Caring for a 4yr old with a broken leg...all summer.
June 8, 2013 7:49 PM Subscribe
My (step)son broke his leg today and is currently getting it splinted until it can be cast on Monday. We have 50/50 custody and decent communication, but as the resident mama of his other home, how can I best make him comfy and keep him entertained for the next 6-8 weeks?
His mom and stepdad have a good relationship with his dad and myself, but communication on doctor orders and other fine details gets reliably muddled once it's gone through the chain. For anyone who's dealt with toddler-almost-big-boys and broken bones, what are some helpful tips and tricks to keep in mind while we get him through healing in the next few months?
His mom and stepdad have a good relationship with his dad and myself, but communication on doctor orders and other fine details gets reliably muddled once it's gone through the chain. For anyone who's dealt with toddler-almost-big-boys and broken bones, what are some helpful tips and tricks to keep in mind while we get him through healing in the next few months?
Aw, poor kid. My guess is that he'll be pretty stuck for about three weeks (three more to finish, but not so bad as at first!) For stuck-time, what does he like to do? Match-Box cars come to mind, and one of my boys played well with circuit toys. Read to him! Teach him to cook (ok, salads, sandwiches) Drawing/painting? Four yo boys can be fun to pass the time with, if you have the time to play too.
posted by bebrave! at 8:50 PM on June 8, 2013
posted by bebrave! at 8:50 PM on June 8, 2013
You can get a lot of classic Disney movies fairly inexpensively on half.com, even ones "in the vault." (My 4 year old is obsessed with "The Fox and the Hound" which is not even that good but it is his favorite.) 101 Dalmations, Sword in the Stone, Lady and the Tramp, Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland.
Regarding cooking, we have these vinyl knives that cut food quite well but do not cut small people. My kids love to get to cut up squash and zucchini and so on for pasta primavera.
Also, "little" Legos (as opposed to Duplos), which can be conveniently played with on a TV tray and which for a 4-year-old are probably a special treat since most are juuuuust growing into real Legos. You can get several small kits. Lego has some "my first Lego" sorts of things for the smallest kids that are less-complex than other kids.
Also I'd get some books with really rich pictures, like Animalia by Graeme Base.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:57 PM on June 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Regarding cooking, we have these vinyl knives that cut food quite well but do not cut small people. My kids love to get to cut up squash and zucchini and so on for pasta primavera.
Also, "little" Legos (as opposed to Duplos), which can be conveniently played with on a TV tray and which for a 4-year-old are probably a special treat since most are juuuuust growing into real Legos. You can get several small kits. Lego has some "my first Lego" sorts of things for the smallest kids that are less-complex than other kids.
Also I'd get some books with really rich pictures, like Animalia by Graeme Base.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:57 PM on June 8, 2013 [1 favorite]
Do you have a wagon like this? Not sure how high the break is, but a wagon would mean he could sit normally or have his leg propped up, his choice. Look up what there is in your area for kids with limited mobility; for example, near my house there's a public playground with water features intended for use by kids who are in wheelchairs or need to be pushed through by a caregiver- he could totally do that in a wagon, and he'll still get summer at the park.
I spent a summer babysitting a five year old girl who had ongoing kidney issues that meant a lot of time on bedrest. She did a lot of stuff on a lap desk- a child-size lap desk or bed tray that can be used on the sofa would be great to have. I found having a stash of 'new-to-her' things on hand - crayons, pencil crayons, interesting paper, clay, lego kits (the kind containing a small project), pipe cleaners, stickers, was a good distraction.
posted by variella at 11:35 PM on June 8, 2013
I spent a summer babysitting a five year old girl who had ongoing kidney issues that meant a lot of time on bedrest. She did a lot of stuff on a lap desk- a child-size lap desk or bed tray that can be used on the sofa would be great to have. I found having a stash of 'new-to-her' things on hand - crayons, pencil crayons, interesting paper, clay, lego kits (the kind containing a small project), pipe cleaners, stickers, was a good distraction.
posted by variella at 11:35 PM on June 8, 2013
If you can, send out word to his family that mail would be nice: all kids love getting cards and notes via snail-mail, but it's especially good for a basically-immobilized kid.
