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Children's health

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Original poster

Help! Should I wake DD and take her to A&E?

71 replies

RTchoke · 20/09/2012 20:32

DD is 3. This afternoon she fell out of a tree (only cell about 4 foot but she's small). She cried a lot and said her leg hurt. Since then she has refused to weight bare but in between sad spells has been calm and happy. She can flex her foot, bend her knee etc. The pain only seems to come when she tries to weight bare. Wwhen I touch the back of get calf it hurts.

The nanny reported none of this until I got home and at 7pm. By then it was late to go to A&E & as she wasn't crying I gave her calpol and tucked her in bed. She is sleeping but if I press her calf she wakes and cries (only tried that once, I promise).

Should I take her for an x ray or is it safety leave and assess in the morn? If it might be broken I don't want to make it worse but I'm hoping the lack of swelling, bruising and non-weight baring pain mean it's ok to leave overnight.

OP posts:

hattifattner · 21/09/2012 14:30

we've had several inconclusive xrays over the years - all to do with bone growth plates in children apparently.

Surrealistrhinoceros · 21/09/2012 18:08

Poor love ... Sorry to hear. From my experience she will adapt amazingly well. My broken legged DD was ridiculously mobile with the cast on from halfway through and after the first few days extremely cheerful. Now running around as good as new!

Best of luck to you all

Indith · 21/09/2012 18:14

Oh dear just saw this. Poor dd :(. Hope she is ok x

Startailoforangeandgold · 21/09/2012 18:52

Sorry to hear that it needs a cast, but as others have said DCs bones heal very well.

DD2 happily does gymnastics having as I say broken both bones in her left wrist clean through and broken the radius and chipped the ulna in her right.

Hope it's not too painful, DD2 alway said it was fine once they put a cast on, and may all your waits for X-ray be short!

Get the earliest appointment you can and go earlier still. Once the fracture clinic gets going and Drs start sending people down from the wards it can take forever.

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 21/09/2012 19:47

How did you get on this morning?

Original poster

RTchoke · 21/09/2012 20:49

Thanks all.

So it turned out that the X-ray wasn't inconclusive at all, the A&E doctor was just a bit clueless. DD has a spiral fracture to her tibia. Luckily it was not displaced so they just put her in a cast and although she can't walk on it now she shod be able to in a couple of weeks. Fracture clinic staff were great with her and she's more than proud of her glitter cast. She us however in some pain :-(

Thanks again for all the advice.

OP posts:

SurvivalOfTheUnfittest · 21/09/2012 20:57

Only just read this and sorry your DD has been through it so much in the last couple of days. I'm guessing there might be a stern talking to for the nanny and perhaps no Christmas present/bonus? I bet she (nanny) feels awful.

Honsandrevels · 21/09/2012 21:03

Blimey, poor thing. Hope the pain settles down. Young children seem to deal with broken bones much better than adults do.

Have you spoken to your nanny yet?

Surrealistrhinoceros · 21/09/2012 21:10

Poor little lady. From my experience would recommend very regular pain relief for the next few days whether she complains or not - calpol and nurofen every 4 to 6 hours. DVDs cuddles and sofa for the moment, and you can expect to see her looking much perkier towards the end of the first week. By halfway through you really wouldn't hae known DD had a broken leg :)

And definitely get a limbo. Youre also very welcome to ours if you want although I have a feeling full leg ones are made to measure. They let you bath and even splash in swimming pools!

Impressed with glitter casts. Pink is as good as it gets round here!

Good luck to you all.

petrifiedperson · 21/09/2012 21:11

So sorry to hear about your little dd OP, you and she sound lovely and I'm sure she will recover quickly now she has her sparkly cast on :)

but to the previous poster - punish the nanny with no Christmas present?!?

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 21/09/2012 21:32

Oh dear. Glad it's been diagnosed and treated now though.

Pink sparkly casts are a new one on me - glad she's pleased with her new temporary look!

Rachelboo · 21/09/2012 21:43

why would Nanny know any different to parents - they weren't sure either. To be fair A&E is an option ANYTIME - late or not. Kids are very stoical - accidents happen, its not nice being in pain - use the paracetamol/nurofen alternating technique to manage it and if necessary get the GP or other Dr to let you know the correct dosage for her weight which maybe different to that on the bottle. We can't always wrap them in cotton wool, we don't always make the right decisions, so be practical and make her comfortable and try hard not to do the guilt thing. Hope she is more cheerful/in less pain soon

SurvivalOfTheUnfittest · 21/09/2012 21:54

I didn't mean cos she didn't diagnose the broken leg - clearly not the nanny's job! However, if it had been my child, I'd have wanted to know about a 4 foot fall from a tree by a three year old who wouldn't weight bear. Finding that out on returning home at 7pm would leave me rather cross! I'd have wanted the opportunity to make a decision to come home/take a look/take a trip to a and e.

TrinityRhino · 21/09/2012 22:02

oh your poor wee girl

dd2 had the same after a fall in telco

she was in alot of pain at the beginning

petrifiedperson · 21/09/2012 22:34

not disputing the error of the nanny's actions Survival, just at the idea of punishing her like a five year old by not giving her a christmas present!

Thumbwitch · 21/09/2012 22:49

Impressed with glitter cast - but sorry to hear about the spiral fracture. At least it was picked up later though - did you have to take her back or did someone else check the x-ray and call you? Hope it mends quickly for her.

I should imagine the nanny feels absolutely terrible about it as it is - but perhaps she just needs to be told to call you as soon as anything like that happens again, not wait until you get home?

Original poster

RTchoke · 22/09/2012 07:13

We had to go back Thubwitch. I think A&E doc knew he was on shaky ground so he had booked us into fracture clinic for first thing in the morn.

Our nanny does feel awful. I feel sorry for her as it's everyone's worst nightmare for a child in their care to be injured. I do wish she'd called me but I now understand ( from 2 other nannies who were with her) that she checked DD carefully and after a few mins she stopped crying and everyone agreed DD seemed OK. The pain seemed to develop over the next few hours. Nevertheless the refusal to weight bare was a sign and I have had a friendly word about calling me in future if there is any doubt.

OP posts:

SummerRain · 22/09/2012 10:57

That's exactly the same break dd had. She was in a cast for 9 weeks nut was walking on it after about 4.

It healed really well, she has no residual pain.

Invest in a cast cover for the shower, ours saved pur sanity. And stock up on crafty stuff she can do on a tray on her lap for a few days. Ibuprofen helps a lot with the pain. Also, if you have a DS in the house let her play it. They get so bored lying still for days, anything that keeps them busy is a blessing.

Hope she feels better soon

SummerRain · 22/09/2012 10:59

Oh, and dd did it in someone else's care too. These things happen, no point apportioning blame.

SurvivalOfTheUnfittest · 23/09/2012 20:23

Hope your DD is feeling a bit better RT. Glad you've had a chat with your nanny and cleared the air. It would be awful for her wouldn't it?

I'd like to clarify - I was suggesting the last bit about withholding her Christmas bonus in a tongue in cheek way - sorry I didn't add the emoticon to aid understanding!

Startailoforangeandgold · 24/09/2012 00:40

Glittery cast
We've had white, yellow and purple, but never glittery.

Sending best pain free bone knitting thoughts.

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