My 3.5 yr old with a full leg cast wakes up every night restless..

Veronika broke her leg last Sunday. She is in a full leg cast for two weeks> She's a trooper. Doesn't complain, she's fine during the day, no issue, no whining, etc. Howver EVERY NIGHT around 12 or 1am, she starts crying/whining, being very restless. IT's not quite like the night terros/dreams. It goes on for 30min-1hr! Last night was especially bad. She doesn't want anyone to touch her, carry her, hug her, etc. But she continues to be clearly uncomfortable. She did say at one point that 'it hurts' but then she said nothing hurts.... SHe moves all over her bed, but doesn't really need us, though it's hard for us as parents to ignore her cries... She eventually settles in and sleeps till the morning...

I'm so clueless as to what to do. Shoudl I really just ignore it and not go into her room as she pushes us away when we do try to comfort her...??


Any thoughts from all of the experience dmoms woudl be appreciated.... Of course, it doesn't help that she sleeps until 8am while I am up at 6am to go to work so I've been walking around like a zombie since Monday. Feels like having newborns again....

Thanks!
Ela

 

Gosh, poor thing...and poor mama! I have no experience, but maybe you could call the dr's office and talk to the nurse? You can't be the first mommy dealing with this and they may have some tips.

 

Sounds like some type of Charlie horse activity since during the day she is fine, then at night when her leg is elevated and her blood flow is slowed down, it is probably very painful. I would give her tylenol before bed, and try to elevate her head more than the rest of her body so that she is more in a seated position, since it doesn't seem to bother her during the day. Good Luck.

 

She's probably moving her leg in her sleep and not realizing it. Cole had the same trouble. We were told to give him Tylenol w/codeine in it to help him sleep, which worked wonders. Unfortunately, Cole ended up having an allergic reaction to the codeine - he just got a minor rash, but we switched to Motrin. Check w/your doc...

Also, if you elevate with lots of pillows around her leg like PP said, it'll limit her movement somewhat.