Believe it or not, one of my most popular post ever written on this blog, is the one about when Rhett broke his leg. I guess I’m not the only parent who frequently googles things when they’re in distress. On that post, I have gotten many comments and questions about that first week so I thought I’d share more since we’ve been down that road multiple times now (technically).
If you don’t already know, one of my sons broke their leg when he was four. Another one of my sons was four years old when he had to have have four major surgeries that involved breaking each of his legs and feet in multiple places (it makes me cringe just writing that). Each experience was awful, especially after the surgery because they could not cast my sons femur so he was in a soft cast o his upper leg which was much harder to protect and isolate the leg. Here’s what I’ve learned through all of these experiences:
1. The first 24 hours is the worst part for the pain. Don’t expect to rest, don’t expect to sleep, just focus on making it through the first day or two. When Rhett broke his leg, I asked about stronger pain medicine and they did not prescribe it and said he wouldn’t need it. He spent the first two days in excruciating pain, crying so much and never slept. It was absolutely horrible. I learned quickly with Toan’s surgeries in the hospital that they give much stronger medicine for the first twenty four hours because that is the most painful period for broken bones. You have a right to request prescription pain medicine if your child needs it. Normal over the counter tylenol barely did anything for Rhett. Around 48 hours after breaking it, the pain got much better. It also improved greatly when they put the hard cast on, which they usually don’t do for a day or two to allow the swelling to go down. Expect that every bump in the car, every time you move your child will hurt.
2. It’s not your fault. If you’re like me, having a child break a limb makes you feel really bad and wonder what you could have changed. In most cases, breaks are purely accidental. It’s also hard after surgical breaks to not feel guilty for putting your child through so much pain, even when you know it is what’s best in the long run. I remember after Toan’s third surgery and at the peak of the hard hospital stay, wanting to just give up and not continue his treatments. A year later (now), I’m so grateful that we pushed through because he is doing things that they never thought would be possible.
3. Find Toys and Entertainment to distract them. Breaking a bone hurts. Being in the Emergency Room and Orthopedics office is scary, especially when you are already in pain. I found that the resting, casting process, and getting cast removed (the blade can look really scary to kids even though it’s completely painless) goes much better when you have really really good entertainment. We usually limit screen time for our kids but when Rhett broke his leg, all bets were off. He was allowed time on the tablet pretty much unlimited the first two or three days (when the pain is really bad) and then got it some for the next weeks and always got to have it when we were at the ER or Orthopedic office. Both my kids were so afraid for their legs to be touched that they were terrified of anything the doctors would do, scared that it might hurt. If I could distract them, the doctors could usually do whatever they needed much easier and the appointments were less traumatic, especially for Toan who was in double leg cast for most of 16 weeks.
Toys and entertainment are also crucial for getting your kiddo to rest happily while they heal. I bought new toys regularly for Toan during his 16 week surgery recovery (we were out of town for treatments so I couldn’t just rotate our old toys). A great way to get new toys for this is just to ask friends or local Moms if you can borrow some for a few weeks and give them back when you’re done. My kids played the longest with toys that had some way to build it over and over again in different ways. Here are some of our favorite toys for sitting and playing without lots of movement (click each one to shop it):
–Snap Circuits
–Legos
–Light Brite
-Color Wonder
–Kinetic Sand with the Construction Trucks
–Duplos
-Battlebots (their siblings can do this with them which is fun)
–Connectors (I don’t know the real name of these but they are one of our most played with toys)
–Magnatiles
–Card Games (also fun, but be careful not to get one they have to reach too far to play)
Games or toys that their siblings can safely do near them is nice because then they don’t feel left out from all the fun. 
we found a wagon to be a must-have both times too. It keeps the leg elevated and is big enough for older children.
4. Don’t get the cast wet. Don’t even chance it.
As a family who is pretty much always swimming, playing in the rain, going to the beach, or spraying the hose, keeping our kids from water while they had a broken leg felt impossible. At week 4 we were super lucky to be able to get a cast for Rhett that was waterproof, but until then, we had to keep it dry. He didn’t take a real bath during that time, we just washed his hair the sink and sponge bathed him. With Toan, 16 weeks is a really, really long time and so a few times, I made the mistake of getting him too close to water and it didn’t end well. One time I let him sit near our water table and tried to protect his leg but water got in somehow. It was impossible to get it completely dry. Within hours it stunk horribly and when we got it taken off a few days later, his poor skin was so sensitive and gross from being in a wet cast. After that, I made sure to never let him even get near water and to always use water bottles that had no chance of leaking just to be safe. We were allowed to have one day where his cast were off in the middle of his treatments and he had a bath that day but other than that, we lived on dry shampoo, baby wipes, and sink hair washes. This next one is closely related…
4. If you can get a waterproof cast, DO IT. When Rhett broke his leg, they didn’t even tell us that waterproof cast were an option. It was only after another Mom told me they had them that I asked and was able to get one. The waterproof cast was a total game changer for us. You usually can’t get them for the first two weeks (minimum) but Rhett got one around three or four weeks and it made the whole broken leg thing a thousand times better. He could swim, bathe, spill drinks, etc etc etc. Some places charge a little extra (ours didn’t) but for us it still would have been worth it.
5. Their Skin will be Sensitive When the Cast Comes Off.
No matter how much you baby your kiddos leg, the skin under the cast will be hyper-sensitive to the touch. You are going to want to grab a washcloth and scrub off all the yucky old skin but you have to be careful because the skin is so sensitive. Toans leg was so sensitive after getting his cast off that we couldn’t even put socks on him and even running water over it hurt. It took us a few days of softly rubbing it with lotion to get it to where I could really clean it, so just be careful!
6. Let Them Decorate their Cast
I wish I had pictures of all 16 of Toan’s cast. We colored some like sharks, let kids sign them, painted them, wrote silly jokes before cast removal, anything to make it more fun. Usually they will even let you choose the color of the cast, although there was so much medical supply shortage during Covid that Toan had to just have white ones most of the time (a great blank canvas for drawing on!)
Last but not least….
7. It will heal. Broken bones stink. They’re kinda traumatic for everyone, but they will heal. Know that some do require surgery to reset, but that’s pretty uncommon. Time will pass, plans may be changed or ruined completely (Rhett broke his leg the very first weekend of summer), but someday you’ll be able to look back and be glad it’s over! Until then, buy good toys, invest in a cheap wagon if you need it, and just get through the next day. Don’t forget to breathe, you got this.
Here are a few other supplies we always (or wish we always) had on hand when kids had a broken leg that were game changers:
–Cast Scratcher– Sounds silly but the cast get so itchy and I thought Toan was going to lose his mind from being itchy so often. Things like this are amazing.
–Rinse-free Shampoo– This took me a few tries to get right but once we did it was so helpful since we couldn’t bathe them. This shampoo works like normal shampoo but you don’t use any water and you just rub the hair with a wash cloth to get it out. This is the brand we used when Toan was in cast for 16 weeks.
–Loose fitting shorts– Guess what you don’t think about when getting on a full-leg cast? How you’re going to pull your childs pants down to use the bathroom. We found that baggy soccer shorts like these work best for boys, the shorter the better.
–Handheld Fan– If it’s warm where you are, and even if it’s not, having a cast on can get SO hot. Both my kids sweated like crazy when in cast, plus they couldn’t move around to cool off. These fans were a lifesaver for my boys.
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