Scared! - Chandler,AZ

As soon as she gets tired. It sounds like she has absolutely no sign of a concussion (which should be treated at a hospital, btw) so you have no reason at all to keep her awake.

I fell off my bike once and bounced the back of my head off the pavement (this was before there were bike helmets).
I was 7 yrs old at the time.
I never passed out.
I ran straight to Ma and I had a good sized goose egg on the back of my head for a few days.
Ma called the Dr and she checked my eyes and put a bag of frozen peas wrapped in a wet wash cloth on my bump.
Dr said she should watch me for 6 hours and if there were no problems I could sleep with no interruptions that night.
I was fine but it took a few days for that goose egg to go away and Ma wouldn't let me run around till it was gone.

It really depends on how hard she hit it, and how long ago. When my son had a head injury, the ER told us to wake him every two hours, ask him his name and something else that required some thought (his friend's name, the president's name, etc.). They told us to do this for 24 hours and as long as all answers were clear and eyes were focused, it was okay. Any swelling should be checked, and a black eye indicates bleeding inside (the blood goes to an open area, usually the eye socket.

Mom:

How long ago did she hit her head?
Is she feeling nauseous?
Is she talking normally?
You say her pupils are EQUAL? One is not smaller than the other?

I take it you were moving the bedroom around and the mattress was missing from the frame and that's how she hit her head?

If she is not slurring her words, vomiting or acting unusual - she will be fine to sleep. it's not bed time yet and I don't know many 12 year olds that take a nap during the day - so she should be fine for bed at her normal time...

This sounds like she doesn't have a concussion or anything serious but I totally appreciate your concern here. I would just wake her up every 2 hours and check her status. If she is completely responsive to you, no pain, no problems with speech or coordination, eye movement and pupils are the same size....she is showing all the normal characteristics of a healthy and happy child. Just watch her over the course of the day and if she is her normal self or active and alert, everything should be fine. It really takes quite the whack on the head or jolt of the skull to cause true injury. More than you would think. But, as moms, we are the watchdogs of our children and the guardians of all things health related! Just keep an eye on her for the next 24 hours and if all is well, her actions will let you know. If something out of the norm occurs or she is overly sleepy, nausea sets in, she vomits, or seems lethargic.....go straight to the ER. I'm thinking she is just fine though. Uh...those kids just love to give us heart failure, don't they?

My kids have hit there heads pretty hard a couple times. Doc has insructed, they can sleep but be woke every half hour. Call on-call doc & ask what you need to do