My poor, poor dd1 :(

[kando]

Bless her little heart, dd1 fell over yesterday afternoon and broke her arm. She's only 3.5 and we had to spend an agonising 6 hours in a&e (after half an hour at the doctors, then 2 hours at a Naval hospital which deals with minor injuries - hers was too complicated so we had to head off to the nearest a&e department). She was sooo brave yesterday - must have been agony for her, all she had was paracetamol to keep her going for about 5 hours until a&e gave her something a bit stronger. Now all I can give her is Calpol and I'm not sure that's doing much good!

This is going to sound daft, but does anyone have any idea/suggestions as to how I can wash her hair when the time comes?! She probably won't bend over the bath as her arm will bash the side (and of course, she likes to be awkward, but understandably so in this case!)

Poor wee soul. Makes me feel so helpless when I can't console her.

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Put her in the bath with a bin liner taped over her arm? (that's not meant to be flippant - I've never broken a limb but think it might work, you could use elastoplast tape maybe?).

Is there any reason why you can't give her Nurofen for the pain? Might work better than Calpol ( as it will reduce inflammation).

Hope she's feeling a bit more comfortable soon.

put a plastic bag over the cast and put her in the bath like normal...I broke my arm and was in plaster up to the top (ie past the elbow...) and this is what my mum used to do....I also had a dotted line on my cast 'cut here in case of emergancy'.....
as I recall the itching is the worse thing (had mine on for 6 weeks...)

childrens neurofen is a better painkiller than calpol. I find calpol is better at reducing fever.
my ds1 fell off his bike at weekend damaging mouth/teeth and both a&e and dentist recommended neurofen.
i wish your dd better kando. it's so awful when they hurt and you can't make it better

Your poor DD. Perhaps scant comfort but having broken a number of bones over the years once the limb is stablised the pain is not actually too bad so she may not be feeling quite as bad as you think she might be, if that makes sense.

The plastic bag trick can work a treat - sometimes you may get water running into the cast so it may be useful to put some cling film around the top of the cast and then pop the carrier bag on top.

Hope she feels better soon.

Thanks ladies, will try out the plastic bag thing if she lets me (she's still very protective of it). It's not in a full cast at the moment, only a "backstrap" but I'm sure that won't make any difference. Will get some children's neurofen for her too. Thanks again for your help - knew I could rely on you!

Could she sit in the bath as normal and rest her arm in one of those ...what do you call them?...racks that go across the bath that you put your soap, flannel etc in? I bet you could get a cheapie plastic one from Wilko's or Woolies if you don't have one already. I remember doing that when I had a broken arm, age about 6.

You can actually buy waterproof wraps for broken limbs in places like Boots I believe. Unfortunately for me I only discovered them after ds1 had recovered from his broken arm.

what about this

or this

Poor sausage :-(

Poor thing; hope she is on the mend soon!

Mears, you beat me to it!! You may be able to get one of the cast covers from your local fracture clinic, some will have them in stock and be able to sell them to you.

You could "damp wash" her hair- sit her on a chair with a good thick bath towel round her neck. Dampen the hair with a flannel dipped in warm water. Lather a tiny amount of shampoo in your hands and wipe it onto the damp hair. Comb through and then "rinse" with a flannel dipped in warm water. repeat the "rinse" a couple of times with a rinsed out flannel. This will get the hair clean enough, and is much simpler than plastic bags and sticky tape!

could you lie her on the kitchen worktop and wash her hair in the sink - we used to do that when we were kids...

Hope she gets better really soon, poor mite

Oh Kando - many sympathies to you and your DD.

DS had his leg in plaster for a long period, don't worry - it won't be as bad as you imagine. I found I could was DS's hair by using a tiny tiny amount of shampoo and then gradually sponging it out with wet flannels. or, you sit in the bath, no water, with your knees up, and sit her astride your stomach with her head back over your knees, then use jugs of warm water or the shower spray on gently, if she will tolerate it.

Itching under the plaster is a problem for the first week only, on the whole, and is worse at night. You can use Piriton to control the itching - and the sedative effect helps them sleep through it as well.

The WORST thing is the noise and the vibration when they cut the cast off. Hope she recovers well.

Mears - they look fab, will have to order one. Thanks for all the suggestions.

She didn't sleep at all well last night, so I got some children's Nurofen this morning and since taking it hasn't complained about it being sore (apart from when dd2 walloped her on the arm!) The chemist said to alternate between Calpol and Nurofen. I was wondering about Piriton to help her sleep, but do you think she could still have it given the other medicine's she will have taken by bed time?

PS: Mancmum - love your idea! Didn't even consider that, and we used to love having a "bath" in my Granny's kitchen sink!!!

Yes, she can take piriton with that lot. DS was on the same cocktail, and it was prescribed by the hospital.

great, thanks Blu. Hopefully we will both get a good night's sleep tonight. I'm amazed by dh's ability to sleep through dd1's crying/climbing into and out of our bed. Wish I could do that sometimes!