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Children's health

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Original poster

Anyone’s child had a broken leg?

34 replies

AnnabelleQ · 05/10/2021 07:26

DD1 has broken her leg (she’s 8), her tibia and fibula, bless her. She’s been in a full leg cast for 4 weeks now. Does anyone have any experience of this? Just wondering what to expect in terms of healing time - she can’t wait to get back to school and to be able to play at parks etc again. Thanks.

OP posts:

SadRoach · 05/10/2021 07:30

No sorry, i dont have kids

namesnamesnamesnames · 05/10/2021 07:34

@SadRoach

No sorry, i dont have kids

What a pointless comment.

OP, poor kid. Mine haven't bit I do have experience of this via other children. In my experience, it does take rather a long time but every child heals at their own pace.

I hope for you, the healing is fast and things can go back to normal soon.

namesnamesnamesnames · 05/10/2021 07:36

Can school accommodate her in a wheelchair?

ItsSnowJokes · 05/10/2021 07:37

My daughter did at the age of 2. It was 8 weeks in her cast and then it took quite a while for her to be walking normally.

She should be able to attend school, my daughter had 2 days of nursery and then went back full time. Why are school saying she can't go in?

purplesequins · 05/10/2021 07:47

yes, but 'only' a green stick tibia fracture and 'only' a cast up to the knee.
dc only missed school for fracture clinic visits. school were great and organised a buddy system for carrying bags and general helping.
dc was fine with crutches but with a full cast maybe a hired wheelchair (red cross?) might be easier.

I hope it heals well and dd is up and running again soon!

purplesequins · 05/10/2021 07:49

oh, and book physio for as soon as the cast is off.
ime nhs physio was good, but the waiting time makes it less effective than it could be. a couple of private sessions right away is money well spent.

Original poster

AnnabelleQ · 05/10/2021 09:00

This is making me wonder if the school should be accommodating her (they said she can’t come back until the cast is off). I didn’t realise other children are going back to school with broken legs - I’ve hired her a wheelchair and offered to sit outside the classroom for toilet breaks, or she only comes in for a couple of hours, but they’ve said no.

We have Centreparcs booked for 4 months after the break - will this be too soon to do the activities there do you think?

OP posts:

Knitwit101 · 05/10/2021 09:11

Ds broke his ankle so I can't comment on the healing, but he was back in school within a week in a wheelchair. His classroom was upstairs so they set up a temporary classroom in the dinner hall for them.

I had to collect him half an hour before lunch and drop him back half an hour afterwards so they could serve lunch in the dinner hall. He needed that rest in the middle of the day on the sofa with his leg properly up anyway.

I wonder why your school are not keen. I would definitely ask what their reasoning is.

I dont know what would have happened if we hadn't been able to collect ds, I guess he would have gone to the staffroom or something.

Also he could bend his knee so his cast was tucked away under the table and wasn't likely to get knocked by anyone walking past.

sunflowerdaisies · 05/10/2021 09:54

My daughter did when she was in reception (full cast). She went back to school after two weeks I think once she was in less pain. She struggled going to the loo so I went in every break and lunch time to help her.

Recovery was fairly quick once she had cast off but guess it depends on the break.

Busygoingblah · 05/10/2021 10:57

Your local council has a legal obligation to be providing education after I think 10 days absense. Might be worth going above the school’s head and contacting the education department to see if they’ve got any advice about accessing school.

Original poster

AnnabelleQ · 05/10/2021 13:32

Thanks, the school are sending home some work to do at home so we’re trying to keep up but she really misses being there! Interesting other schools are allowing them back.

Does anyone know how long it could affect the activities she can do, after the cast comes off?

OP posts:

JustFrustrated · 05/10/2021 13:34

The school should have conducted a risk assesment, and had you in for part of it. Has this happened? You should know why your daughter isn't allowed into school!

withiceplease · 05/10/2021 13:48

DD broke her leg at the same age but it was over 15 years ago
She went to a prep school and attended for mornings only (basically sat in the class) and then picked up at lunchtime. But I doubt it would happen these days with risk assessments etc. I subsequently found out that she was carried up and down stairs 😳 by a staff member if needed
She had significant muscle weakness and went to Disneyland a few weeks after and we hired a wheelchair as too weak to walk the long distances there
Centreparcs maybe less walking though

wwyd2021medicine · 05/10/2021 13:52

Sorry - 4 months post break you should be fine for centreparcs IMO
I am actually recovering from a broken bone myself at the mo and really do as the physios says with regard to walking in the recovery period. I didn't 🙄 and walked 3.5 k one day (first 2k fine, last 1.5k was agony). It set me back at least a fortnight

SummersOverSeasideTown · 05/10/2021 14:10

Is she not comfortable walking on it yet? Mine didn't do both at the same time but has broken both (bloody skate park) and went back to school when the pain was manageable about 2weeks in. When is she going to fracture clinic?

