My son has broke his arm 3 times in a year: Thoughts?

I have a 6-year-old, and this is the 3rd time within a year he fell and broke his arm. The first was his elbow, and the second was his other forearm, and he fell again, and the same area broke. Last time he saw his pediatrician, they said he is healthy. But now we are concerned. I must add he’s VERY active and hyper. Has anyone gone through this with their child?

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Has the vitamin D level been checked? Dexa scan (bone density test) done?

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Get a bone density test done. That will help see if there is an underline issue.

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Well one of mine had stitches twice before he was 2 I have 4 boys so I knew the quickest ERs and the Ortho doctor would ask about the other boys were
Doing

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There may be something wrong, go to a specialist and try to figure it out.

My son had two broken arms in kindergarten- one in December, one in May. When the second one happened, I questioned his doctor about poor bone density or something. The orthopedist said these sorts of injuries are very common in kids this age.

To add- my daughter broke her ankle in kindergarten :woman_shrugging:

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My son broke his arm in three places just from hitting the floor after playing leap frog over my best friends son.

The only bone my son ever broke was on the old school monkey bars at a park. I never broke a bone as a child, neither did my brother. This quite frankly, sounds like abuse.

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Did he take prevacid or similar medicine because of spitting up as a baby? Many children get porous bones and easily break if taken during first year

Did he just fall from walking? Is he growing a lot right now? Sometimes bones are more fragile when they are growing a lot. That said, falling off a bed is different than falling when walking. I would ask your pediatrician.

I had the same problem when I was young and it was just poor bone density. I would check with the doctor about it

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My 9 year old has only broken one bone (his wrist) 2 years ago but has had to have stitches and glue too many times to count! My 4 year old falls and runs into stuff ALL the time! Nothing broken but tons of bruises, scrapes, and bumps. Having my 3rd and final boy tomorrow, and I don’t think my heart can take it lol #BoyMom4Life

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Where’s the admins at? Some of these comments are ridiculous

My very active, rough, but also clumsy, daughter broke 2 bones in the same year. She is 11 and has broken 3 total. My 4 other kids have never broken any. She does seem more prone to it than others but her primary and ortho said her bones are fine🤷🏼‍♀️

Is he getting enough calcium and vitamin D?

Id ask to see rheumatologist to be sure. He might just be unlucky my sons a daredevil

Have him test for brittle bones .

My daughter went through a huge growth spurt and the same thing; 3x that year she broke her arm. Went to specialist and he said she does not look like someone with brittle bones. It was a waste of time for us. Do what u feel is best to be safe.

Probably just an active boy. That’s normal to me, I have 4 boys and it’s crazy here

Ask your pediatrician to check for osteogenesis imperfecta. Ok it looks intimating. But what it actually is a hereditary bone disease. All it is … is that the bones may be a little more brittle. ( I have it, my mom had it) it is actually more common then alot of people know. I have had MANY broken bones. The mother or father may not have it but could be “carriers”. If it is found theres nothing that can be done yet. But if it’s on the childs Medical records it shows theres no abuse and that helps get the parents better help.

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I broke my arms 8 times around the ages 7and 10 !!!
As I grew and matured I became more calmed and careful.
Also Practicing martial arts really helped channeling my energy and learning to balance and move my body with more “precision”.

Life with active boys–some are more prone than others. I have two boys and the older one if a frequent patient at the bone and joint office. Good luck!

If you don’t get him checked out by specialists and this pattern continues. CPS could be called. It doesn’t sound like you are abusing him. Keep him checked out.

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My youngest broke each arm and each leg before the age of4, took her to Shriners for a few years, they found nothing to indicate the cause, fast forward 10 years, she was diagnosed with Crohns Disease, early symptoms? Brittle bones!

