Help! Toddler DS has broken his elbow, please give me tips to manage himit!

[WoooImAGhost]

DS took a tumble and has broken his elbow. He doesn't seem to be in pain now the cast is on thankfully but the thought of the next six weeks of barely filled baths and making sure he doesn't trip over while he usually runs everywhere is daunting.

I'm going to have to cover the cast somehow as he's picking at it and I'm planning on cutting up some t-shirts and adding poppers to the side and shoulder seams.

Any tips anyone can give me will be gratefully received.

[WoooImAGhost]

I've no idea what himit is

[Raera]

For bathtime:
www.yourswimlog.com/best-waterproof-cast-covers-swimming/#:~:text=Cast%20covers%20are%20difficult%20to%20properly%20measure%20because,the%20stretchy%20opening%20seals%20the%20cast%20from%20water.
There are some which are approved for prescribing, ask your practice nurse perhaps?

[WoooImAGhost]

Fantastic, thank you! I can get one on Amazon by tomorrow!

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

Definitely get him a Limbo
Awesome things!

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

Do you know why he’s picking at it?

[Madcats]

I can vouch for the waterproof covers from when I broke my tibia bone (lower leg).

Is DS in a lightweight/colourful (fibreglass?) cast? I wonder whether you could buy some stickers to put on it (and then he can fiddle with them instead of the cast itself)?

I hope it heals quickly, it must be quite uncomfortable sleeping.

[WoooImAGhost]

Thanks all! I've got the waterproof cover ordered so that will make life so much easier.

It's a half cast I think they called it. Soft bandage on the inside then plaster then more bandages. It's the edge of the bandage he's trying to unpick.

Good idea about stickers, he'd love some dinosaur ones!

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

Is it a backslab? The old style traditional plaster just on half of the arm and bandaged on?

If it is hopefully you’ll have a fracture clinic appointment in a few days where they’ll probably re x-ray and review and then put it in a lighter polymer cast - he should be able to pick the colour and there won’t be pickable edges.

Ds2 is accident prone so we’ve had a lot of A&E and trauma clinic visits!

[WoooImAGhost]

It does sound like it! They said we'll have a Zoom meeting with the fracture clinic but hopefully they'll arrange an appointment to put a new cast on then. I really can't see this one lasting well for 6 weeks and it is so heavy on his wee arm. I'm going to tape down the loose edges with medical tape tomorrow I think.

Sorry to hear your DS2 is accident prone too. I swear DS2 is part lemming

[Muchtoomuchtodo]

Can you get a tubigrip bandage to cover the whole thing? They’ve sized by circumference and sold in pharmacies. You don’t need any compression but it’ll cover all the edges of the crepe bandage so there’s nothing to pick.

[ShimmeringIce]

Colourful opaque tights cut into sections will cover it too

[WoooImAGhost]

Ooh, those are good ideas, thanks!

[Sparklyboots]

My DS broke his wrist and had a new cast 4 times over four weeks because it was always filthy.

[WoooImAGhost]

Flip! Was he ok with that? Setting the cast was a bit traumatic for DS since it had to be set at the angle that seemed to hurt him the most. It was fine once in position but I wouldn't fancy it 4 times!

[WoooImAGhost]

The cast protector arrive and the first bath is successfully over! Phew

[Sparklyboots]

Glad it's going well OP. My DS was fine with multiple changes, despite being a bit of a scaredy cat. I think they heal very quickly and the real discomfort of the initial break was over after a feW days