When your baby or toddler falls do you immediatley rush to them and baby them or not?

Question

My daughter is 7 months old and learning to pull her self up and crawl. She goes from the sitting position and then face plants into the carpet sometimes. So the first time she did this I of course picked her up and cuddled her, etc you know the routine.

And someone told me to next time try not to react to her falling and see if she crys.

Sure enough she fell and she cried for maybe 3 seconds she looked at me and I pretended I wasnt looking and then she started cracking up laughing. So I laughed with her.

Now we have been doing this for days.

What do you think. Do you think allowing your baby to fall is showing them that they just need to brush themselves off and try again or is this teaching them this moral too early.

By the way I also have a 7 yr old who I babied soooooo bad he was my first and I never ever let him fall I always was right behind him when he was walking people used to make fun of me. Sure enough now at 7 every time he gets a little scrape or bumps into a wall etc. He is crying. I have created a little monster

Answer 1

My kids where the brush yourself off and try again type. My daughter has allowed my 2 year old Grandson to be babied -crying and it's just not the small boo hoo, it's a full screaming fit. You'd think he was missing a body part. When he comes to our house my two oldest sons rough house with him and now he "plays" stunt man. We laugh at him and he has toughened up. *Now we have caught him trying to climb a tree and the back yard fence. We live in the country, so it's not like he's going to be in the street. I don't dare tell my daughter she would freak out.

Answer 2

When my son was a baby most of the time I would go check on him. I would lift him up and hug him for a second then set him back on his feet and let him go on his way. He is two now and I only go to him if he fell really hard or hit his head on the edge of a table or something. Usually I just let him get up and quit crying on his own.

Answer 3

I havent had my baby yet (21 weeks) but I have plenty of siblings and nephews and cousins do this, and as soon as I would see them crash I ran over to them to swoop them up. I cant stand the sight of a loved one getting hurt, I swear I would try to catch my big 26 yr ols brother f I could..but I just dont like to hear a baby cry either. But I will have to say that the last time I went to help my mom watch my nephews they wanted to cry over everything (they are only 2, 3, 4) and at first I wanted to nurture them any way possible and stop the crying, but then after several hours of it, I was like okay mom I am tired of them crying over everything...so instead of being sensitive aunt Jessie to ''stop crying now...come on..shhh, hush it'' of course in a nice kid way. I adore my nephews but they are all spoiled, so just in a few hours I got sick of it. So I know I will do it to my little girl at first but I will calm down and do what you did, once they see you are not going to rescue them, they are like, ''what the heck...oh well I am not hurt so yeah what else can I do to get attention, I know I will laugh''...and it makes it all better...LOL

But you did good, now you need to have your hubby teach the oldest how to be a big boy and not cry (over the little stuff) and how to get a washcloth and bandade and do it himself like a big boy should.

Good Luck with that.

Answer 4

I know that it might be better for her in long run not to make a big deal out of falling each time, and as my son has grown (he's 2 now) I try really hard not to, BUT ... as a mom, I just can't help myself. I think its okay (and important, actually) to show her that you're there for her and that you want to make her feel better. However, it sounds like you two are both happy with what you're doing, and that's what's important.  

Answer 5

Kids are quick to learn what gets attention. My 2 yr old daughter knows that her grandmothers will give a major reaction to the sound of her coughing/choking so now she does this all the time as a joke - but only to them. She knows I don't buy it and i tell her it's not nice to do but as soon as I'm gone she's tormenting grandma again. ( I know that if there is sound there is air so if i sense she's not joking I calmly coach her to take the offending food out etc.)

She was the same way about falling but now thanks to my husbands 'no blood no foul' she will fall, look at her knee, see no blood and say 'no foul' and go back to playing. :)

I think my mother in law thinks we're too hands off but my daughter's turning out to have a good sense of when it's a boo boo that just needs a kiss vs. first aid treatment so I think we're doing ok.

Answer 6

Well then you answered your own question

The only thing that would give you a reason to rush to her side is if she is in a dangerous situation (stairs,door,car ex.) Also if she does fall only go to her side if she is bleeding or if she cries for over 5 minutes in that case something could be wrong but considering her age she should only be like 2 feet so she can't get hurt if you keep her out of the danger zones. Kitchen, Bathroom, stairwells. good Luck with your seven year old

Answer 7

i agree..... as long as its nothing too bad where she could really hurt herself then i would nt rush to her and let her cry

i have a 7 years old too, but i didnt baby him i would either laugh and say whoops, or say awk ur ok get up if it was really bad i would pick him up and giv him a cuddle like

and now if he hurts himself jhe jsut gets up and carries on or if he does hurt himself he trys and trys not to cry until maybe its too bad and he does...

so unless it is bad i say to let them get on with it

hope this helps

xxxx