My son recently broke both bones in his forearm, its healing nicely hes out of his cast but boy am i a nervous wreck hes gonna do it again. Hes 5. Thought he was a bird and jumped off the couch

Some kids really are just accident prone. I broke my arm when I was 6… 2 weeks later I ran full speed into a pole on the playground and broke my nose… then a week later got too close to my cousin’s backswing with a golf club and rebroke my nose even worse. I was a mess… maybe had brittle bones… but mostly I was just a klutz (and still am!)

I think it depends on HOW he is breaking his bones. Some kids are rough and tumble - if he broke it doing things that would break anyone’s bone…it’s probably okay. I was diagnosed with brittle bones disease (osteogenis imperfecta as someone else mentioned earlier) when I was 11 after breaking my arms for the third time in about a year. Twice cuz I tripped and the last time doing a cartwheel. Also broke my nose twice in the same time frame. Ask the doctor if he should be tested. I was referred to an orthopedic surgeon and they are the ones who diagnosed me.

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Yes my daughter and they did a DEXA scan and blood work and she was diagnosed with low calcium and vitamin D

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My 1st son broke almost every bone in his body starting at 3 every year sometimes twice a year until he was about 18 years old and now it has slowed down and he’s 23 now! He was a wild and crazy active child/teen! They tested him also and he was fine just accident prone with a high tolerance for pain! Don’t worry boys are wild! Then again my second boy hasn’t broke anything yet but he was a sick kid all the time! Dealing with both sides I rather them breaking bones then being sick! Countless drs, Orthopedic’s, ER visits, hospital stays, physical therapists it gets crazy! Hang in there momma it will pass!

I broke my wrist, and both ankles in less than 10 months when I was in 4th grade. One of my brothers has scars and dents in the back of his head from fighting with my other brother. And my oldest brother has a few marks on the back of his head too. My 3 are all 3 and under but I tell you what, I will be insanely shocked if we don’t have some ER trips ahead of us because these kids are clumsy and BRUTAL.

It probably wasn’t healed all the way, childrens bones are soft and easily broken.

My daughter dislocated her knee cap in April, after 6 weeks with a cast and now 6 weeks doing physical therapy we are going to see a peds specialist bc her knee cap still goes out of place when bent. Just keep asking questions, keep pushing for answers.

Yes. My daughter broke each of her legs while roller skating
Separate times but both in 1st grade

What are they concerned about? I mean it’s normal

That’s normal. If its rough situations like falling off a slide, jumping off a swing wrong at daycare, climbing a tree (my kid did all these things and did break his arm before)… but if he’s not being rough it keeps happening… check his bones with specialist.

My son was born with birth defects, corrective surgeries put him in a cast on one arm and both legs. I got dirty looks from people like I might have caused it…I’d just laugh…

My son is only 3 and he’s had 2 concusions and we’ve been in for stitches twice already! We are following shortly behind, I feel ya momma!

It’s not uncommon for kids. Their bones are still hardening at that age. Plus they are active. I honestly question how mine hasn’t broken a bone with how hard he plays.

I broke both arms at different times before I was 8 … I attributed it to poor nutrition as I had to fend for myself for most meals never drank milk and still hate it to this day

My be oldest broke one arm three times the other one once broke her nose playing baseball. My second child broken one arm the her leg then the other arm then just 4 months go my son got his arm broken by a nother kids

Yes . My daughter was in a cast her 6th, 7th and 8th grade she had her foot in a cast she had broke her growth plates skateboarding in a pair of flip-flops the next time it was the same foot slipped off the driveway of her grandmother’s carport and the following year we were at a cookout and it started to rain and she ran towards the house and slid on a wet deck and hit the door her ninth-grade year she stepped off the curb at school and ended up back in a cast.

Have them check how his bone density is…had a friend who’s daughter was always breaking her leg…they thought it was child abuse but tests came back that her bones were weak

Absolutely dont trust it, this comment isnt to scare but I had/have an issue with bones breaking easy doctors passed it as clumsy. Turned out I had a rare auto immune disease that effects my bone marrow & blood. Im NOT saying your child is at risk for it just that you need to see a specialist early and the earlier the better, sometimes it can be just calcium issues which is easy to fix. However there are idiopathic issues that sometimes happen for no real reason that can be corrected at a young age

There is a difference in a hyper child and one that is doing dangerous things.

