conuly | Ana has a bruise on her stomach. A large one.

I think I might be taking her to see a doctor...the bump is what would concern me...would there have been anything that she would have fallen on?? Do she remember falling?

She fell on the flat ground. I mean, it's paved, but.

bruised rib, maybe?? I don't know...seem strange to have a bump.
Problem is, I am a "better safe then sorry" person, and as my husband says "I tend to overreact" sometimes....

Please keep us posted as she is....

Well, she's in bed now. We're all and keeping an eye on it, which seems more reasonable than rushing to the doctor in the middle of the night.

I just feel so bad, because it is my fault, and I'd even forgotten about it until asked what happened.

Sometimes with the hussle and bussle of the day, a simple fall becomes just that - a simple fall. Therefore it would be normal to forget about it. Don't beat yourself up about it, you are a GREAT person and you always take good care of those children. Your messages about them shows that without a doubt. I know that your family knows that it wasn't on purpose...and I am certain she will be fine.

To be perfectly honest, at the time I really felt she kinda deserved it. I was trying to keep a grip on this kid, and she was flipping out having a tantrum, and we had to MOVE and get home.

And she said her stomach hurt, and I thought it was that she needed to poo (she'd been trying all day), and I could've just known about it sooner, and... I still feel bad. I know I didn't do it on purpose, but... I don't think I'll be hoisting her that way in the future. Not steady enough.

Yeah, but that is what parenting (or babysitting or child-rearing, etc) is all about - a learning experience. Kids don't come with user manuals, and lets face it, they can be difficult to take some days.

I guess.

Thank you for the effort, but I don't think it's working.

:( Wish I could help.
Hey, my son broke his arm while in my care...wasn't my fault, but I still feel bad about it...my husband still teases me about it.

Well, if you need me...I am here. Try and get some sleep...and keep me posted.
Take care, my friend.

To be even more honest, while I still feel bad, it's back-of-my-mind bad. There's nothing to do that "feeling bad" will help with, so I took a break, watched some TV, and am now fluctuating between "WOW! HOTNESS!" and "OMG! ANABANANA! POOR BABY!"

So you were picking her up (around the waist, I'm guessing), she squirmed out of your arms and fell on the pavement? It's possible she got the bruise from your holding her too tight, or from the fall, but it's also possible she got it some other way - bonked into something earlier and never noticed, as toddlers do.

It's 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' when the kid is big enough to be hard to hold on to when kicking and thrashing. If you don't hold on tight enough, the kid may fall; if you hold on tight enough to prevent that, the kid may get a bruise. IMHO this is precisely the kind of moment for which the Good Swift Smack On The Bottom^TM was expressly designed, but I understand that as the nanny, you can't resort to that.

"To be perfectly honest, at the time I really felt she kinda deserved it."

Well, of course she did - that's called 'natural consequences': she brought a little lesson on herself, and it sounds like one she needs to learn, because she's getting to be a pretty big girl now. No blame to you for feeling a bit of "So there, see what you got for acting that way?" - that's natural too. But of course you don't want your darling niece to be really hurt. It's not your fault, and a bruise - even a large bruise - is not that big a deal.

It's not your fault that you didn't "know sooner", either, because how are you supposed to know if she doesn't tell you? It's quite possible that her stomache-ache was because she had to poo.

Yeah, around her waist. And I'd chosen to do that because I worry that pulling her up if she sits down while we're walking might dislocate her arm.

It's not the bruise that concerns any of us - it's unpleasant, but bruises are rarely lifethreatening. It's just the bump that's a concern, because wtf is that?

Honestly, when she said her stomach hurt, I should have thought to check, is all. Now I know.

I'm not sure if this is helpful or not, but I had a bruise from hell on my leg from walking full force into a very stationary chair, and it had a bump. It went away after a few days. I'm not sure how comparable it is to the bruise in question though.