Little J is a feisty, active kid. He’s been that way since birth. Holding his head up only a few days after birth, rolling this way and that at 2 months, crawling at 5 months. He started walking a few weeks before his first birthday. Then he started running. He’s 13 months now. And to celebrate this milestone, he took off running in our plush carpeted basement and fell. He was inconsolable but we attributed this to the fact that it was bedtime and he was just cranky.

The next morning he took to crawling which I found odd. Trying to get him to walk or even stand was impossible. He was inconsolable once again. Off to the walk-in clinic we went. They x-rayed his ankle and foot and found nothing. They sent me away with a few words of advice: give him some pain meds and if he’s still not walking tomorrow, take him to the hospital. Needless to say, we went to the hospital the next day.

From there the x-rays showed a teeny tiny “toddler fracture”. I had never even heard of this. Miss O is a bit of a klutz (like her mama) but she’s nowhere near as adventurous as her little brother so the most we have dealt with is bumps and bruises. I learned that a toddler fracture is a common break for young kids in their leg. It’s not of much concern and usually heals just fine. The ER doctor put a splint on him aka a half-cast. It was moulded under his heel and up his calf. It was attached with a tensor bandage. We could remove it for bath time but otherwise he was to wear it, even in bed. We were told to visit the fracture clinic in a week’s time. 

And off we went again. From there, the poor guy had his third round of x-rays. Somehow these x-rays showed nothing at all. As he still refused to walk or stand on his leg, the doctor decided it was time to put on a full cast.

You may be wondering why a full cast for some undiagnosed ailment? It’s quite simple actually: an adult would rest their leg. My active little red-headed Leo baby will have none of this. The cast is solely to force his leg to rest. Thankfully the cast goes only mid-way up his thigh so we can still change diapers easily and the little guy can get around. He’s been crawling/dragging his leg all over the house and has worn in a smooth spot into it as a result.

We’re off to the fracture clinic yet again today where they will do an x-ray through the cast. Then we’re back again next week when they will remove it and x-ray once again. From there we will see if he stands or walks on it. If not, I’m almost afraid to find out what will be done from there.

My advice for parents with active little toddlers in a cast is this: First, breathe. It will be okay. Second, make sure you have lots of toys that sit on the floor for them to play with. Third: sponge baths suck. Fourth: pain meds before bed. 

I picked up a few tips in regards to bathing that have worked for us despite his incessant crying through it all. Get yourself two big bowls of warm water: one is simply to wash your soapy hands off and the other remains clean water. Lay a thick towel in the tub. Lay the wee one on his back with his head towards the drain – this makes it easy to wash his hair and the water will run straight down into the drain. For the rest of his body, we just use a wet cloth and rinse him down. I definitely suggest doing this with help – one parent does his hair while the other wipes him down. Keep his hands occupied with favourite bath toys. It will all be over soon, I promise.

There have been two positives from this experience.

1. He moves much slower now! I don’t have to watch him like a hawk at all times because he mostly just sits on the floor and plays with books and toys.
2. Snuggles. He just wants to snuggle with me all the time and I’m really enjoying it.

Stay tuned for updates on my fun adventures to the hospital with my wee little peg-leg.