Four year old fractured leg

[Cleenaghan]

4year old dd ended up in full leg plaster last night after 2yr old ds jumped on her. not allowed to walk on it only bum shuffle. can try phisio dept on mon about crutches but nurses not sure how well child of her age can manage.she has been a real trooper only cried when it happened and when i told her she prob can't go to school. also have to cancel family ski trip due to go this sat!
Just wondering anyone been in similar situation has any pearls of wisdom to offer re entertaining,washing,keeping everyone sain? other problem is she isn't dry at night yet!

DD did this just before christmas, fun isn't it! Why isn't she allowed to walk? Does she still have the initial old fashioned plaster?

Going to be a bit cheeky and link to the threads I've already posted on about it, but if you have anything specific just ask - photos of DD and cast on profile btw

From your post -

washing - plastic kids chair in the bath, leg wrapped in a rubbish bag and propped on edge of bath, then liberal use of the shower!

entertainment - once DD had the lighter fibreglass cast put on a couple of days after the accident she started moving about by herself. She 'walks' around without crutches (and jumps and climbs!) and generally does what she normally does. When she was stuck on the sofa though, it was lots of TV, a tray with paper and drawing things, lots of toys on the sofa within reach.

She's my youngest, so apart from when we've been at hospital she actually hasn't missed any Nursery as I've just gone in with her.

Here The original thread I posted on seems to have disappeared though, very weird......

HTH

I don't know if this is any help at all but my 3 year old ds broke his arm earlier this year. We were devastated as we were due to go to Center Parcs a few days later and all he wanted to do was swim!! However we bought a cast cover from the internet. Google Limbo cast cover - that's what we had and it was brilliant. They make them to measure if the sizings on the website are not right for your dd. He went swimming every day for 5 days and was able to have a bath and shower too. It was the most amazing thing. Also the Customer Service is fabulous. I ordered it on the internet and then worried it would not come in time. I rang up to explain the holiday situation and it came the next day.

Ds2 broke his leg just before he was 3. I think we managed a bath with his leg covered with a bin liner and he sat on a little step stool. He was too young for crutches so bottom shuffled around. Due to his age he was small enough to go back in a pushchair - I think he loved it! He didn't want to go to pre-school while it was in a cast (orange to match his hair!). he also was very reluctant to use his leg when the cast was taken off. He carried on bottom shuffling for 2 more weeks. As for entertainment - tv, ps2, puzzles, books - even his brother was helpful . He was out of night nappies, but we put him back in them as he couldn't hurry to the loo!

He was fine - everyone made a big fuss when we were out. Hope she mends quickly.

My ds2 also fractured leg at just under 3yo.

Once it was plastered he managed very well indeed. Tolerated a couple of weeks imobility much better than I expected, and moved about readily when the time was right. (Doctor emphasised that we should let him be the judge of how and when to increase movement.)

It healed very well and quickly. Good luck.

Clothing wise, invest in some baggy tracksuit bottoms to keep her warm. If they don't fit round the cast split the seam down to side of the leg and sew on velcro or ties.

Can they not put on the really tough plaster? When they thought ds1 had a fractured ankle they talked about using a really strong plater that he would be able to walk on as he wouldn't be able to use crutches or be immobile. It's hard to get off though (circular saw) so maybe that's why they didn't use it (or maybe swelling needs to go down first).

I think they usually put on a temporary one until the swelling goes down and then a stronger one a couple of days later.

A friend's DD broke her wrist recently on a Saturday, they put a plaster on then, but she had to go back on the Monday IIRC for the proper long-lasting one thats covered in the rock-hard stuff (she had a bright pink one!)

• that makes sense- they couldn't use a soft one with ds1 (in the end they decided they couldn't use any one with him ) but they said the usual way was soft first. I think once they're in the hard one though they can carry on as usual can't they (at least they said ds1 would have been able to)

Thanks 4 all tips and advice. as predicted by you she is already adapting very well.it is traditional old style plaster. not back to fracture clinic until 16th so don't know if they will change it then. Like the tip for bathing serenity will def try it out.coaxed her out of her pj's bettyspaghetti and into track bottoms. with all this bum shuffling realising what an undomestic goddess i am - boy is my kitchen floor dirty!

Love your lateral thinking Califrau