyone convince you that you are! :) If your doctor doesn't seem too concerned, but you're still concerned or unsure, I'd even go so far as to get a 2nd opinion. Trust your Mommy Insticts, and know that you are your child's best advocate! Good luck to you!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

K.C.

answers from Dallas on

S.-
I have 18 mo. olds that have had a couple of good nosedives each (only one ended up in the ER). I've always kind of watched to see if they seemed "headachey" for a while after, and so far they haven't. I don't think you are overreacting at all, though, and if he's never acted like this with a headache before I think the timing is awfully coincidental. I wouldn't rest 'til I had answers, for sure. Make sure you're comfortable with the amount of testing - or whatever - they do before you go home. Good luck and hang in there. I am with you, though. Every time one of them gets hurt I think I'm going to have a heart attack!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

B.S.

answers from Dallas on

Just worried about your little Superman. How is his head? What did the doctor say? Please update us when possible.

Best wishes!

L.A.

answers from Dallas on

When it's the health of your child, you can't overreact. I would take him in immediately. The post about the brain bleeding can happen with head injuries. Better safe then sorry!

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

I.

answers from Dallas on

Like Dena said, if a child starts screaming out of the blue, you better have to check it out. Because that's not something they fake. It's always so hard when they are to small to tell you.

How did it go at the doctor?

I.

Smallavatar-fefd015f3e6a23a79637b7ec8e9ddaa6

M.F.

answers from Dallas on

Just make sure he gets a thorough exam to make sure there's nothing crazy like bleeding in the brain. Though you'd have been back to the ER by now for something like that, it seems.
Be sure to tell her of the head-holding incident.

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