Shortly after Cole was born (I’m talking less than a month), Ella went down a park slide and came out of the other side with a fractured tibia. Through our ER experience, we learned this is actually extremely common and even medically nicknamed a “toddler fracture”.
We were lucky in that we only had a soft full leg cast for two days and we were able to go with a hard cast that only went up to Ella’s knee. The soft cast was extremely painful for Ella because it didn’t stabilize the break as well and was super uncomfortable. The hard cast (once she got used to it) was much more comfortable and easier to maneuver since it only came to her knee. She had this on for 8 weeks and did learn to walk (and even run, jump, and travel 😬) in it!
My best advice is to know it will be a short lived experience. It seems somewhat excruciating for all involved while you are in it, but the time really does pass quickly and your child will be back to high energy in no time!
Here are some products that helped us get through our time with the cast.
Stationary Activities
- Toddler friendly Beads
- Magnatab
- Arts and crafts supplies from Hobby Lobby and Target dollar spot – I love to stock up on the little pre packaged activities found at these stores when they go on sale. I store them in our laundry room closet and mix them in with other random art supplies for endless crafting possibilities.
- Leap frog pad – screen time is going to be unavoidable given they can’t really move for a while. At least it’s semi educational with a leap frog pad.
- Movies on movies
- Busy toddler and Little ones learn activities – these two insta moms have amazing indoor activity ideas that were lifesavers to keep Ella’s brain moving while her body couldn’t. Just avoid the water based ideas. Check out their instagram pages.
- Wagon – so great to get some fresh air. The wagon really helped Ella feel like she was doing more than riding in the stroller.
Day to Day Necessities
- Shower bag – once we got Ella over the idea of wearing the bag, it was absolutely heavenly to be able to take a proper bath! She was not a fan of the sink bath. We never found a child size of this bag, but it helps keep the cast dry while in the bath. We didn’t find that we needed to be overly careful when wearing it either! I’ve linked the leg version, but the arm version is smaller for smaller legs.
- Comfy adult size sock – the doctor gives you a “shoe” to wear over the cast to protect the bottom of it (and your floors) when walking. But until they figure out the walking, the sock really helps to avoid scratching the floors or other skin. Ella also felt more comfortable sleeping with the sock over the cast.
- Motrin – it was certainly a painful experience for Ella, especially for the first two weeks. We tend to give less medicine in general, but we did give it often in the beginning to keep her more comfortable and help her sleep.
Ask away with any questions or for extra tips!