She tells you at breakfast that she is fine. She slept fine, she is just stiff, she walked it off. Maybe she is right. But a night trip that ends on the floor often leaves no call and no report, so the morning check is yours to do before you accept “fine.”

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Watch how she gets up

Watch how she stands from the chair and how she turns at the table. Notice whether she reaches for the counter first, whether she shifts her weight to one side, whether she pauses before the first step. Write down what looks different from yesterday, even if it looks small. You are looking for change, not a diagnosis.

Check where it hurts

Ask her, and look for yourself. The hip, low back, wrist, elbow, ribs and the back of the head are common landing places, so start there. Look for bruising, swelling, or a spot she keeps touching. If she cannot put weight on a leg, or the pain is sharp rather than sore, stop the checklist and call her physician or the nurse line the physician gave you. Do not wait for the afternoon.

Check her head and her thinking

If she hit her head at any point, even lightly, treat it as a question for the doctor, not a wait-and-see. The same is true if she is slower to answer than usual, more muddled, unusually sleepy, or sick to her stomach. Ask the physician now, before you need the answer, which changes should send you to urgent care after a fall at night. Write the answer on the card in the drawer.

Walk the route she used

Walk the night trip yourself in daylight. Look at what moved: the rug edge that now curls, the towel on the floor, the lamp cord, the door that sticks. Ask whether the light was on or off, and whether the bed was made differently. A changed scene can tell you where the trip went wrong even if she never says so. Mark the stop where it most likely happened.

Decide before you talk

Decide what changes tonight before you raise it with her: where the walker parks, whether the light stays on, whether someone sleeps closer. Then tell her what you saw, in plain words, without a lecture. Ask where she was when it happened and what she was going for. Her answer is the most useful thing you will get all day.

If you want the first steps after a fall in order, the first ten minutes after a fall page walks through them. If you are deciding whether the night plan needs more help, the local help after a fall page lists options in St. Louis.