DS Broken Arm

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My DS is 2yo and had a bit of a tumble at a soft play centre this week. At first I thought he'd sprained/twisted his wrist so called 111 and on their advice looked after him at home. After a couple of days I wasn't happy with it and his nursery had mentioned it too so I took him to get it checked out. After a few hours and 2 X-rays they confirmed he'd broken his arm!! They were lovely about it and it's now in a temporary cast but I feel like the shittiest parent ever.
I can't believe he'd lived with it for days with little to no pain relief and that I hadn't noticed it sooner. He's been so so good and brave with it all but I still feel awful!! I feel sick for him every time I think about it and I'm scared of what it means for him

How do I get him through it and how do I help him?

Sorry for lack of paragraphs

You have nothing to feel awful about. You sought medical advice, and if they advised you to look after it at home then I assume he wasn't showing any obvious signs of a break. You then sought help again when it wasn't healing as it should. You did absolutely everything you should have done. You should be giving yourself a pat on the back for seeking further advice when those mummy spider senses started tingling!

Is he in any pain? When my daughter broke her arm she was in no pain at all once it was in plaster and just got on with things as normal without being bothered at all by the cast..

My daughter when young broke her wrist doing handstands. As she carried on doing handstands straight afterwards I didn't take her to hospital for a couple of days after when she complained of pain. Man, the hospital made me feel like proper crap.

You haven't done anything wrong, you trusted advice given and followed it up when you weren't happy. Kids bones are bendy and it can be tricky without an x-ray. Try not to beat yourself up.

I just feel awful that he's so little and this has happened already. I've worked in childcare for 9 years I know kids have accidents etc and up until now if he fell over/hurt himself I was the first person to say up you get brush yourself off etc but I feel shit.

But I'm also immensely proud of how good he has been and how brave too he was living with it for days never complained only complained a little if he put pressure on it but it doesn't excuse the fact that he was not using it and I didn't notice

Don't beat yourself up. My 6 year old fell off a climbing frame last year, DB is s consultant Doctor and didn't pick up the break til it started swelling layer we took him to A&E and he had ab X-ray .... trials and tribulations of a child ... it's fine

Poor DS and poor you! Little ones can be so stoic, it’s hard to know when to seek help. As PPs have said, you have done the right thing for him all along and these things happen.

I’m lying here listening to our own DS aged 2 knocking about in his cot next door and wonder what your DS sleeps in/on. As you asked what you could do to help him - is he in a cot, or a bed? Could he fall out on his arm (in which case I’d be suggesting putting an extra mattress or blankets on the floor just in case). Our DS would be knocking his arm about like anything on the cotbed bars, so if it was him I’d be minded to try and soften the cot walls for him somehow though I know bumpers are now a SIDs risk. We did have airmesh ones though - are they ok? Just thinking of how to protect your son’s arm as he sleeps. Other than that, he’ll be just grand. A few weeks and I assume the cast will be off.

Oh and you can get these things called “limbo” which are plastic sheaths to put on casts so he can still have a bath. Not sure if they come in young child size but worth having a look.

When my partner was 6 or 7 he was playing in the playground at school and fell off the monkey bars and broke his ankle. He hopped back to class and all the other kids followed him hopping (he was the leader/clown) and no teacher believed him that there was something wrong with his ankle (as he was usually a troublemaker), and he eventually had to hop home. He didn't get to go to hospital until the next day and he was in agony.

DD2 at a similar age did the same thing. I sent her to child care the next day and told them I thought she was guarding her left arm a bit. On pick up they agreed with the guarding.
Took her to GP next morning and he ordered X-ray but did not think it was broken.
Dropped her at care that afternoon and went to work.
Call from GP at 5 pm, yes arm was broken and she needed a sling for 6 weeks.
I felt really bad 😢

I teach and I’ve heard many similar stories. I remember one a child had a ball hit his arm at lunchtime, called mum who checked it but child said he was fine. He was desperate to play in football team after school, he waved it round to demonstrate how ok he was, tapped it on a wall and played the match IN GOAL. Next day he admitted it hurt, turned out to be a bad break.

It's crazy have often it seems to happen then!! Kids must be so good at hiding things especially when they're young like my DS cause they can't tell you what's wrong.

I feel a little better now because it's obvious he isn't in any pain or anything and he's coping so well he's not in any discomfort so altho I still feel guilty and terrible I feel better than I do... thanks everyone!

My 2yo is (hopefully) coming out of a cast for a broken arm tomorrow - so easily done, she just slipped up a small step. We did get her to A&E immediately, but it was a bad break and she screamed like I've never heard her scream so it was clear something was wrong! But I'm sure in your situation I would have missed it to.

Anyway, I just wanted to reassure you she has absolutely taken the whole wearing a cast thing in her stride. I was worried the novelty of everyone making a fuss would wear off, and she'd get super grumpy about the restrictions to what she can do but that really hasn't happened. She's just adapted to it, accepted she needs a bit more help and enjoyed telling everyone the story over and over. She's normally quite a drama queen, so I can't get over how amazingly she's handled this!

Will your DS be able to pick a colour for his cast? My DD went through two casts and she loved picking the colour! She will be in it 4 weeks exactly if it comes off tomorrow as planned, and that was for a bad break. So hopefully your DS won't be in long either. I'm just dreading the month we are meant to stop any bangs to the arm after it comes off!