Goose egg or big lumps on babies head.

What is a GooseEgg?

A small lump on the forehead of your baby’s head is called a goose egg. This term is very different and difficult for many parents to understand. Initially, you might not know about it but as your baby grows, you will certainly come across this term at least once in your parenting journey. Goose eggs are caused mainly due to head injury. These head injuries can be very small or severe depending on how the injury happened. After the injury, the injured part of the head develops a small red lump on the head. A lump is a slightly raised portion of the skin. The goose egg first comes out red and slowly after a few hours its color changes to brown and then black. This lump develops when there is damage to the blood vessels in that affected area.  There is no medical treatment needed for this kind of head injury.

They usually occur when your baby falls from bed, hits his forehead on the wall, harms himself with spoons or other things on the head, falls on the floor while trying to walk or run, and falls from the cradle or crib at night. You may have noticed that whenever your baby falls like this they cry a lot and go in a deep sleep just 5 to 10 minutes after the head injury. This is because they had a very big trauma on their head according to their age and their brain or head needs some rest to recover. I experienced this with my first baby when he was just 6 months old and he fell from the bed.

My Experience:-

It is also very traumatic to see your baby fall down and cry and you are not able to do anything. You curse yourself that it was your mistake to keep him on the bed or leave him alone like that. This happened to many parents and happened to me too. After my second baby was born, I became a little stronger and stopped blaming myself for everything that my kids did. You have to accept the fact that no matter how hard you try to keep your baby safe, there will always come a time when you will not be able to do anything and they will fall at some time or the other. And all these things make you more strong from inside. I know this is not easy to say but will feel the same after some point in your life.

I was also very careful with my baby. We lived in a nuclear family and it was my duty to take care of the baby 24/7 as my husband goes to the office every day. One fine day, I kept my 6-month-old baby on the bed as he slept. He likes to roll a lot in bed, so I put pillows all around him so that he won’t fall. After he slept, I went to the kitchen to eat my lunch. I thought he could wake up any minute, so I kept everything ready on my plate so that I could go to the bedroom and eat there beside my baby. As soon as I went into the kitchen, I heard a loud noise as if something had fallen down. I rushed to the bedroom to see if my baby was ok He had fallen from the bed, hitting his head and face on the floor. He was crying very loudly. The right side of his forehead had a big red lump. No one was there at home so I panicked as this was the first time he fell. I didn’t understand what to do or what would happen to the baby since he got hurt. I took him in my arms and I also started crying. I started breastfeeding him so that he could feel comfortable. Within 5 minutes he fell asleep. I thought he fainted as he was in a very deep sleep. Tried to wake him up by rubbing his ears and feet. He moved a bit. I felt relieved for a bit and immediately called my doctor.

The doctor told me that that lump would go away on its own within a few days. He told me to check for any dizziness and vomiting in the baby. He also told me to keep an eye on the baby when he is asleep. There should not be any breathing problems and he should not sleep more than 3 to  4 hours straight. I tried to wake my baby up in between to check if he was alright. His breathing was also normal. Initially, he was breathing very fast as he cried a lot.  Later everything settled down. His red lump slowly started turning brown in color. After he woke up, he was normal again. Thatswhy many elders tell us that when you have a small baby at home, you should not make them sleep in bed. They can sleep in a cot, crib, or on a mattress that is very low to the floor.

Treatment:-

1. Goose eggs or bumps on the head don’t require any medical treatment if they are small. They cure on their own as our bodies have the healing power.
2. If there is severe pain after the injury, you can apply ice cubes to that area to reduce pain.
3. Some people apply oil to the injured area.
4. Giving paracetamol to reduce the pain is not good for babies and kids under 3 years of age. If your doctor recommends to give, you can surely give.
5. Try to divert your baby’s mind so that he may not feel the pain by taking him outside, giving him his favorite toys, or candy, showing him cartoons, or giving him something very new.
6. If your baby faints, vomits, or gets seizures right after falling, then you must go to the doctor immediately. These signs tell that the injury is very severe and the nerve cells inside the head are damaged.
7. If there is any internal bleeding or bleeding from the nose, mouth, or ears after injury, then also you should go to the emergency room.
8. Severe head injuries only happen when your children fall from bikes, cars, house terraces, long stairs, and from a bed that is very high from the floor. So you shouldn’t worry if your baby falls from your normal bed, from the crib, from the swing, or while walking and running.

How to prevent bumps?

• Remove your normal bed and keep your mattress on the floor so babies will not get hurt too much if they fall by accident.
• If you want your baby to sleep separately, you can buy a cot or crib for him. It will keep him safe inside.
• If any sharp edges exist in your home’s furniture, like dining tables, tea poys, dressing tables, bed frames, sofa edges, and single frame mirrors, please cover them with a double cloth or plaster.
• If you have kids at home, try to buy round-edge furniture to avoid head injuries and head bumps.