Toddler Fracture

I don't know why it took a whole week, three doctors, two x-ray sessions, and a visit to the Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon, but we finally have a diagnosis! Kaleb has what they call a toddler fracture in his leg. Basically how the Orthopedic doctor explained it to me was that toddler's bones are like clay in a sense. Instead of breaking or splitting, they just bend and deform, and that's what happened. He said the most common type of injury for this age group happens on the slide. He also explained to me why toddlers don't get sprains (very rarely it does happen, but not in our case). Apparently the muscles and ligaments are stronger than the bones at this age, so the bone will bend before a muscle will pull or tear. Soooo.... with the diagnosis comes the treatment, right? Nope, doctor said it would heal itself and we didn't need to do anything. His exact words were, "The leg will heal the same whether I put a cast on it or a band-aid on it!" The only reason he puts casts on any kids with this same injury is when the day-cares won't allow them back in school without protection. Kaleb will start school in two and a half weeks, but he should at least be walking by then. Doc said that typically, he should start walking 7-10 days after the injury, limp for a couple of days to a couple of weeks, and then be back to normal at 3-4 weeks out. We are now at 7 days out and Kaleb can stand up on his own and yesterday even limped a couple of steps while holding on to the wagon and ottomon. He's a tough and very strong-willed little boy, so even though you can tell it's still sore, but we're hopeful for a quick and full recovery very soon!