My 18month old DS is limping. Should we go to A&E?

[Babyiskickingmyribs]

Earlier today my toddler (18m) tripped over his feet. He landed a bit awkwardly and had one foot stuck under the other and it took him a while to untangle himself. He cried for about 30seconds. Half an hour later he is visibly limping. It’s like whenever he puts weight on that foot it’s a surprise to him that it feels the way it does. He is getting frustrated rather than seeming to be in pain. I am worried. I know toddler bones can bend and break easily and they can still be walking round like not much is wrong. DH thinks it’s probably just a sprain or something and that he would cry if it was hurting him. Should we go to A&E? We’re not in the UK. We might have a long wait, covid is a concern but noone in the house is classed as vulnerable. I could get a GP appointment for him tomorrow probably. But if it needs scanning that would happen at the hospital anyway. Wwyd?

At 18 months he is highly unlikely to be putting it on so it must be causing him so pain/discomfort or it is just not working properly.

Is it swollen or is there any bruising?
HAve you had a feel, can you rotate it etc without him reacting?

I think I would go to A&E to get it checked.

No visible swelling bruising but it did only just happen.

I would ring 111 and try to get ooh go but would definitely want this checked sooner rather than later.

OOH GP that should say

He’s not putting it on. There’s no way he would have come up with that idea on his own.

111 who will probably suggest A&E or minor injustices depending on the facilities locally. Little ones can put on a very brave face so best to check there isn’t a hairline fracture.

He needs to be seen in A&E if he's limping. Please take him today. Hope he's fine but better to get this sort of thing checked out. They will want to make sure he hasn't got something like a toddler fracture.

He will need an X-ray. In the UK we have A&E or minor injuries which can both do x-rays, you might have a similar choice? I would take him just to be on the safe side.

If he is able to put some weight on it, and there is no swelling or heating up, I might encourage him to rest it for a little while then see how it is. if he's still limping, then do take him.

It's not so much they deliberately put it on, as they can get into a habit of limping.
Ds fell at about that age and couldn't weight bear for about a fortnight (checked several times at A&E with nothing showing) then he limped for about 10 days more. He stopped walking, looked down at his feet, and suddenly set off not limping. I don't think he was faking it, so much as it had hurt, so he continued limping out of habit. Once he'd stopped it, he didn't limp again.

I’m going to ask French family whether there’s a non urgent after hours telephone line like 111 in the UK. And either call that or take him in to A&E

Go minor injuries. It's a bit extreme to jump straight to a&e, you can be assessed in minor and referred to a&e if they think its serious enough.

Hope your boy feels better soon

OP when I lived in France we used to call SOS Médecins for out of hours doctor (house call). But... they will most probably tell you to go to A&E so i'd just head straight there if I were you!

Definitely take him. My DD broke her leg at around this age by literally sliding off a scoot along toy onto carpet . She cried hard for about a minute then seemed fine. We gave her a bath and put her to bed and never gave it a second thought. Next morning she wouldn't fully weight bare on it...ended up in A & E....she had a greenstick fracture and was in plaster for 3 weeks.

A&E. He may well have a toddler's fracture.

We’re at A&E. It’s going to be a long wait. We let him have his nap and he was still limping afterwards so we came to hospital. The triage nurse didn’t bat an eyelid when I explained why we had come in.

You did the right thing, I hope he's OK.

No fractures! They took an xray. Poor baby was totally asleep by the time we were seen. Thanks for all the advice.

Good news! Glad he was OK