A new study confirms something I have been aware of for years, given my experience with traumatic brain injury cases. Toddlers are at a higher risk for head injuries than any other age group. Many such injuries occur to that demographic due to falls. Just over half the injuries happened in the home, with school, sports venues and playgrounds also being common sites for injury. Most injuries to infants were caused by falls off of furniture. The lesson here is clear: Parental supervision plays the largest single role in preventing head injuries in children. My wife often accuses me of being overly paranoid about our son suffering from a fall, but my paranoid approach is simply because I have seen so many instances of significant injury to the brain from a fall that could have been prevented . Some falls cannot be helped and will undoubtedly occur, but our job as parents is to prevent those we can. For a link to the full article discussing the study, click on the following:
http://www.theage.com.au/national/toddlers-at-highest-risk-of-head-injury-20090720-dqtn.html