posted by easily confused at 2:35 AM on June 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by easily confused at 2:35 AM on June 9, 2013 [2 favorites]
If the cast cannot get wet--a blow dryer on the cool setting can provide itch relief without damage. For activities try sculpture clay or shrinky-dinks. Hit your local craft store--or look online for low cost make your own Playdough recipies.
posted by agatha_magatha at 6:37 AM on June 9, 2013
posted by agatha_magatha at 6:37 AM on June 9, 2013
Response by poster: His dad is absolutely attending all appointments with him and his mom and my communication with his mom is good, so we're in direct contact about medication, comfy positions, all that good stuff. My mother-in-law spent a frantic Sunday sewing velcro on the sides of superhero undies and jammy bottoms so he could wear real underwear without jostling his leg too much, and his mom and stepdad have a bunkbed in the living room that comes to chest-height on an adult and keeps him out of his toddler brother's reach.
Over here at Dad's house, I'm looking for ways to make him comfy, accommodate his entertainment needs, bathroom and bathing needs, stay on top of his pain with strictly scheduled applications of medicine, and keep his OTHER two brothers from beating on him while he heals. He's supposed to get a cast this afternoon and we are all hoping that it gives him a little more mobility (even just the ability to reposition himself comfortably in bed right until the break heals a little more) and maybe some more pain relief options.
posted by annathea at 8:45 AM on June 10, 2013
Over here at Dad's house, I'm looking for ways to make him comfy, accommodate his entertainment needs, bathroom and bathing needs, stay on top of his pain with strictly scheduled applications of medicine, and keep his OTHER two brothers from beating on him while he heals. He's supposed to get a cast this afternoon and we are all hoping that it gives him a little more mobility (even just the ability to reposition himself comfortably in bed right until the break heals a little more) and maybe some more pain relief options.
posted by annathea at 8:45 AM on June 10, 2013
My high-energy son broke his leg just below the knee a couple of years ago, at age six, i think. He convinced the ER nurses to give him crutches against all their hunches and experience, and it turned out pretty well. (The school still insisted on sending around a bus with a wheelchair lift so he could ride in a wheelchair all day at school -- which he bounded out of the moment he arrived home!)
He had a cast from his toes up to about his thigh. (We never heard anything about it being OK to get it wet; I would be wary of that!) He spent the first couple of weeks plopped on his butt on the couch playing Nintendo, I am afraid, but after that he got good on his crutches very quickly, and went tearing around the house and yard. The crutches meant that he couldn't carry much, but as soon as he plopped down in a chair he was his old self: Lego bricks on a table (instead of the floor), or a boardgame in the dining room (again, instead of on the floor).
An interesting note is that because he even learned to wal an d run (!) with the cast by the end, his gait was gimpy after the cast came off. We sent him to PT for a few weeks and then did a lot of exercises at home until he was back to walking/running evenly.
It'll suck for al of you, but you'll get through it!
posted by wenestvedt at 10:10 AM on June 10, 2013
He had a cast from his toes up to about his thigh. (We never heard anything about it being OK to get it wet; I would be wary of that!) He spent the first couple of weeks plopped on his butt on the couch playing Nintendo, I am afraid, but after that he got good on his crutches very quickly, and went tearing around the house and yard. The crutches meant that he couldn't carry much, but as soon as he plopped down in a chair he was his old self: Lego bricks on a table (instead of the floor), or a boardgame in the dining room (again, instead of on the floor).
An interesting note is that because he even learned to wal an d run (!) with the cast by the end, his gait was gimpy after the cast came off. We sent him to PT for a few weeks and then did a lot of exercises at home until he was back to walking/running evenly.
It'll suck for al of you, but you'll get through it!
posted by wenestvedt at 10:10 AM on June 10, 2013
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If doctor's orders get muddled, might I suggest that your partner attend the casting appointment? That way you'll be sure to get all the right information. Conversely, if he can't attend, is he legally authorized to call the doctor himself to get the orders? Because really, what the orthopedist says is going to be so specific to your kid; what he can and cannot do, when he can bear weight on the leg (which will help you determine how sedentary to keep him), if he can get the cast wet, etc.
posted by cooker girl at 8:41 PM on June 8, 2013