Last Friday night my children were playing in my son's room while I was straightening and folding laundry. My daughter has just learned to pull up to standing and was starting to "cruise" around the bed (it is a low bed with no box springs, just a frame and mattress). My son was building with blocks. All was right in the world.
I started to put the laundry away...towels into the bathroom...daughter's clothes to her room, etc. I wasn't out of the room a full minute when I heard the most horrible scream. I run in to find my daughter face down on the floor. She had taken a tumble from standing against the bed to the floor. It took me over 30 minutes to calm her down. I checked her all over (mostly her head and neck...I thought she had bumped her head) and gave her a dose of Motrin. She calmed down and after about another 30 minutes I put her to bed. She slept all night and I didn't think another thing of it.
Saturday, she was fine ate breakfast, acting normal, crawling around...I went to dress her and when I put her sock on she winced and as I tried to put her shoe on she screamed at me. So, I check out her leg...NO bruising, NO discoloration, NO swelling...just a bit tender around the ankle. I thought she had twisted/sprained it. She didn't pull up to standing all day, so once again I thought she was scared to fall again and had a sore ankle...she would just bounce back.
Then my mommy voice in the back of my head keep nagging me a bit...so I called my pediatrician's office they have Saturday hours. They told me my only option on the weekend was the ER, and I tell you I debated...but in the end didn't go...*sigh*
Yesterday, (Monday) I took her to her doctor...she still wasn't standing and my gut just didn't feel right...she had broken her tibia. You could have knocked me over with a feather...BROKEN BONE??? I could even see it on the x-ray.
So, after a visit to a pediatric orthopedic doctor...she is in a cast from the tips of her toes to the top of her thigh. She will have it on from 3 weeks and then we go for more x-rays.
She was crawling with the cast on within 15 minutes of getting home and by bedtime chasing her brother at almost full crawling speed.
Anyone have advice for cast care and sponge bathing a wiggly 12 month old?
Thanks,
M.
You might get the wipes they have for the elderly. They are supposed to cleanse. They would be convenient. And yet, they wouldn't be dripping with water.
Nextcare (I think is brand name), makes theses fit to size cast covers for the shower. I would suggest that and if you have a tub seat and removable (on a hose) shower head for bathing. If she likes water even better!!! Give her a few squeeky toys and it will be just like a normal bath but less water and bubbles involved! My nephew broke his colar bone at 22 months and helping her bathe him was a family affiar until we came up with this method!! N.
I am SO sorry! I had two friends with toddlers in casts. One of them went for two weeks without a cast (she did take him for x rays twice but the DRs kept saying it was only a bruise.)Both ladies felt awful about it. Take pictures, put it in the baby book, and one day it may be a topic of happy conversation. Until then, love on your baby and be happy that she got a cast!
We had our first ER visit New Years day of this year. My baby cut her finger on a pediasure can that an older child had opened and left in the floor (I didn't know about it.) I felt so awful! The worst part was being investigated by the sheriffs office. Thankfully they didn't call CPS but the whole situation was very frightening.
S., mom to four girls ages five and under
Over the course of almost 17 years from age 8 months to age 16 years I had my son in leg casts for several weeks to several months at a time. The best way to deal with an active child in a leg cast is to check the cast periodically to make sure that the child's activities have not cracked the cast anywhere. If there are cracks or even what looks like a dent (my son use to break the heal of the cast when it hit the floor, furniture or another inanimate object), let the doctor know as soon as possible. Depending on how big or deep the crack runs the cast may have to be replaced with a new one before it is time for it to come off to stay off. Bathing was tricky, I would use a damp soapy cloth to wash toes and the part of the leg above the cast. If I put him in tub I used a large plastic garbage bag to encase the cast and anchored it with masking tape, so that the cast would not get wet during the childs bath.
Bless your heart! I have not had any children in casts, thank the Lord. But, I just wanted to wish you luck and prayers for your baby and you through these next weeks. I really enjoyed your story. I think of all the times my kids have rolled or fallen off the bed and not been broken..... It just goes to show you that you never know with kids. Take care and God Bless,
A.
put a plastic sack on the cast secure with rubber band and sponge bathe her make a fun time out of it so she will enjoy it. keep her skin moist as it may dry out. have fun and good luck. an old nurse. D.
When my now 26 year old was 15 months, she did pretty much the same thing. She jumped from a coffee table (no higher than about 18 inches from the floor) and landed in a heap. I was watching 5 other children under 10, hence the jumping.
