Minor Head Injury: How to Care for Your Baby

When a baby falls and gets bumped on the head, it can be scary for parents, especially if there's a lump or bruise on the head. Injuries to the skin covering the scalp often look serious because the scalp has many blood vessels that can bleed when damaged. If the skin isn't cut, the blood may cause swelling or a bruise, which is sometimes called a "goose egg." Babies often become fussy for a short time after a head injury. Watch your baby closely for the next 24 hours.

• If your baby has head swelling: 

  • For the first 1 to 2 days, apply ice wrapped in a cloth for 15 to 20 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day. Don't put ice directly on the skin.

• If your baby is fussy and you think it's from pain, a medicine may help:

  • You can give acetaminophen (such as Tylenol® or a store brand) for pain if your health care provider says it's OK. Do not give ibuprofen (such as Advil® or Motrin®) unless the health care provider tells you it's OK.

• Feed your baby breast milk or formula as you usually do. If your child is eating solid food, you can feed your child as usual.

• Let your baby sleep. There's no need to keep a baby awake after a minor head injury.

• After some types of head injuries, your health care provider will ask you to check your child during sleep. Make sure that your baby's breathing and skin color look normal. Touch your baby to see that he or she responds in the usual way.

• If your child has a head wound, follow the instructions for washing your child's hair and changing the bandages.

Your baby:

• won't stop crying

• isn't moving the neck normally

• vomits

Your baby:

• vomits more than once

• becomes very sleepy

If your child is hard to wake up, passes out, or has a seizure, call 911.

Does my baby need X-rays? Sometimes babies need X-rays to check for bleeding or a broken bone (fracture) in the skull. This test is usually a head CT (computed tomography), also called a CT scan or CAT scan.

Does swelling of the scalp mean that there is swelling of the brain? No, swelling of the scalp does not mean there is any swelling of the brain. The skull bone separates the scalp from the brain and protects it from injury.