3 year old broke his leg

[lmbjer]

So my poor baby broke his leg at the park today.

I am just heartbroken.

Coming from a family of cautious children, I have never even been around someone with a broken anything.

He is in a soft cast until monday when they will put something called a boot on?

What can I expect?

And any ideas on how to keep him relatively calm all weekend? I realize that TV and Mario Kart might be my best options, but I would rather find other ideas. I would love suggestions.

Any other advice would be helpful. I just feel so awful that he will be inconvienced and slowed in any way.

[hakeber]

I broke my leg when I was three. My mom drew all over it including a pink panther with a broken leg.

She also let all our friends sign it.

When I took a bath She put my leg in a bread bag to keep the cast dry (it was a plaster cast).

Having a broken leg was one of the coolest things to happen to me before the age of ten. I always wished I had kept my cast.

[Geist]

Watch out for the itching as it heals. When I broke my arm (7 years old, so a bit older than your son) the itching was the WORST. We used a bent up wire to get into the cast to scratch when I couldn't take it anymore. And get a light color cast. I got a blue one and that made it really hard to color and draw on it

[hakeber]

Oh yeah! My mom straightened out a wire hanger and I used that to scratch inside the cast...I will never forget the smell and appearance of my leg after the cast was taken off...it was so pasty!

[redpajama]

My now 3.5-year-old broke her leg last year at about this time (so, 2.5). She had to wear a full-leg cast for 5 weeks. For the first day, she wouldn't walk on it, but had to be carried everywhere. By the second day, she was crawling around, sort of dragging it behind her. By day 3, she was cautiously taking steps on it. By the end of the first week, she was running.

I drew Yo Gabba Gabba all over it for her (check it out here and here!), which she thought was pretty cool.

It healed wonderfully, and when she got the cast off after five weeks, she walked out of the hospital with a slightly affected gait. Within 2-3 weeks of having the cast off, she was walking normally.

Overall, not a terribly big deal--although I remember feeling much like you do when it happened.

[hakeber]

Red pajama, those are AWESOME illustrations!

[lmbjer]

Wow the artwork is amazing!

Thank you all so much. It helps having both experienced parents and personal experience stories. It calms me down. Like "breathe, it'll be just fine."

Although last night was awful, today has been much better.

I am nervous to see exactly what they will put on him for the full healing time though. Hopefully my DH can cast draw well!

Thank you again!

[pbjmama]

A boot makes me think a walking cast - like this one
http://www.myfootshop.com/images/pro...lking_cast.jpg

My son fractured a bone in his foot and the walking cast was really easy. The velcro was enough that he couldn't take it off himself but I could if I needed to adjust his clothing and he did not have to wear it at night, to bathe, etc.

[hopefulfaith]

I'm so sorry!

An incidental FYI story: When my 2 year old broke her leg last year (falling off of the swingset ladder), she had a cast for a few weeks. We found that the tendons in the leg sort of shortened during the period and she didn't want to bear weight on it when the cast was removed (of course not; it hurt). Eventually, I set up an easel in our basement with paint ... a standing activity that she could do for short periods to get her leg stretched back out and get used to bearing weight on it again. You may not have that problem with your dc, but my dd was absolutely bound and determined that she "could not" walk on her leg without her cast on. Painting helped.

[COgirl19]

No advice but I wanted to say it WILL be ok. This happened to a co-workers son about the same age and he made a full recovery without a problem. It took some getting used too but they are really resilient!

[34me]

Sounds like it will be removeable (my dh is in one now ). Which will make it so much easier for bathing and the itchies. He will also be able to walk on it. No cool art work though. Can you take him for lots of walks in a stroller?

[hakeber]

hmmmm...If you can' draw on it, maybe you can get some fun stickers to decorate it with. I have never met a three year old that didn't love stickers.

Interesting that you can take it off at night.

I remember having my leg propped up and I had to sleep on my back which I hated.

[stephanieh321]

My 4 yr old daughter broke her leg and will be in a full leg cast for 6 weeks. Do you have an ideas what she can wear? It's really cold outside now.

[pbjmama]

Sweat pants or something similar that is stretch. You could do a hockey sock or similar over the cast if needed.

[JudiAU]

One of the kids from my church broke both arms very badly when we were in grade school. Pins, surgerys, etc. The Children's Ministry organized weekly sing-a-longs on Friday afternoons for him. I don't remember now but I am pretty sure they were "Jesus lovin' " might be an idea.