Chloe9871 · 05/10/2021 14:12

My dd also broke her leg at 2 and a half, she was literally almost 3. Was bouncing on a trampoline with her older cousin ( 9 or 10 and the time) and he jumped on her leg ( accident or purpose we’ve never figured it out) she had a fracture just above the knee and was in her cast for 6 weeks. They told her not to walk on it but by the end of week 4 she was running around and walking on the cast no matter how much we tried to stop her to, by the time it came to getting it off half of the foot bit of the cast was destroyed from where she had been walking on it, but luckily it had healed.

Our nursery wouldn’t let dd back in at that time she had her broken leg but luckily I was a sahm so I kept her at home with me.

After dd had her cast of she would cry when we tried to encourage her to walk, it took about 4 days for her to finally get the courage and she started walking again.I think it was mostly her just being frightened of walking because her leg had been in a cast for so long.

I know it’s tough but I would really get into contact with the school again or whoever else to try and get her back into school, I remember being at school and loads of kids came in with breaks and were using crutches/ wheelchairs, there is also a child in my dds class with broken arms and they are still being allowed in. Definitely look into this further.

Regarding centerparcs, 4 months should be fine. The only thing I’d say is for a few months ( maybe up to a year ?) after my dd broke her leg on long walks or sometimes in the evenings at bedtimes after a lot of walking she would get aches in the leg that she broke but I would keep massaging her leg to help this before bed. If you have the wheelchair just incase of anything like that happening all should be fine.

number87inthequeue · 05/10/2021 14:12

My DS broke his tibia at around the same age, and was in a full leg cast (right up to the groin). The hospital initially told us 6 weeks but it was actually more like 3 months before the cast came off and when it did he was in an air cast (like a plastic boot that can be take off) for a few more months and he had to have quite a lot of physio to get him back walking again. After 4 months he would probably have been able to do some of the centre parks activities with help but would not have been able to cycle or do a lot of sports. You can hire specially adapted trikes there though, which might be fun.

My DS school wanted him in class from the start (although the break was during the holidays so he had 3 weeks recovery time before school started). He was in a wheel chair and one of the TAs helped wheel him. We provided a sort of table that went over the wheelchair to make it easier (standard primary school tables are not high enough for a wheelchair to fit under). I took him home for lunch as there was a concern about other children knocking in to him in the playground. I also took him in to the classroom a few minutes after the other children went in/collected him a few minutes early so avoid the rush. It was a bit tricky but definitely better for everyone than trying to do his school work at home. He wasn't able to do PE so we managed to arrange his physio sessions for the same afternoon that the others had PE.

massistar · 05/10/2021 14:37

My DD had a broken ankle and was in school the day after getting the cast on! The school were amazing, they let her go in first and out last and they got a friend of hers to go to the canteen for her every day and let her eat in the hall.

Only thing that went wrong is I think she kept weight off it for too long and found it hard to walk normally when the cast came off. I'd definitely recommend a physio early as possible.

clarpa6 · 05/10/2021 14:43

My DS 12 has just come out of his cast after 7 weeks. However still got ongoing appointment with specialist and physio due to the type of break, it was on his growth plate so still being looked at to ensure no surgery is required.

It has been hard work as he hasn't been able to put his foot down for 7 weeks, he has been on crutches, we did hire a wheelchair from British Cross but when he got back school was adamant he wasn't using it. School have been fantastic made allowances for him obviously no P.E and they have given him a buddy and they can both leave the lesson 5/10mins early to get to next lesson and they have given him access to the lift.

What has been the hardest and didn't expect to be so hard what the effect on his mental wellbeing. He has really struggled and he has missed out on doing so much and doesn't like being centre of attention so had a breakdown or two about going in school but the Head of Year has been fantastic.

Hope your daughter recovers quickly

Original poster

AnnabelleQ · 05/10/2021 20:50

Thanks, we saw her consultant and it’s 3 more weeks in the cast (so 7 weeks total), really hoping they’ll let her try and come back to school!

Sounds like the healing time varies but Centreparcs after 4 months could well be doable then?!

OP posts:

User5827372728 · 05/10/2021 21:03

She should be in school, all schools have to be inclusion and have wheelchair access; don’t let him make you think she needs to stay home if this isn’t what she wants!

Original poster

AnnabelleQ · 06/10/2021 07:04

Thanks - I wasn’t sure if it’s different if it’s an injury and cast?

OP posts:

namesnamesnamesnames · 07/10/2021 07:13

When we have broken leg children in school they use entrances best suited to their needs, the disabled toilets and have lots of extra help for comfort in class.

Your school should 100% be accommodating.p

Original poster

AnnabelleQ · 09/10/2021 12:08

Thanks for the replies on this - I’m glad I kept asking because school have now agreed she can come back in on Monday! Hopefully it will go ok.

Now I’m just wondering how long it will be until she can use the leg as usual without needing to be careful once the cast comes off!

OP posts:

clarpa6 · 09/10/2021 13:35

Glad to hear she can go back to school, my son missed out on so much he really needed school for some normality.

We are now 10 days since the cast came off and he is still using crutches, he is struggling to put the foot down, think it just feels weird to him. I am trying to encourage him to do little spouts of trying to walk without the crutch, he is trying but going to take a while. He has his first physio appointment on Wednesday so hopefully he can get some tips on helping him walking again.

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