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My friend's 2 year old was playing on some slippery surface (a "sprinkler park"), and fell. She was not concerned (2 year olds fall all the time, and he had no visible scratches) at first, but when he would try to walk, his knee (or hip or ankle?) would kind of "buckle" underneath him. He is not in any pain; no reddness or swelling either. He is jumping and squatting, but walking strangely. The most noticeable was an hour later: he went to kick a ball with his right leg, while standing on his left leg...and his left leg just "gave out". We can't notice any deformities or anything.
We called the nurse-on-call after-hours (it's a Sunday), and were told to do the "wait and see". Give him ibuprofen if it swells. He is eating and sleeping fine. If he still has trouble tomorrow morning, my friend will take him to the doctor.
Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else? Nurse said if strain, sprain or dislocation, there would be pain and he would not voluntarily move the injured leg. He is not doing this for attention, so can rule that out, too. What injury could this be, without pain?
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Add a Comment62 Comments
My 17 month old son is experiencing the same problem. One minute he was playing fine, and the next minute his left leg was giving out on him every 3-4 steps. We called our Ped and he said if we are that concerned to take him to the ER. We are sitting the ER, and after having X-rays, we are waiting on an ultra sound. The two Drs that we've seen both suspect it is a virus (with cold-like symptoms) that can cause inflammation in the hip. This inflammation is what is causing his leg to give out, but he doesn't really have any pain from it. It is treated with Motrin only. I hope this helps all of you!
January 15, 2012 - 4:20pmThis Comment
My 3 year old sons legs kept giving was on monday.... took him to see Gp, but he wasn't concerned, although i am concerned now as he has develpoed a limp in his right leg, he is not complaining of any pain, but is restricted in his walking, i have been in touch with the health visitor, but as yet they havn't got back to me, should i be concerned???
January 25, 2012 - 2:45pmThis Comment
An update from "Anonymous-Dec. 5th 2011":
Unfortunately, we didn't learn anything about this strange little disorder. For our son, the symptoms disappeared after two days, with only the occasional reoccurrence over the next week. Now, over a month-and-a-half later, there are absolutely no signs of anything wrong with how he walks. If he ever exhibits this strange limp again, we'll be sure to post to this site!
January 15, 2012 - 10:25amThis Comment
OMG - same problem with my daughted, she is 14months old, and i cant get in to see my doc. any no one has replied with an answer! a little stressed...
January 12, 2012 - 10:08pmThis Comment
The problem with this kind of website is that people search the web for answers about this issue, but then don't remember to come update what happened, much later. This results in a thread that repeats the same problem, but with no consistent an answer. The most we've read so far is that one child had a femoral fracture, and that a doctor told somebody else (online) that it might be a spinal disk infection. Is there no research in the world about this issue? Our son woke this morning with identical symptoms ... as soon as we find something out, we'll return to this site and post what we know.
December 5, 2011 - 9:29amThis Comment
Wow, over a month later and the previous poster has not responded? I wonder if they are still waiting to see... My daughter started having this problem tonight and I read through every post...And still no answers.
January 7, 2012 - 5:55pmThis Comment
My daughter woke up this morning and hasn't been able. To walk propley she's 2.5 and she normaly comes in and wakes me when she gets up in the morning I'm sure she came in and said her leg hurts but was half asleep went out and all day she's been walking strange with onw of her feet point in and she can't walk propley she aint complaining of any pain she even trys 2 run round but sometimes fulls dose any1 no any thing to help or what it could be 9
December 4, 2011 - 4:12pmThis Comment
I have a similar situation my husband and I just noticed that our 21 month old son was having trouble standing up and once he got up he can walk slowly but anything semi-fast his leg gives out. The only thing that we can recall is 2 days ago he was running with his sister and slipped and landed face down and chipped a tooth. But he didn't complain of leg pain. We noticed so close to bed we put him to bed and see how he is in the morning. Might bring him in tomorrow morning we will see.
November 28, 2011 - 8:38pmThis Comment
OMG, I'm happy(but not happy in that way) that you guys are experiencing the same symtoms as my 22mth old. He started walking fine one day and then all of a sudden started to limp for at least 24 hrs. We took him to the PD and it was the "wait and see" approach. The next day, he was perfectly fine as nothing ever happened. WoW, what could this be. She told me if his problem persist that it could be inflamation and they have to draw blood and this would be very painful for him. Since he is walking fine, we have not went that far, but I will if this happens again. Please keep us posted on any findings that you all may have.
August 16, 2011 - 11:35amThis Comment
Hi I have a 15 month old daughter and for the past wk her knees keep giving out and she falls straight to the ground she has not hurt it and she's in no pain until her knees buckle, there's no swelling or marks any advise on what I should do
June 25, 2011 - 8:05amThis Comment