Should I take DD to A&E?

[ShortcutButtons]

A few hours ago my four year old DD fell off a three foot high wall. It wasn't a very dramatic fall and she landed on her legs but they then buckled. She cried a lot and said her leg hurt but it didn't swell up. Now it's several hours later and she still won't walk on it, says it hurts and keeps crying but it's still not swollen or bruised.

Should I take her for a x-Ray or give her calpol and put her to bed? I am home alone with three children so if we go to A&E I have to take all of them. Added complication is that tomorrow lunchtime DH and I are flying to Venice for 48 hours without the kids so A&E in the morning is almost harder than now.

Is it likely to be broken if it's not bruised, marked or remotely swollen?

[WalrusGumboot]

Just for future reference, if you call 111 they can send a vehicle to you if you can't get out.

[RaeSkywalker]

Hope your DD heals quickly

[AMR123456]

Ah shortcut
Sorry to hear it is a fracture. But you know what -you followed your instincts & you were right!!
It's tough you & DH miss out on your hols but you have your priorities right. In 10 years my DH have had 2 trips away from kids with the grand total of 4 nights!!!!
Even when we've had the rare night out its ended up with phone call because one DC is ill.
Hope DD not in too much pain & she's sleeping well

[tiredsotiredso]

Sorry to hear about your little ones leg, hope she feels better & you get another chance at a trip away soon enough.

[InternationalHouseofToast]

OP, I think you need to find a balance for you. you could slip on the path whilst leaving a child in the house and going outside to peg washing after rain, but most of us would do it. If you have a semi detached house, your neighbours could hear your DC, presuming the walls are anything like ours.

It's better to have someone say inthe house with your child, as they would be alerted to a problem elsewhere in the house, but it's not some heinous act to have someone in earshot.

hope your DD feels better soon and the insurance pays up without quibbles for your trip. Venice is rubbish at this time of year - you're really not missing anything at all

[SecretlycrushingonTomHanks]

Aww your poor DD and poor you as well! Always better getting them checked out after a fall if their behaviour has changed id say. Really hope she gets better soon and that you can get another trip away organised with DH once she's better

[JustABigBearAlan]

Oh no, so sorry to hear about your dd. Sorry about your trip too. I know how much you can look forward to a night away. Hope you can rebook for another time.

[poocatcherchampion]

Poor dd.

Don't worry about it op. You made the right choice and these sorts of times are stressful.

Sorry about the trip.

Is she on crutches etc?

[ShortcutButtons]

Just thinking about LondonSnow's post. First it is a bit dramatic to say that my question about leaving DS in our house while the neighbours had the monitor was "just awful". It was a question, I was seeking advice at a time of stress. Is asking for advice really "just awful",?

Second I wonder whether the "just awful" response followed a real think through the risks. It would have been no more dangerous than when DS is asleep and DH and I are at the bottom of the garden. We couldn't hear a fire then. But then sleeping parents can't hear fires either. That's why we have smoke alarms. Smoke alarms would obviously be heard through the monitor. And the neighbours would probably be more able to respond than a sleeping parent who may already have secumbed to smoke inhalation if there was a fire.

I would never leave a mobile child in a house alone with just a listening device, but a child in a cot is different I think. They can't get out.

Not that I left him in the end. I'm just musing over the condemnatory response.

[BleakBetty]

Oh no! You poor things! Your DD sounds very brave. She'll be on the mend nice and quickly I'm sure.

As a child of parents who ignored several of my broken bones and took me to hospital rather late after the fact, I'm so glad you went in sooner rather than later .

[BluePitchFork]

oh no! I hope you get at least some money back from the insurance.
hope dd heals soon and will be pain free and bouncy in no time!

[ShortcutButtons]

It's a spiral fracture :-(

Apparently she did not present at all typically for this kind of fracture and they think she has quite a high pain threshold. She has not even cried once in the hospital.

My trip to Italy is cancelled in favour of London rain and hospitals. It was going to be our first night away in 7 years of parenting but obviously I can't leave DD2 now.

[LondonSnow13]

They can't hear a fire!!!

[WellErrr]

Please never leave your child, alone in a house, even if the neighbours have got the monitor

This is just awful

No it's not

If next door are listening to the monitor its no different to being in a large house. They just have an extra door to open.

How did you get on OP?

[Judgeaway]

How did you get on op

[LondonSnow13]

Please never leave your child, alone in a house, even if the neighbours have got the monitor


This is just awful!

[Finola1step]

Good luck.

[weebarra]

Glad you've found someone. Similar happened to DS2 when he was 3. Fell off small wall, cried, was put down for nap. Realised when he got up that he couldn't weight bear. Waited till DH came home as didn't want to take all three DCs to a&e, turned out he'd broken two bones in his foot. I felt pretty guilty!

[originaldoozy]

I hope you get seen quickly. We had a similar situation with 2 year old DS recently. Not a scratch/bruise/mark on him and absolutely no swelling but a refusal to walk or weight bare and crying in pain when touched. Turns out there was no break but he didn't walk/crawl/move for 4 weeks. They think it was a particularly bad sprain/soft tissue damage. The first 3 weeks he was on pretty constant pain relief. He was actually worse in the week after the accident than on the day itself. Even if it isn't a break you may find yourself in a similar situation where they need an unexpected level of care and attention for a fair few weeks. Hope you have a better time of it than we did.

[notapizzaeater]

Glad you've got someone to come, I'd rather know before you go off.

[starry0ne]

Just to add when I was 5 I was kept at school all afternoon. I had fell over on the playground and no swelling but my leg was broken.. I was in cast for 8 weeks. swelling is not always present in a break.

[FretYeNotAllIsShiny]

I'd take her. My sister fell over a brick some years ago and it looked okay that night, we were due off on holiday the next morning also. When she got up the next morning, then her arm was all swollen. She'd broken something in her elbow.

[SouthDownsSunshine]

Oh no, how challenging to take all the kids on the bus. Can you call in a favour from anyone, a colleague, friend etc?

I do think she needs to go in tonight. Children often don't swell with breaks.

[starry0ne]

Glad you have found someone...Fingers crossed all ok but glad your getting her checked out.