If I dropped a baby... would it die?

It could. It depends on from how high a height and whether the baby hit its head.

Depending on how old it is & where it landed, yes, of course. Especially if you dropped it on their head.

It could, but odds are that it wouldn’t. Babies are pretty bouncy! Well, they are flexible, and built for survival. If they were dropped on something that could damage them, or if they were dropped on their skulls, they might be hurt, or die. But in general, they should be OK.

@jbfletcherfan and @marinelife : I’m about six feet tall,so I’d say it would fall 5 feet for a drop?

It could very well die, especially if the head takes most of the damage. A baby’s head is extremely fragile.
Older babies would probbaly survive it, depending.

@troubleinharlem Again, it depends on what kind of surface the baby fell on and where on its body it landed. Chances are good that the baby would survive a fall from that distance.

Don’t hold a baby if you’re nervous. They’re too delicate and fragile. Of course they’ll die if you drop them since newborn babies haven’t developed their perfect body strength and that crush can damage their brain and even if they can make it they might posses permanent facet for the rest of their life.

I’ve had this thought before. I was dropped when I was 1ish & I landed on my head. I was okay

Likely a newborn would be terribly injured and would require immeidate emergency care and suffer potentially life lasting injury if it landed on the head.

If you’re nervous but want to hold a baby, sit in a padded chair and take the baby on your lap. You can get comfotable with holding them securely while seated before trying to hold a baby standing up. I can reassure you that it is very unlikely you would drop any baby you were holding even if you were standing up.

My husband is 6’4”-6’5” – depends on the doctor and him…they’re both crazy. When we had our son, he was tiny. He was a preemie and had health conditions. We were both afraid of him – and yes, I have an older child, but our son was tiny. My husband was so afraid of dropping him, he would never hold him standing up. Eventually, as he gained weight, he would but not at first.

I will say that my poor daughter slipped out of my arm, landed on her side and on a very soft carpeted area, as an infant. I was so upset – rushed her to the doctor (I was a first time parent!) and she was fine. Bouncy, resilient little thing!

It depends on the circumstances, just like everyone has said before me. It’s not something to take lightly – but yes, it does happen. Knowing how sensitive the brain truly is, it’s always better to err on the side of caution and safety.

@Jewel While babies might look “pretty bouncy” when they are being bounced on someone’s knee, bouncing off a hard surface is something else entirely. Don’t even go there…

I wasn’t thinking of dropping a baby… I don’t know any babies. I was just thinking about babies because I was watching it.

xD

@troubleinharlem At your height, it’d have a long way to go, LOL. . You’d better sit down with one.

Babies are not meant to be dropped, they are meant to be held carefully and securely. Most people are able to hold babies with tremendous care—and I have not heard of cases where babies were unintentionally dropped. Maybe the fear of dropping a baby is high, but the chance of doing it is very low. Even little children don’t drop babies. No humans want to be dropped—so hang on tight if you ever get a chance to hold one, or your own.

This question has made me never want to hold a baby ever again.

There’s no need to be afraid to hold a baby, as long as you use a little forethought. Sit down on the floor, or put your butt all the way back on the seat of a chair, sofa, or bed.

If you drop a baby, it certainly CAN die, or be permanently damaged. But there is no need for that to happen. Holding a baby is a lot like holding a bomb. You must have your brain engaged while you are doing it.

I’m sure if, like @cak ‘s husband, you held a baby while sitting down at first, you’d start to feel more comfortable and less likely to drop it. Usually newborn babies are all wrapped up, and even when they wiggle, they are easy to hold onto. Unless they are fresh from the tub, then they are very slippery.

@MissAusten ACK!! Yes, that is very true!! I am so glad you mentioned that. Wet babies are notoriously slippery. Excellent addition to the thread.

A baby’s bones are undeveloped which makes them more flexible and less apt to fracture but this is also what makes their skull more vulnerable. Best suggestion is just keep a firm grasp and support his/her neck with one hand or the crook of your arm while cradling…oh and do it on the couch while seated. Gootchy gootchy gooo….

Jump off the roof of your house and find out…

I always wondered why men who were not fathers usually hold a baby as if they were a bomb about to explode. After reading this, I think I see why.

@Grisaille Babies can tell if you’re nervous or scared of them. Just relax when you hold one & support their heads. You’ll be fine. :-)

Like everyone else said, it depends how far it is dropped, and how and what it lands on. (For the record, I apparently managed to swandive out of a backpack when I was a few months old, onto concrete, and turned out pretty well unharmed, but I wouldn’t recommend it, obviously.)

@bobbinsgalore Whoa…you were one of the lucky ones!

It depends on how old you’re talking, how tall you are, where you dropped it, and how it landed. If it’s very young, and still needs your arm to support its neck, then it will probably be seriously injured and possibly die at that young an age. If you’re tall and the baby happened to “roll” out of your arms, then it also depends how it landed. If it landed on its head, I think you can tell where it’s going from there. And if you dropped it on a hard floor, because I highly doubt you’re dropping it on a mattress or a pile of big foam cubes, then it also depends how hard it fell where etc.

Just stay away from babies until you are much older and confident.

Babies are engineered to be dropped by clumsy adults…you will be more than likely worse off by the experience than the baby.

Well…
there’s only one way to find out.

woopsies

hope the damn CPS didn’t see

Incredibly likely, having a poopy diaper on their bottom usually helps soften the blow though.

No, but you probably would when its mother got hold of you.

I agree it depends and the odds are probably smaller than 5% and virtually zero when the ground is soft. Our instincts tell us to be extremely careful when holding babies.