Child with broken leg - any tips?

[ThisCatCanHop]

DS(5) has broken his leg and is unable to weight-bear for 4-6 weeks, assuming I correctly understood what I was told yesterday at the hospital. He’s going to get another cast later this week but can’t have crutches in view of his age. He’s much more comfortable today, thank goodness. The cast is on his lower leg below the knee.

What do we need to know about looking after a child with a cast? I’m assuming we can sit him in the bath to shower him if we double-bag and tape it? Does anyone have any good suggestions to make life easier for him, and us? I’m worried about our backs as we’re having to carry him everywhere, including the loo, and he’s quite heavy! We’re assuming he won’t be able to go back to school if non-weight-bearing but will discuss that with them
next week.

And if anyone has any good Easter holiday suggestions for a 5 year old in a pushchair, please let me know! All our trampoline park/playground/soft play plans have gone out of the window…

Anyone?

Get a limbo for bathing/showering etc......

You may find they will put a walking cast on at his fracture clinic appointment that will come with a shoe. They did for my 2 year old when she broke her leg.

Other than that, a lot of screen time, craft stuff etc..... with his leg up.

Also get a wheelchair if possible that can keep his leg up.

ask around on social media for a wheelchair so that he can go to school and you can get him out and about.

Get him a limbo for the shower to completely cover the leg and no water. seeps through. Can be bought on Amazon - well wort it.

Our daughter did the same at age 3. We had a sofa bed Dow stairs so she sat up in that all day every day. But a foot stool or altering furniture so he can rest his leg up on the sofa. We did no bathing - just a wipe down/bed bath as getting water in it is a real risk. We used a tray on her lap for little games/crafts etc. Tv was introduced for the first time!! She had a huge stream of visitors who were all asked to bring something for the tray!! You can do so much on a tray!! Counting/sorting, play dough, drawing, robots made out of recycling, magic sand, white boards, mini landscapes/small world stuff, suncatcher paiting etc etc. We all coped better than I thought we could!

DD badly broke her leg in an RTA. She needed lots of internal fixations and surgery.This is why I second the suggestion of looking for a wheelchair if you are looking at more than a couple of weeks BUT do try and hire a paediatric one that is suitable for your child’s age and size. My DD was in a wheelchair for over 14 weeks as unable to load bear on advice of all surgeons. The wheelchair was so much easier to push and more comfortable to be on trips out for her. look at a cushioned insert designed to counter the risks of pressure sores for a less mobile child who is in pain. I had to cover the costs of hire and yes it took a while to locate a wheelchair she could self propel. It allowed us to take her out and about.

Give long hard thought to day trips as being in a car seat can be painful to still healing bones. I limited it to anywhere within a 30 min drive unless I could locate a place to give her and hours break and extra pain meds before the next 30 mins. If its a more simple fracture be guided by your child and let them know it’s okay to ask you to stop the car and let them get out to stretch and mobilise.

I moved her bed downstairs as she could not manage stairs. Physio sorted out a teeny Zimmer frame for round the house as she was hopeless on crutches.
Speak to school. DD had a slow phased back to school organised by school nurses. She could not go in until she was able to bear some weight and manage on crutches. School sent work home for her and no she did not do it all as there were days the pain took over. It was over six months before she was back at school and still had lots of hospital appointments. The school nurses where brilliant for support.
Crafts are good, ration Tv to distract from pain and as something to look forward to in the afternoon when pain and tiredness seem to be worse when a kid is still initially healing.
STEPS have lots of tips on how to keep plaster casts dry. TBH it was six weeks before mine could manage to get in a walk in shower ….have a look at shower seats as it can be easier for a kid to get washed if you have room for one.
I did buy a walkie-talkie system with big buttons on so she could push a button to contact me where ever I was in the house….it gave her some space and let me get some housework done. It also had an alert button she could push to let me know if she needed help urgently.
Use extra pillows or similar to make their leg comfortable if needed. make sure they have an accessible drink to hand at all times it saves them from trying to do it themselves…….learnt that one the hard way….

We spent that school holiday exploring towns, picnics in parks, museums, some accessible play parks set up with wheelchair users in mind. DD loved the wheelchair users swings the most. On good days she had friends visit, jazzed her zimmer frame up and went to friends bday party but Mostly she was still very tired and trying to manage pain so only wanted to do something every other day or so. As the fracture heals kids seem to want to do more so listen and be guided by your DS.

If he is too young for crutches then he needs a Zimmer frame.

Thank you so much, there are some great ideas here. He seems in much better spirits today and says it doesn’t hurt. I know he is going to have to have the cast changed but I’m not sure whether he will get a walking one. I have had a look at paediatric wheelchair hire and we’ll explore that further if he definitely can’t weight bear for 4-6 weeks. For the time being, we’ve borrowed a better pushchair which will keep his leg elevated.

