Keeping Toddler with Broken Bone Safe

I'm so sorry about your little one, J.. What a bad break for all of you (no pun intended...)

That said, J., you just MUST make that child wear the sling. Talk to the doc about ways to discipline her to get this done. I'm sorry, but allowing her to call the shots here because of her behavior fighting you is a recipe for disaster - like surgery. Her collar bone will heal wrong and your daughter will be disfigured.

This isn't just about safety. This is about making her heal normally so that the rest of her life is not affected.

Forget about her strong need for independence. You must take the reins here and MAKE her do what is necessary. Period.

Obviously you want to do what you can so that the bone can heal, but you might check with your doctor to see how much of a concern it is.

When I broke my wrist a few years ago I was so paranoid that I was going to do something to make myself require surgery - the fact that my oldest had just turned 1 didn't help my anxiety much :-) One of the times I went in to get an x-ray, my regular PA wasn't there and I a different PA in the practice. He told me that that is rarely a concern and that the cast really there more to protect me from pain.

I realize your little one doesn't have the benefit from a cast, but you might ask your doctor how real the danger is. That other PA reassured me that the danger was very, very slim, at least in my case, and that most of the time bones heal just fine on their own.

ETA - I'm sorry, but I just have to shake my head in disbelief at some of these responses. If someone is telling you to just Momup and "make her" wear the sling, I'm guessing that is a parent that doesn't have a strong-willed (read "suborn" and "obstinate") child and doesn't understand what it's like. Don't fight a battle you have no chance of winning!

My son fell playing soccer and broke his collar bone. He hated soccer so we figure he was faking it because it didn't hurt him at all unless he shrugged, or we lifted him. After three weeks he fell asleep on the sofa, dead asleep, we picked him up he screamed. Took him in the next day to find out broken collar bone.

My point, and there is one, we didn't even know for three weeks of a hyper 6 year old still playing sport and it healed just fine without any intervention. So if it is set, relax a bit.

Oh yeah, other point, when he was doing something stupid it hurt him so it is kind of self policing. I didn't hurt him, it hurt him, what a funny typo

I would forget about independence right now and just focus on keeping her safe and healing as she should. IMO this isn't a "helicopter mom" issue, the bone needs to heal, so she can't jump and leap like she wants to. Sad and difficult, but end of story.

Do you have a sensory table? That's a great low-physical activity that is usually entertaining for toddlers. We use an underbed box on top of the train table.* You can fill it with playdough, oats, pasta (cooked and uncooked), rice, salt, sand, ice, etc., and lots of pouring/measuring equipment and little toys. Just have it ready for her and let her discover it.

I would also break out or invest in some puzzles or duplo, which can be low physical activity that builds fine motor skills.

If she starts bouncing, running or jumping and you have energy, try picking her up and dancing with her, or if you're all out of energy, try reading a book or watching a TV show.

As far as getting out of bed, you can always put her mattress on the floor for two weeks so she can have more mobility without hurting herself worse.

Good luck, hope she heals quickly!

*like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Underbed-Storage-Bin-...

Put the sling on her and tie something around it. She needs this for this bone to heal right. You're the mom, she isn't able to make rational decisions and you need to do this.

I would put her in overalls or something and weave an ace bandage or something that stretches enough for her to breath freely but not where she can lift her arm away from her body. Then fasten it in the back. Make sure it won't slide up around her neck though, you don't want her to choke.

You might want to put a gate up and keep her in a restricted place where she can't be out of your sight. This way you can manage her actions and tell her you are the mommy and she needs to mind mommy.

Make her wear the sling aanyway you can.. my brother in law, he's a marine broke his collar bone in 2013 and had to have two surgeries one to fix the break with screws and pins and the other to remove the screws and pins because he couldn't perform like he should of been able to because of how the pins and screws were against his bone. He fell down the stairs too. Go to a fabric store and have her pick out a couple different ones and then just do a home made sling with the fabric about a yard each.

