by Jeremy Rutherfurd

Created on: October 11, 2008   Last Updated: June 14, 2009

If you think you're busy as a parent, wait until one of your children breaks a leg and ends up in a hip spica cast.

On June 20th, my 3-year-old son Akira broke his left femur in a fall and had to wear a cast encasing his waist and both legs for seven and a half weeks.

Because he wasn't toilet trained and couldn't move - he had to be carried or pushed around in a wheelchair - our world was turned upside down.

If your child has suffered a similar injury and you're frantically searching the Web for information on fractured femurs suffered by 2 and 3 year olds, you might appreciate knowing that such accidents occur more frequently than you think in young children.

According to the American Journal of Public Health, "the incidence of femur fractures in children is believed to have 2 peaks, one at the age of 2 to 3 years and another during adolescence." ("Femur Fractures in Infants and Young Children April 2004.)

In our case, Akira fell from a height of about three feet - that's all it took. In another case I know about, a 2-and-a-half year old jumped from a top bunk bed and suffered a similar injury.

One incident I read in a blog involved a 2 year old running across a room, turning suddenly and thereby snapping his femur.

These things happen. It's natural as a parent to feel guilty: blaming yourself for not having been more careful, not watching your kids more closely, etc.

I blamed myself for not being in the room when the accident happened. But kids do what kids do, and there's only so much a parent can do to protect them, or prevent them from harming themselves.

The good news is, kids at this age heal quickly, and "most children with fractures of the femur have a satisfactory outcome," orthopedic surgeon Steven Frick said in a presentation to the Orthopaedic Trauma Association. ("Fractures of the Femoral Shaft in the Pediatric Patient Aug. 2006.)

With Akira, he broke his leg on June 20 and "graduated" from physical therapy school on Oct. 1. (They gave him a mock diploma.)

It is now Oct. 5 and he can walk, run and jump. That Akira is not 100% recovered yet is obvious when he walks haltingly up and down stairs and in his inability to walk long distances. (In a recent trip to the Children's Museum of Manhatten, which involved a lot of walking, I had to carry him part of the way.) But the physical therapist said he'll eventually be able to do these activities.

"Have him practice climbing and descending steps every day. He'll get the hang of it," she told

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