Zaa's First Fall | Tips to handle babies

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I remember when Zaa was 5 months old and I was using a rocker for her, for the first time. My friend had lent the rocker to me and then decide if I needed one for us. When I put my baby in the rocker, I could see her gentle smile and the happiness in her eyes. Brimming with joy I carried the rocker to another room to see how we both would manage. However, I wasn't aware that the rocker has a lock beneath it which is supposed to be fastened before carrying it around. If it is not locked, it keeps rocking and carrying it would flip the baby upside down. Unknowingly, I happily carried the rocker and in a fraction of second the rocker flipped and Zaa hit the ground hard, her head hitting the tiles!;

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She screamed and began crying. It was her first fall. I was a new mother and all alone at home (cons of being in a nuclear family). I had never seen Zaa crying so hard and turning red with the screaming. Almost on impulse I picked her up and hugged her tight, my hands were shivering with fear; given the impact of the fall she was obviously not ready to calm down and I broke into a sweat

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Tears welling in my eyes and a wailing baby in hand, I began to wonder: What will my family say to me? How will my husband react? What do I do now? I panicked and called my elders. They panicked too. Then, someone knocked on the door and I rushed to open it. It was my masseuse (malish wali) who is old and experienced. As soon as I saw her, I heaved a sigh of relief and told her about the incident. She sensed me shivering. To my surprise, she reacted badly. She started yelling at me - Are you mad? How could you be so careless! You are a mother, you made the child fall? What if she gets mentally affected? You are insane! At this point, I couldn’t hold back my tears and I was red out of guilt. I didn't know if my baby was ok due to the fall. What if she was hurt internally? How would I know that? All such questions started haunting me, but I had no courage to ask anyone. However, I was lucky that my husband took the incident quite calmly and didn't overreact

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I then managed to know all of the basic facts , from my pediatrician. Here are the basic pointers she told me to keep in mind when the baby falls

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1. Always check the part of the baby's body that was hit after the fall

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2. If it's bleeding, try to stop the bleeding and rush to the doctor. If it's not bleeding, then try massaging with an ice cube or cold-water bag to avoid the bump

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3. Try to soothe the baby as they cry. The sudden shock from the fall scares them. I thought Zaa cried because she was unbearable pain due to the fall!

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4. The best way to check if the baby is fine and has no internal injuries is to breastfeed. If the baby denies the feed and does not stop crying, then you need to see the doctor. But if they accept the feed, then everything is fine. Also, breastfeed is the best way to calm a scared and wailing baby

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I was relieved and slept peacefully that night after speaking to my pediatrician. Motherhood is surely the greatest institution to keep learning :)

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