Toddler not walking week after a fall -Help!!

[CurlyHairGirl]

Hi. Have not posted before but really need some advice/reassurance.
DS (21mths) slipped and fell on laminate flooring about a week ago. He landed awkwardly on his rightleg/ankle and has refused to put any weight on his leg since. He has gone back to crawling and just holds his leg up and crys if you try to get him to stand .
Took him to A&E the day after fall for x-ray, doc thought there was a break but when attended referral appt at fracture clinic they said no .
Have been giving Calpol constantly for last week and not getting much sleep at night as he keeps waking and taking ages to settle. Took him back to hospital yesterday and they took another x-ray but still negative - whats going on?????
Anyone had experience of a little one not walking for this long? Just feel if not broken he should be starting to try using it by now? Maybe a week is not that long but just seems ages when he is so miserable!! And is so sad to see him back to crawling and rolling about like a little baby when he should be running .

[lucysmum]

My DD did something to her leg on our trampoline when she was just under 2. The doctor said it was very difficult to see on the x ray as her bones were so tiny but as she was clearly in a lot of pain they plastered her anyway. Then when they checked 10 days later and she was still not weight bearing, they left cast on. After 3 weeks she was fine. I was very pleased they went with instincts rather than just the x ray, I'd go back if I were you.

[KittyWalker]

Think I would be back to GP pushing this. Like lucysmum says it may be a situation where they need to act on instinct/symptoms as something somewhere is wrong. Hope he is better soon

[Elibean]

Sounds very like friend's little 2yr old ds, who slipped on a playmat and fell awkwardly. A&E said no fracture, but when he kept crying all night and refusing to weight bear they re-checked (more experienced doctor) and found a green-stick fracture. He was in plaster for 2 weeks and is fine now.

Do get rechecked, if in doubt...and good luck, sounds upsetting

[DarrellRivers]

Not weight bearing is a concerning sign
Get re-checked and re-checked until walking as he was before

[thisisyesterday]

my toddler did this, and i think he was just scared of walking in case it hurt, becuase it had hurt a lot at the time.
i just really gently encouraged him to walk and he did do it, then realised it was ok now so was fine!

but if you feel this isn't the case and that he is still in pain when weight-bearing then you really need to push them for more help. they can't just say oh there is no break, just go home.
there is clearly something wrong

[Cheappinkfizz]

Can you go to a gp that knows you?

my ds fell down 2 steps when he was about 2.5. We went to a&e, they xrayed it and said nothing was wrong.

3 days later he still wasn't weight bearing and was clearly trying to avoid touching anything with it. I made an appt with my gp and he gave me a letter to take to the hosp to get an xray. The first ignored the letter and refused to do an xray, but I knew something was wrong so I drove him to another one. Turned out he had a spiral fracture and narrowly missed having to have surgery.

What I'm trying to say is that you know your child and if there is something wrong. I'd go back to the dr if I were you.

It turned out that ds has a very high pain threshold and he was letting them squeeze his leg on the break and didn't cry out.

Good luck hope it gets sorted soon

[ilovesprouts]

take him back again ,hope hes ok

[SpicedGerkin]

My brother was x-rayed three or four times before they realised his leg was actually broken, he had a green? fracture which is incredibly hard to spot apparently as the bone pops back similarly to when you snap a green branch.

[CurlyHairGirl]

Thanks Everyone. My instinct tells me there is more to it then just a sprain (as well as looking at info on toddler fractures online)as he is so grumpy and acting out of character, also off food which is unusual.
Am going to go to own GP and say not happy with advice from hospital and can he refer me to an expert. Worried it is not good for it to be out of cast? Don't know if this makes a difference to how it will heal? Any idea how long these types of breaks take to heal? Has already been a week since he hurt it.

[Claireseycals]

Hi there, we are going through a similar thing with our daughter right now. She is 16 months old and up until a week ago was running around... Last Friday we noticed that she wouldnt walk, she would stand if she had something to support herself with, but would not move. She would crawl to get where she wanted to go. We have taken her into hospital and they xrayed her hips and performed a ultrasound and checked her bloods. All came back clear, they let her out after 2 nights as she was showing some small signs of improvement. The Dr thinks it could be Transient Synoitis (which is like having a cold in the hips, i.e the joints swell up and become sensitive) Although after being home for 1 day she has not walked yet. It has been 5 long days now. We are taking her back to the hospital on friday if she is still not walking. We never see her fall and there are no bruises so we dont know if she could have sprained or fractured anything. But we want more xrays if she is not walking on friday. Hope everything turns out ok with your little one. keep us posted.

[CurlyHairGirl]

Still not walking and its been two weeks now . Seems less grumpy though which is good. Going to a different hospital tomorrow to see if they can shed some light on what is going on. Just want to know for definite on way or another. Is there a scan they can do to look at soft tissue damage?

[DarrellRivers]

Gosh, still 2 weeks and not back to walking normally
How did it go yesterday at the different hospital?

[HalfTermHero]

Just bumping to see how your little one is doing Curlyhairgirl?

[JustMoon]

Did you go back for another Xray? Definately does not sound right.

[Leosmom6]

Hi did you figure out what the problem was? My child is going through the same he was walking since 13 months and now he is 20 months and I noticed a few weeks ago he’s been scared to walk after I took him to a splash pad. I took him to 3 doctors they said nothings wrong but i also have a ear specialist appointment tomorrow and going to see a neurologist Friday. I don’t know why he’s walking like a new walker and scared to get around he holds on to furniture when walking.

[Kavik610]

My 28 month old are doing the same thing after he fell when he was running around at the park Monday afternoon . The Xray showed nothing. No bone fracture and we already been to the orthopedic. The doctor can’t figure out what’s wrong but he said something’s is wrong he just doesn’t know what it is. He's still doesn’t bear any weight on His left foot. It’s really sad and it’s breaking my heart cz he wouldn’t walk. But he is not showing anything like any kind of pain. Taking him to his GP Monday. And I’m really hoping for a miracle.

[Leosmom6]

Just an update for parents that read my post. After going to the neurologist she told us go to children’s hospital emergency right away for a MRI and sadly my son had a malignant brain tumor. That was the reason he was loosing balance. We are still going through chemo now and pray that he will make a full recovery. Please keep him in your prayers! And a word of advice for all you parents, don’t ignore your instinct. After 3 doctors told me nothing was wrong I knew something was and I didn’t stop looking into It! And I am so thankful I didn’t and we found out the problem and the surgeon was able to remove the whole tumor. I thank God and pray that everything will be alright!

[Alpacamabags]

@Leosmom6 I'm so so sorry to hear this. Wishing you all the best for a good recovery 💐

[Shinysun]

Sending lots of love xxx