Medical Question: My 21mo old's foot

[jellibeans]

Today my sit n stand didn't snap before putting my son in the front. When I went to push it(with big bro standing on his part) the whole stroller went forward with my 4 yr old landing on top of my 21 mo old and a collapsed stroller. Now my 21 month old is limping. He is able to put pressure and stand on his foot/leg. It doesn't look bruised, red or swollen. He isn't crying either. I was thinking that I would wait until tomorrow to see if he is limping and if he is, then take him to the ER. What would you do?

[ecofem]

If he is putting weight on it and it is not bruised or swollen, I might wait and see.

If you have access to an Urgent Care clinic, I would go there instead of the ER if you choose to seek assistance, but that's just me. I avoid the ER if at all humanly possible.

[wellyes]

Aw, poor kid! Have him take it easy today, but if there is any sign it's not right, I'd take him in for xrays (or at least call the pediatrician) tomorrow. It's so tough with toddlers, they can't tell you if it hurts. But do remember they're almost always FINE. Lots of bendy cartilage = resilient joints.

I've been to the ER at least once per year per kid (nothing awful, for which I am very thankful). It's always been no fun, but fine.

[crl]

I don't know what I'd do, but here's my kind of similar story.

Dd hurt her foot a couple of months ago (so she was just about 24 months), but I didn't see how. She was crying and refusing to put weight on it. I managed to make sure it was her foot and then took her over to the former ER doc/mom who lives down the street.

She took a good look at it and said she thought there was nothing requiring immediate attention and she'd wait to see how it did.

I called my ped the next morning because we were getting ready to leave town for a long weekend and he said not to bring her in and just to call if it wasn't better in a week. He said it was very unlikely anything was broken since she was putting a little weight on it (though clearly limping), there was no swelling and no brushing, and she was not crying when sitting. He also said if there was a hairline fracture it wouldn't even show up on a on x-ray that soon so there was no point to taking her in.

She stoppped limping after about three days and that was the end of it.

Catherine

[Tanya]

Ugh, don't you hate that!? I always debate taking them in or not.

My oldest when she was about 3, suddenly started limping or just crawling instead of walking. I took her to the pediatrician and he didn't see/feel anything. He suggested just waiting and seeing, but gave me the written prescription for x-rays if I wanted to take her in. I waited and she was fine in a couple days.

My boy twin at 18 months old got off the bed onto carpet and cried. His foot did swell and bruise, but it happened on a weekend (dont' they always????) and we decided to wait and see. He was walking better on it by Monday, but still limping. I took him into the pediatrician. He didn't think it was broken, but sent us for x-rays. x-rays showed 3 bones were fractured, so then we were sent to an orthopedic doctor and he got a cast for 3.5 weeks.
He just had the cast removed the and the doctor called his fractures "baby fractures" and said the cast surely did the trick and didn't require more x-rays. Also said it would never even show in another x-ray a year from now.
I'll tell you that I did feel guilty for not taking him in over the weekend when we first found out it was fractured and we'd have to see an orthopedic doctor, but none of the doctors chewed us out or seemed the least bit concerned about our waiting. We knew exactly when it happened and were in the room with him.

So, you really just never know what to do. At that age, the doctor said the bone are soft, but the joints are strong. The two most common places for fractures to occur are the foot and the lower leg.

Compared to a trip to the ER, taking one to the pediatrician and getting x-rays isn't nearly as expensive or time consuming.
With all that said, my son is still probably going to hit his deductible soon. I'm just waiting for the bills...