I wonder if you could make the sling fun for her... Go buy some fabric markers and glitter glue- maybe an iron on decal. (Frozen should be a winner, lol.) let her decorate it up however she wants. Heck, go all out and sew a feather boa to the edges to make it even more fun. When my DD broke her arm around that age, she absolutely HATED the cast until I let her draw on it... Then she proudly showed it off to everyone and cried when it was time to get it off.

As for keeping her busy but calm... Take her to the library and let her pick out books and movies. Give her lots of paper, some tape, crayons, etc. and let her go to town. Use painter's tape to make a path for her to walk on down the hallway for fun. Make sensory bins, let her sort things, etc. I imagine you could browse Pinterest for lots of low-ruckus play ideas.

Also... The seriousness of her needing to wear the brace depends on the severity of the break. My dd broke hers during birth, and even the nurses gave up on trying to keep her arm pinned. (There is no rationalizing with a newborn, and she was hurting herself more fighting to free her arm than leaving her arm loose would.) she healed completely fine-through learning to nurse and tummy time (which the doctor still recommended that she had...)with her arm free. My husband also broke his collarbone TWICE (once at 8 years, and once at 11) his parents tell me stories about how they would still catch him doing backflips off his bed (which is how he broke it the second time...) while he was supposed to be wearing his brace. Again, he healed perfectly fine. There was no need for surgery in any of the 3 cases, and neither of em are disfigured in the least.

My recommendation would be to try whatever you can to get her to wear it, and consult her doctor as soon as possible. Ask him how important it is that she keeps it on- and follow his advice. He may say that as long as she is kept calm and quiet, it isn't necessary to wear it. Or, he may really advocate keeping it on. If that is the case, you are really going to have to try to de-battle wearing it somehow or get tough and make her wear it.

That is so difficult I'm so sorry. Haven't been through that thankfully so no wisdom here. Hugs

Not sure where the break is - but do you know how to make a butterfly brace with a cloth diaper? That is what my pedi did years ago when my son cracked his collar bone - saved the expense of a brace that would stink in a few days in the middle of the summer. Just took the diaper back to him on a later visit.

(fyi - back then, he used the long cloth diapers as covers on the exam tables for the kids - much softer than the crazy paper!)

Luckily the weather being super cold is in your favor. How about having lots of movies, coloring, baking cookies, crafts, and other quiet activities? You can just do what you can.

Benadryl?? Lots??? JK...

Honestly, I don't know how to slow a kid down if they're not sick or injured, and her injury is not bothering her.

At 3 she can reason, so keep reminding her she needs to play quiet games for 2 weeks, which seems like forever, but is not.

Oops....sorry, she's not 3....I misread 3...she's not even 2.

And you need to enlist the help and support of your older kids in playing quiet games with. There will be no rough housing and jumping and sliding, etc for 2 weeks. Let them mark the days off the calendar. And pull out all the board games and videos you'll allow them to watch.

GL!!

P.S. I broke my collar bone as a toddler too, and to this day, as a 3rd child who felt the need to keep up, I have a good bump on my chest due to way it healed. I don't find it unattractive.

When my brother broke his, they used that heavy adhesive tape from the back over the collar bone to the upper chest. I know it's not ideal and it can be uncomfortable but maybe she would have no option that way. Call the doctor - surely they've dealt with this before and know that you can't keep a 23 month old still. Not sure what rewards or cool stories you could read about the sling. Any sling-bound super-heroes or princesses??? Half-kidding but I'll be there are some techniques that others have perfected.

Do you have an iPad or any type of tablet? There are plenty of interactive toddler learning games, so she can sit still and learn at the same time. I wouldn't have her use it all day, but it may give you the 20-30 minutes you need to regroup. My son has a speech delay and I was told by the pediatrician to have him use the iPad to help him learn. Most toddler games are repetitive so they hear the same word often. As my son started talking more, I figured out that he knew all his letters, numbers 1-10, shapes, and colors by the time he was 2.5. And he only used the iPad for about 30-40 minutes a day. I usually broke it up into two sessions of 15-20 minutes. While I worked with him on all these things, I'm sure the iPad helped a lot.