For what its worth, I called my mom (who had raised 5 kids) and my sister (who had two, one of her's was 5 at the time)stating that I thought she may have broken her leg, but there was no bruising, no quick black and blue like you are told to look for all your life. (I really did not want to go to the ER with 6 kids in a VW) They both assurred me that kids that young are very unlikely to break bones. So, I did as you did, gave her tylenol and put her to bed. The next morning she came in "walking" on her knees, and I thought "How cute, look what she can do", until she tried to stand and like your child, cried out it pain. I called the Pedi, putting all of the experience on the phone from my Mom and my sister only to hear that unmistakable tone of "Mam?" "You need to take her to the ER". My heart just sank. We survived and you will too.
Keep the cast wrapped in plastic while you bath her, and do the best you can. As you noticed, she adjusted quicker than you did/will. It will be the past before you know it. MT
Poor baby and mommy! Okay, have not had one in a cast yet, but we have had stitches in the head. Anyway, thanks for posting this story because it is at least informative for other moms. I, too would have pretty much reacted the same way and been shocked to find out the bone was broken.
However, in the case that she did bump her head, you would never want to give any kind of pain reliever as you may mask the symptom of a head injury-just FYI.
Hope these next few weeks go smoothly for you!
Can you say" been there done that"? When my daughter was a yr and a half we went through something similar. My daughter was playing on top of a trampoline, mind you in the middle not even bouncing, and fell. Screamed and scared us also. We took her to the emergency room that night and found out that she had broken her leg in the growth plate. Her cast covered the same area and she wore it about the same length of time. About a week before the cast was removed, she had learned how to get up and walk with it. As for giving her baths, you just have to be real careful not to get it wet. We just gave her sponge baths, and sometimes you can put a plastic bag over it, then put tape around it to hold it secure.(only if you are afraid of getting it wet). My daughter is 7 now, and doesn't even remember breaking her leg, and has no problems from it.Hang in there, it will get better.
Bless your heart, I to know how awful it feels to have a child in a cast! My son was 2 years old when he fell, playing w/an older boy, and on grass, and fractured the very tip of his elbow. :'(
My expereince with bathing and castis that you should put a washcloth around the top of the cast, then wrap a plastic grocery bag around the entire cast and tape it. If you are just doing sponge baths still use the washcloth and something plastic. You don't want any water getting in the cast, it will itch and smell!
Good luck.
She sounds like a typical #2 child. My #2 had stitches in his head TWICE and a broken leg between the time he turned 18 mo. and age 2. Luckily they heal really fast at that age. My biggest problem was "trying" to keep him from following his brother everywhere. Just do the best you can with the sponge bath. When they cut my son's cast off it was full of sand and grass and smelled awful. The nurse said that was just normal for the age. Good luck. By the way my boys are 40 and 38 and I just found out a year ago that the second time for stitches was because big brother pushed little brother into the coffee table. :)
A bath with baby wipes or a damp waah rag will do just fine. Babies heal SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO fast!! In 3 weeks, it WILL probably be completey healed!!!
Trust me, the cast hurts you more than her!!
From experience!
Wow, your daughter sounds like she's hanging in there like a champ...good for her. I was in a cast at an older age, probably around 6. My parents wrapped a plastic bag around my cast maybe it was the plastic cover over the newspaper or department store bag. They bound it at the top to avoid as much water as possible. Worked great!
Oh... so sorry to hear about your little one in a cast.
When my son was about 3 he broke his elbow and had on a
cast. We would wrap a towel around the cast and then
wrap a small plastic garbage bag around it at bath time. This seemed to work really well and we never had a problem with cast getting wet. At his day care, they used to have
a sandbox. We didn't want any sand to get in his cast, so
I made a small colorful little bag/wrap to cover his arm
to keep sand out and keep cast fairly clean. Hope this helps!
Hi Maretta Be careful not to wet it,my grand daughter at one time had a wrist and half arm cast and I was babysitting her, I have a pool and my children wanted to go in and of course she wanted to go swimming too. We felted if we covered the cast good enough it should not get wet, well it did and she had to have the replaced with another cast and my daughter said that she screamed when they were removing it because they use this machine which makes a loud, loud noise to get it off my daughter said that her baby thought that the machine was going to cut her arm off and my daughter was kind of upset because we let her in the pool and I did feel bad for my grand babies, my poor baby,so be careful, I hope your toddler is doing better. Just make sure to cover it real,real good before bathing her.
My oldest (now 6) had an arm cast at 12 months from a fall. I, too, waited almost 5 days before "Hey, something just isn't right" really kicked in :) We were on vacation out of state!!! She never cried or had bruising/swelling - just wouldn't hold my finger as she was toddling around & pulling up to walk, which was odd since she always held on tight. She had a compression fracture of her ulna right behind her wrist, and had her palm through elbow covered.