The limbo is a great tip and we’ll definitely order one. We’ll probably try a flannel bath tonight.

Some great ideas for keeping him occupied too. He is resistant to sitting anywhere other than the sofa or at the table but I hadn’t thought of putting up the sofa bed - that’s a great idea. We could spread toys out on it then. I think we will make cut out biscuits this week as he can do that at the table. I also thought we might try a farm to see the animals, and maybe go somewhere to feed the ducks one day.

@Toddlerteaplease , this is going to sound like a stupid question but can you use a zimmer frame if you can only hop and not weight bear?

A third vote for a limbo.

There are ones specifically designed for this purpose, but honestly, zimmer frames of any sort are really hard to use! They look simple, but I was laid up with one foot not allowed to touch the ground and no way could I work out how to do it - and I have a PhD!!!! I used a knee scooter, but he may be too young for that - it does help a lot, but I am not sure if a 5 year old could do it (although, to be fair, most have better balance than I ever have!). Might be worth looking at.

When I broke my ankle, I found my computer chair was invaluable as it has wheels and I could scoot up and down the lounge and grab things I needed, instead of having to sit there until my DH or DS were able to help.

Might give him a little more independence?

We rented a wheelchair when my then 6 year old broke her ankle and it saved our backs (and our daily routine, we would have needed three times as long to get to school in the morning).
Unfortunately you do realise how inaccessible the world is and we found very little she could actually do in the wheelchair. Inviting friends around on several different days and playing games on the floor was more or less all we could come up with.

@ThisCatCanHopyes. It’s much easier for young children to use a frame and hop and safer than crutches. But he will need to see a physio to learn to use it. If you have found a pushchair that elevates his leg and he fits in it. Just use that. It’s what would be suggested for slightly younger children anyway. (Paediatric nurse on a kid’s orthopaedic ward)

I moved dc's single bed downstairs to the living room, and set them up in there with a commode chair next to the bed (bathroom was upstairs).

As prev stated, Limbo is great.

Hired a wheelchair from the red cross for the duration.

Had to get a few adaptations to make it easier to get in/out of the house such as big plastic outdoor steps.

Lots of easy to put on clothing like PJ shorts and T shirts (good time of year to do it to be honest).

Just let dc do a lot more gaming etc than I would have otherwise.

Also kept on top of their pain meds.

Concur, DD used one for six weeks at home as she was unable to weight bear.

GDD had a Zimmer frame after a short while and hopped about very nimbly. She wasn’t allowed in school without a parent or grandparent though.

My sympathy to your DS, I hope he makes a speedy recovery. Agree with suggestions of the Limbo waterproof cover. Put a plastic stool in the bath or shower so he can sit while you shower him. We also used one of those toddler seats that goes over the loo seat, to make it easier to balance. Would definitely try and borrow a wheelchair and a walking frame. The frame can be used initially for helping to get in and out of the wheelchair, then if he gets a boot later on it will also be useful then. It is a tough time but having lots of visitors helped. DS was able to go to school with the wheelchair.

Thanks, everyone - there are some great suggestions here and a Limbo is now on order. I’m going to speak to school tomorrow and see what they suggest; I definitely don’t see how he could attend without one of us for personal care.

You might find they won’t have him back at all while non weight bearing. Some schools Won’t take the risk. And they won’t allow staff to lift as a parent would, if needed.

Get yourself a radar key (Amazon or Timpsons sell them). Much easier trying to get into a toilet when you're out and about because you'll need all the room you can get.

If you're lifting him in and out of a buggy/wheelchsir then get a physio to show you how to do this safely without injuring himself, yourself or others.

I broke my leg a couple of years ago and couldn't manage with crutches so the physio at the hospital sent me home with a zimmer. Some of the things I did were.
Not wear pants unless I was going out and about. Trying to pull down my pants while balancing on the loo seat or holding onto the zimmer was a nightmare.
Wore dresses or skirts as easier to manage than trousers.
Got my hair washed and styled at the hairdressers once a week.

Used dry shampoo in between trips to hairdressers.
Slept downstairs.
Washed and brushed my teeth at the kitchen sink.
Used a cross body bag to carry stuff around the house.
Did all the physio exercises before my daily wash as I got sweaty doing them.

@Toddlerteaplease personally, I don’t see how he could attend unless weight bearing - I’ll be interested to see what school say.

The red cross near me hire out wheelchairs.

Check with your council about school, they might want to put him in a medical PRU for a couple of weeks.

I agree about the tray, but get one with 'sides' so things don't roll / fall off.

I think I would just use wet wipes rather than bathing.