What’s it like Having a 4-Year old With a Broken Leg

Like I said in my last post, I envisioned our summer being all outside, all sunshiney and fun, but Rhett broke his leg on Memorial Day Weekend, and that changed all my plans.
The first day in the E.R., they put a splint on his leg that was soft. He spent the first week in the soft cast while the swelling went down, and he was in pain every time he even moved a little or someone sat on the couch by him. It was really hard. We had to carry him everywhere, and when we did, I had to completely support his broken leg so that it didn’t bump or dangle at all or he would be screaming crying (and Rhett is a tough kid!).

After that week, they put him in a hard cast that went all the way up to his hip, and he still was in so much pain. I honestly couldn’t see how he would ever scooch around on the floor like I see so many kids in cast doing, but even on that first car ride home, he didn’t cry when we hit bumps, and seemed happier.

By the second or third day of him having the full-leg cast, I started to see the light. He could go from laying down to sitting up on the couch without crying, and was starting to want to move his leg. Going to the bathroom was still hard, but the cast was always getting stuck on the toilet and pulling, so that was understandable. He was in the full leg cast for two weeks, and by the end of the two weeks, he was even starting to try to stand up and hold onto things with his cast on.

At three weeks in, they let him go down to a below-the-knee cast, and we opted to get one that was waterproof. That has been a complete game changer for us. Not only is his new cast waterproof, but it is also a walking cast, and about a week after getting it, he started walking everywhere. His walk isn’t perfect, and every once in awhile he’ll lose balance, but he will even go in and jump on Ford’s bed sometimes. I am so grateful that my friend Kourtney told me about the waterproof cast, because they didn’t mention it as an option, but when I asked they said it was definitely an option once he went down to the below-the-knee one. He can swim in the pool and the lake, run through the sprinkler, and take baths and showers. If you ever get a child with a broken bone- ask for the waterproof cast!

Hopefully, if all goes well, next week we will get his waterproof cast off, six weeks after he broke it. He will most likely go into a boot for a few weeks, but he can take it off for baths or the pool. Him breaking his leg wasn’t the end of the world, but it definitely has made our summer mostly indoors and a bit of a damper. All in all, bones heal and we’re grateful that this is the worst injury that we’ve had in our family. If you have a kiddo with a broken leg and have any questions, let me know in the comments!