Hello Moms! My 2 yr old was jumping on one of those ridiculous inflatable bouncy things this afternoon for about 5 seconds before he started crying. I took him out and shortly after he was refusing to put any pressure on his right leg. Nothing was swollen or tender. When he woke up from his nap he was able to stand and take some steps before complaining of pain. I gave him Motrin and he responded very well to that. However, he now has a limp. He acts like he is in absolutely NO pain and is playing as usual, but he is still limping. He is very happy and acts like nothing is wrong.
I am taking him in tomorrow morning to see his pediatrician anyways, but I am of course reading on-line all about fracures and how common they are in toddlers. I am so worried that he may have one. Anyone experience this with their toddlers?
I should have listened to my mommy-instinct that was telling me not to let him jump in there!! Ahhhhh!!!
I took my little guy to the orthopedic doctor after an x-ray came back normal but he was still limping. Turns out he has a "buckled" metatarsal on his right foot! I would have never guessed that! He is doing fine and no cast is necessary. It should be back to normal within 4 weeks.
Thanks for all your advice! You ladies are awesome.
My daughter broke her leg...no redness, no swelling, no bruising...just refused to put weight on it. She wasn't walking yet...just cruising...she would crawl on it though.
Happened Friday night...didn't take her in until Monday...a cast for 3 weeks.
If you end up finding that there is no fracture, go to a chiropractor. He is probably out of adjustment and that's pretty darn uncomfortable. Being out of adjustment causes swelling in the area (the joints, the ligaments, everything involved swells and has pressure) which the motrin relieves the pain. However, it's only a fix to the symptom. Most insurances cover chiropractic. My 5 year old jumps on those jumpers and she will tell me it's time for an adjustment the next day. I've had my 8 month old adjusted since she was 2 weeks old (and she started sleeping through the night the next day.) Good luck and I hope the little guy feels better!
Both my boys had broken bones by age 2. My oldest fractured his wrist climbing out of his crib at 21 mos. It never swelled, he was just favoring the arm. He wasn't really talking well, so I took him in. Glad I did!
My younger son tripped while coming out of a ball pit. He fell maybe 2 inches, but refused to put weight on it. Took him to the ER and he had broken his foot. Same son at a later date fell at park (I wasn't there) and hurt his forearm. My hubby poo-poo'd it and said he was fine. He seemed fine to me at first, but an hour or so later I found him holding it and crying in my closet. Took him in and found he had broken both the radius and ulna.
You never know when they're little. When they were little, my philosophy was that I'd rather pay a co-pay for piece of mind than miss something!
A fracture... will be swollen/bruised/tender. Sore.
I have had those and my kids have had those.
My two year old just got her cast off. The day she fractured her leg she wouldn't walk or stand on it at all. She was holding the spot and saying owie my leg. After getting motrin at the hospital she was happy but still wouldn't let you touch it or try putting weight on it. They seem to know when something is wrong, if he's walking ge could have sprained something maybe. Let us know what the doctor says!
my son did this llast summer after he took a flying leap off our 2 feet high deck and he limped for awhile didn't complain of pain but then flat out refused to walk. We went to the ER they examined him and the doctor said "evan would you like a lollipop" I've never seen a child get up and run so fast! No limp nothing.... he just ran. If there isn't any bruising or swelling I would try not to get too worried.
I suggest to get a referral for an orthopedic surgeon. My husband (who is an ortho surgeon) has at least one horror story per week of a mom wrought with guilt who took him to express care, regular peds office, etc., and, with good intentions of course, they manipulated it and made it worse. One kid recently had a broken arm that the ER doc said was just out of socket and actually did more damage trying to put it back in place. Not that those people aren't competant, but it's hard to tell for sure what's wrong if you're not specially trained, especially when dealing with a kid. Not only do kids have different body composition than adults, but they also might have trouble describing where the pain is and what kind of pain it is.
It does not need to be swollen, bruised, tender, a lot of pain, etc like some of these responses suggest to be broken. My son was almost 2 and acting just like your son. He was fallen on by some kids or was ran into something (we weren't there and no adults saw exactly what happened) on Sunday night. Took him to the ped on Monday. They didn't think it was broke but said if he was still limping Tuesday to take him for x-rays. Took him Tuesday to urgent care and it was broke. He was in a full leg cast for 4 weeks. He was fine after he got used to it-was walking on it and everything. Don't feel bad for letting him play in the bounce house-it could have happened anywhere! Good luck!
I'm glad you are taking him to the dr.!
I had a chipped bone in my pinky finger after slipping on wet tile. I thought that it was just sore. I could use it & it really wasn't swollen. Then while I was at my cardiologist apt. I mentioned it, they x-rayed it & sent me to the ER to have it stabilized. I spent about 10 weeks in a splint.
Also i have had a baby in a full cast (belly button to both ankles) from his hip surgery in the middle of summer. It was aweful!
Always go with your gut feeling.
God bless!
My 20mo old was limping for a week on his right leg. He wasn't showing any pain either, he would literally run while limping and other than the limp showed no other signs of pain. Just like you mention, happy and unaware of his own limp. I kept thinking it would get better, but finally took him to my Ped and he had it xrayed at the end of the week.
Xrays according to the radiologist were slightly inconclusive but the Ped's office still reco'd a trip to the Pediatric Ortho. (And I probably would have gone to one regardless of what my Ped office said.) Went to Dr Ballock (CLE Clinic.) He took one look at the xray and said "fracture"! :) It is VERY common, in fact I think he called it a "toddler fracture". He pinpointed the spot on the xray and touched it on my son's leg, and THAT was the first (and only) time my son screamed in pain.
A full leg cast (just behind the toes up to just about mid-thigh) was recommended for 3 weeks (OMG, 3 WKS!!) but he was too wiggly and they only got half of it on and had to saw it off immediately. The Dr told me a bad cast is worse than no cast. He said the cast is not to help heal the bone straighter or better, only to keep my son from being in pain by stabilizing it. Well since he wasn't really showing any outward signs of pain other than the limping, I was just told to "do my best" to keep him less active (ha ha ha, like that's possible!) and within a few days (maybe 4?) after the Ortho vist, so maybe 2wks total, his limp was completely gone. He went in for a follow up xray a few wks after that and was completely healed, new bone growth was perfect, etc. The Dr said sometimes he's not even sure why they reco casts, as the little ones seem to do just fine without them.
Don't feel bad about letting him jump on the bouncy things, we don't even KNOW how mine got his! There wasn't a specific incident to trace it back to, so even had you kept him off, he could've been like my (very active) kid and just done it hopping around on normal ground! :)
Oh, and the good Otho Dr gave us a wink when we left from the follow up xray and said he'd see us again soon. LOL Some kids are just little daredevils! :)
While it could be a hairline fracture, I very much doubt it. He would probably be in more pain and there should have been some sort of swelling somewhere. He may have even just landing wrong and pulled a weird muscle somehow. Your doctor will look at it, but I wouldn't be too worried since it doesn't seem to be bothering him!