My son broke 36 bones before he was 5 years old. I am a Registered Nurse, and was investigated by child protective services (while being director of pediatrics in an inner city hospital) 3 times! I had my son tested for osteogenesis, osteoporosis, and anhydrous. All testing was negative, he was just a tough, thick headed kid! He is now 37 years old, has 3 masters degrees, and still hasn’t slowed down. Just try to take a deep breath, and remember its going to be okay. Somehow, someway, we survive our children. We grow with them, and in spite of them :blue_heart:

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Girl my 2 year old has broken his foot twice busted his ear drum from hoping and hitting the wall hard and busted his head open last week he was just running in the yard and hit the sidewalk really hard boys tend to be rough but then again I have a very rough girl too lols

My son broke his finger and wrist just a few months of each other. Yes active kids may sometimes break a bone more then once.

His finger got broken when he was rough housing with his brothers and got his finger slammed in the door and the wrist got broken while playing soccer at school.

My daughter did this at age 4, twice on one arm and once on the other… once fell from a chair in my kitchen right in front of me, the second walking outside the net of our trampoline, and the third fell from her scooter onto the sidewalk.
We had her bone density checked, and they did a lot of blood work, but everything came back fine. Third time the ER called social services (I completely understood but still freaked me out) they came and interviewed her and closed the case. She is now almost 11 and hasn’t broken any bones since, even as a competitive cheerleader. Hopefully this will be the last time for your little guy!! :heart:

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Yes with bolth my boys lol. They are just active and scared of nothing.

Yes a grandson but he finally out grow that and is now fine

:raising_hand_woman::woman_facepalming: twice in 7 mo that someone called the CPS. Jeez… but with the hospital records showing that it was obviously an injury from scooter that send the cps away and I started making him eat more calcium. Knock on the wood! I feel you!

Have u rang docs n asked for his balance to be checked, mention to them what’s happened (they’ll know anyway) n just tell them ur concerned and want his balance checking, could also be his ears as ur ears affect ur balance x

My son falls and trips on things on purpose because he thinks it is funny :woman_shrugging: If he does not have a balance issue, maybe it is for attention?

was he with some one else who might have done it ?

Two years ago my youngest broke his wrist on the playground on the 2nd day of summer school. Exactly 4 months later, to the day, he broke the same exact spot jumping out of a tree. It was completely healed, but they think because it was so soon afterwards that there may have been a weak spot. The little butthead was so confident the second time around he was putting weight on it and bent the bone as it was healing.

We somehow made it almost 13 years without any of the boys breaking anything. We have had multiple staples, scratched eyes, stitches, and one barely “broken” hand from ligaments being stretched too far when fingers were bent backwards.

On another note, how’s his eye sight. Accident prone due to no depth perception? My 2yo scares the crap outta me, and her sight was the first thing we questioned. Turns out she’s just a daredevil. I wish you the best of luck.

Re breaks are pretty common. Try not to stress. I would be asking questions too so don’t feel like you’re crazy but it’s probably all ok and normal. It’s never wrong to get second opinions and wonder. Growing up with 3 brothers I was incredibly active and dare devilish with them. I only ever broke hands, fingers, and sprained ankles, knees. However, 2 of my brother were in casts more often than not I feel like lol. Sometimes it’s just the luck of the draw, accident prone, etc.

Not broken bones, but my 13 yr old daughter has had stitches or staples in her head 5 times in her life already. The last time was when she was 9, so hopefully that means shes done haha.

Need calcium. Milk. Protein. .

My son just went through this broke the same are twice in less then a year I had a full X-ray done of the arm and it was discovered he had a bone cyst that weakened the strength of the bone that required surgical removal and the placing of a bone graft. Some cysts will go away on their own but you’d be surprised how common it is in kids. Might be worth looking into.