It is amazing how fast children heal, as I'm sure you're seeing with your daughter crawling around already. She'll probably try standing again too before the 3 weeks are up. My advice is keep it as clean as possible - wear pants if it's not too hot (like sweatpants). Wrap it in a towel and then cover w/ plastic bag for bathing. I wouldn't even try to put her into a tub - just get a wet washcloth and wipe her down. OR, if she likes being upside down like my 2 year old - sit on the edge of the tub and lay her on your legs. Let her hang down (head-down) while you wash her tummy, then flip and do her backside :) This does take some coordination.
One other note, you've probably noticed by now, is eating - cover her lower half with a towel or something so pieces of food don't get caught in her lap. My kid used to slip Cheerios and such into her hand , under the cast, to eat later!
And, if she wants, let her draw on her cast with crayons & markers (if you don't mind semi-permanent marks on the rest of her) & stickers. Might as well have fun with it.
Remember to take lots of pictures!
i'm typing one handed so forgive my shortness...sleeping baby in arms. my son had a cast at 16 mths and we would wrap it in saran for a bath and secure it with tape. i put a dry rag at the top so water would stop there. no matter what you do, the cast will still stink after a while, sorry. you could lay her in the bath on a towel with her leg up on the side and sponge bath and rinse her hair with a cup....don't plug the bath, let it just drain. that way if her leg falls, it won't be in water. good luck.
Hey there,
On the crawling with the cast - no worries. My daughter got her cast at 10 months. She had just started learning to walk (she walked, ran, and crawled on the cast) but be careful on slippery areas like the kitchen floor. When the cast comes off she may not want to crawl or walk on it for a few days or more b/c it feels weak or weird she would make funny faces or not apply pressure to that leg or foot. For bathing I just got a hospital bucket or anything you can hold water in and gave good wash offs. Future suggestion (hopefully you won't need it)"if you can" pay the extra money for the water proof cast they can swim and bath in it. You could even see if you insurance covers it . My daughter has a bone disease so cast care is my specialty. Good Luck and please let me know if you have questions.
My godson was in one for more than six months. He was maybe six or eight months old if that and he was crawling around and his at the time four year old brother was running, tripped and fell on top of him. Poor baby had busted his knee and the patella had moved over to the side of the leg. And this little man was something else. He came out of that cast three different times and had to go back for new ones. Looking back on it, it's kinda funny, especially now that he just seems to be accident prone. But it happens, and everyone lives through it. And now she'll have a story to tell when she gets older. Keep smiling and try to find the comic relief in the situation, and hey at least it's warm so your not trying to put pants on over a cast.
My 22month old daughter just got out of her full leg cast after 3 wks. I thought it would get really stinky but it just didn't. 3 wks seems like forever, but it'll go by very fast and your daughter will adjust quickly. Mine never even acted like it was bothering her the entire time. AS for bathing, I was too paranoid about it getting wet to risk a bath but we just wiped her off w/ a washcloth. For her hair I got the washcloth very wet and just wiped really well. It was actually quite amazing to me that she never seemed dirty or stinky. And kids heal so fast and easily; there was no trace of the break on the followup xrays.
I can completely empathize how awful this is, just hang in there and it'll be alright. Good luck!
I don't have a toddler, but I do have a 7 year old in a cast. I got a tip that Glad Press n Seal was the best thing to keep it dry while bathing. It really does work. I also found a product online called Cast Comfort. It shoots cold air with deoderizer into the cast to help with itching. I am not sure with only 3 weeks of being in a cast that you will need that though. Hope this helps.
My nephew broke his arm last summer. Same thing, no swelling, no discoloration, etc. But he didn't want to use his arm the next morning so they went in and gave him a cast from armpit to mid hand. My sister put a plastic bag on his arm and used a little tape at the top.
I just came across this article and wanted to share my story with any others who might come across this. By the time my 2nd born daughter was three years old she had broke both discal tibia. The first incident occurred in August of 2011. She had been running around on a freshly clean and still wet carpet and wearing flip flops. She slipped on our kitchen floor. The second incident occurred in April 2012 at an Easter egg hunt. She had simply took a tumblr in the grass. Simple as that. Broken left discal tibia. My poor daughter who has since been terrified of "brwaking her weg" as she said it. She immediately recognized the pain and told me herself she had broken it. I too like many mothers of toddlers with broken bones was completely mortified! How could this possibly happen again??? After being referred to a pediatric orthopedic specialist, I left with this information: toddlers fractions are very common. The reason this has happened is because muscle loss occurs when a toddler is in a cast. Her already weakend right leg made it so that she was bearing most weight on her left. Basically it's unfortunate that this happens to our little ones but there's not much we can to to prevent it. I feel for any parents who are dealing with toddlers and small kids in casts. I feel your pain. There are websites that sell water proof seal for casts and patience will get you thought this. Take care.
my daughter had 2 casts under the age of 3. the best casts are the waterproof ones...learned that after the 1st. we tied a plastic bag around it....it still got wet though...it was such a pain!
