Should I take DD to A&E?

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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?

I would ask if they could come in (or one of them).

I would have no problem baby sitting.

I found sitters.co.uk... they won't accept any time left this evening. I wonder what the other procedures are they offer.

Could you ring 111? They will advise what to do, I imagine it would be an A&E job but you never know also if they suspect a fracture and you inform them you can only use public transport they may send non emergency transport as weight bearing on a potential fracture isn't great xxx

Neighbours not in :-(

We have an au pair but tonight she's at he Coldplay gig in Wembly. I can hardly ask her to come home from that. I might try texting her au pair friends and see if any of them could come over and sit.

sitters.co.uk

I've just checked and they need three hours notice sorry. I thought it was 2 hrs and a 24hr service.

It's not ££££ it's less than £7/h but minimum booking is three hours. I've used them before (cheaper than wraparound care for my three DC) and both babysitters I've used from there have been amazing. They cover all areas too.

Sorry it's no use to you OP but it's a valuable service to be aware of for the future. They do sitting in hotels etc if you're on holiday too.

Are you on facebook? Could you ask your friends on there if they could help or if they could recommend an emergency babysitter?

Meh, I'd still put money on there being nothing that needs treatment.
Breaks swell.. they just do. Not hugely, but there is some swelling. OP said no swelling. And no crying or signs of pain except when she's asked to walk (this is more likely bruising or sprain than broken).

If she looks you in the eyes all the time, can you gentle feel up the legs? Does she scream at slightest touch (hysteria) or is she calm enough to let you have gentle squeezes? Is she hysterical at slightest movement of leg or can you gently move it around (swollen joints don't like moving).

Broken bones can be diagnosed by experts using only fingers.

Does that sitters service charge £7/hour even at antisocial hours, like midnight to 3am?

I'm not sure what they charge after midnight

where is DH? can you not ask him to come home?

Greenstick fractures are missed all the time because there is no outward sign of selling or deformity, the only sign being the child unwilling to move the limb/weight bear.
I couldn't in good conscience go on holiday and leave my 3 year old with a potential fracture and in pain.

Try Facebook OP, hopefully one of your friends will offer to come over for you,I know I defo would!

Can you afford a taxi?
Where's DH? Can he come home?

llikk - she cries if I touch certain parts of her lower leg. She calm and happy if still but she's normally always moving so the stillness is odd.

I have found someone to sit. She will hopefully be here in 15 mins. This means I can just take DD which will be so much easier.

Where is DH I hear you say? DH is in Italy already. I believe right now he is an a little bar watching the footie and drinking beer. I don't resent him at all right now...

Has she had any sort of pain relief yet ?

Well done for not resenting him
Good luck with DD

Hope she is ok, good luck at A&E

Hope you get on ok. Fingers crossed you get seen quickly!

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

Good luck.