Toddler with broken leg - practical advice please

[Herecomesmyhero]

My toddler has broken her leg & will be in a cast for 6 weeks.

Does anyone who has been in that situation have any practical advice? Anything about how to function day to day with a raging toddler in a cast & a pre-schooler who’ll be getting more ignored than usual!

Any advice about washing/buggies/car seats/entertainment etc gratefully received!

I can’t advise about a broken leg but DS broke his arm and I’d definitely recommend a proper waterproof cover (not just a carrier bag!)

Good luck! Hope they heel quickly.

Hi
My 3 year old broke her leg last year.
Buy a limbo bag for baths/showers or even paddling pool. They are great and stop the cast getting wet.
Make sure you have access to a wheelchair, we went through the red cross.
We used a tray with the bean bag thing under it so she could play/draw/paint.
She had a frame at home for toilet trips etc, she wore dresses for ease and when chilly I bought some cheap joggers and sliced the seam open so it would fit over her full leg cast.
Mine was very tearful and hated being left for a minute as she knew she couldn't move on her own to come and find us. She's a twin and i have an older child so it was a really difficult time. After 4 weeks in a full leg cast she went into a half leg which made things a bit easier.
Best of luck !

oh and we put a cardboard box in the footwell to rest her leg upon so it stayed straight and elevated

Thank you, really helpful advice. There’s no wheelchairs available locally which are small enough but I’ve managed to find a buggy with a footrest so hopefully that’ll tide us over.

Limbo and a buggy is what we recommend to our tinies in cast.
Also, don't panic. Children wreck casts, they get wet, dirty, broken, they're easily replaced, your local fracture clinic will be well used of it.
The older child could decorate the cast for your toddler, if it's a plain plaster of Paris. Leave it 48 hours to fully dry and then let them loose with markers. Both kids might like it.
Cushiom to prop up the cast if it's a long leg with a flex at the knee. Might be handy to carry in the buggy too if ye are out and about.
Poor tot, hope they are all sorted soon.

the poor soul. Limbo casts are great, highly recommend them.
How old is your toddler? Just for entertainment suggestions.
Take heart in the fact that young kids heal quickly.

I appreciate all of the advice. Limbo already arrived & can confirm its usefulness! @mumguiltrearingitshead she’s not quite 2. Too young to sit in front of a film, unfortunately!
@Rosere I’m glad to know I won’t be frowned upon if it’s filthy!!

Awww oh dear OP. Our DS aged just 2 broke his leg so you have my sympathies. Astonishingly within about 48 hours he was trying to shuffle about on the floor, dragging it, and he did heal fast - I think he had heavy cast on for 2 weeks, the light one on for ?10 days and then a small half boot thing for a week or so. Kids that small heal quick!

We struggled as it was winter and trying to keep him warm out and about. Hopefully you won’t have that issue. We had an older DS as well which was hard, and DS2 did get very tearful about not being able to come to us if we had to leave the room. We did loads of puzzles, stickers, painting, plenty screen time tho appreciate you say yours isn’t keen. Lots of swing time in the park. Can you rope in an extra adult during the day at any stage, if you’re by yourself with them? At the very least to take the pre schooler out a bit. It will seem like it’s dragging but be over in a trice I promise.

Is she in a sleeping bag at night? Ours still was and it was a blessing as meant he didn’t thrash his leg about in the cot.

Oh and I dosed the maximum painkillers (so something like x4 of each, ibruprofen and calpol?) the clock - so something every 3 hours - for first few days (he didn’t need it like that for very long), even setting an alarm a couple of hours before he would usually be up in the morning so that he wouldn’t wake without painkillers in his system. It made the start of the day easier. He was fine once things got going and there were distractions on hand.

You can only take 3 doses of brufen in 24 hours I think

Been there done that. At that age they are so resilient. Mine was walking around on the cast surprisingly quickly. The bag for the cast is essential/ not just for baths but also for dinner times or doing messy play like painting. I tended to dress mine in dresses or a bodysuit and Cardi. I got loads of long socks so the ok leg had something on.

I had a lot of attention when out and about so be prepared for that. By the end I wanted people to sod off and stop being nosey.

We coped with a fair bit of tv during week 1. After than she just dragged the cast around. Being inside was much easier as it is so easy to damage the cast.

Also when you get the cast replaced, it can be quite frightening. There was a big difference in experience between paediatric A&E and the fracture clinic. The latter was awful for little ones to be honest. It massively overran, the consultant was a bit brusque and not as jazz hands as the paeds staff and my little one was tired, hungry and scared- a combination that as you can imagine was a lovely experience!

Wrap the cast in vetwrap, it's a bandage that sticks to itself. Every few days you can take it off and put a clean topping on, to keep the cast clean.