Tell me your experience with a broken toe

[Bernadine]

I'm trying to decide if our nanny is being honest with us. She's going to be out for a week. I have no idea how painful a broken toe is, and we've had some other issues with reliability with her.

[calamity]

Which toe? Unless she's in a cast or whatever I call shenanigans.

[achi]

We had an employee break a toe and they were only out two days. BUT they have a desk job (and because of their position their own printer) and aren't hopping up and down all day. I personally have not experienced it but I don't know that I'd been to keen to chase after little kids with a broken toe.

[cleo29]

Yeah, I think it would depend on the two. your big tow and pinky help the most with balance. I think a week is excessive. I have known people with a broken toe and they are either taped together or in some kind of brace, but are able to walk around and go about their day.

[irie]

I had a surgery that basically involved breaking my toe and putting a pin, and I was in a walking boot for 6-8 weeks, on crutches for a few days. It was painful and I would have trouble chasing after a younger kid for about 5 days or so. As her employer you could ask her for documentation from her doctor.

[Deleted]

There are so many varying levels of severity. I've broken my pinky toe and was able to limp around with it buddy taped but when I broke my second toe, it was the bone closer to the foot that broke and I was in a boot for several weeks. So my answer is, it depends.

[jreeds]

I agree it depends on the toe and what her activity level is. When I was younger I broke my big toe where it connects to the foot and had to have a cast up to my knee. However yesterday morning I stubbed my toes on a door and broke my 4th toe ( next to the pinky) and I've been hobbling around just fine with it taped. 

[Leeham Rimes]

Depends on the toe, I've broken toes at various points in my life and it's definitely not un-painful, I haven't done it since i've had kids so I can't comment on chasing a child around with a broken toe, even with a boot. I do know the first few days I sat with ice and elevated it. My memory is lacking on specific length of where i couldn't do things.

My dad broke his toe and he couldn't walk for 10 days without pain, but he's an old alcoholic so that probably has more to do with it.

[Leeham Rimes]

But I ditto previous suggestions of asking for a doctor's note for this injury. Most workplaces require this, don't they? It's been a while since I worked for someone other than myself I know that if I can't go to court for a client due to injury/illness, I have to have a doctor's note.

[wanderingback]

How old is your child?
It depends on the toe as far as actual treatment goes.
If your nanny is expected to be on their feet, running around, taking to park, etc then I would think it’s reasonable to take some time off. If they can sit on the couch all day then I would presume a week isn’t necessary (assuming they aren’t having surgery).

I would have no problem writing a note for a patient for a week off if they have an active job.

[devonpow]

I broke my toe the other year - the one next to my pinky toe (ring toe? Lol I don’t know what it’s called). I just buddy taped it - nothing else I could do. It affected the shoes I could wear but I had no issue getting around/doing stuff. A broken big toe or a severe break of some kind I assume is a different story.

[Bernadine]

Thanks, all. I didn't even think about asking for a note. Derp!

[megstoo]

I broke 2 toes on my left foot (the 2 smallest ones) and it hurt like a B. Because I was on my feet all day I ended up having to take 3 days off. Even when I had them tapped to the other toes it still caused quite a bit of pain. It really is possible she's telling the truth.

[oliviapope]

I broke a toe while pregnant and still went to work. Seems like BS to me. I have to give a doctor's note if I'm out for 3 or more days. I think I'd be asking for one in this situation.

[fumbalina]

When I broke my toe, I could not walk properly for over a month. If the job requires a lot of moving it would be impossible to do properly.

[mich1]

I broke my pinky and the toe next to it. Hurt like hell, but I went into work. I tried to keep off my feet as much as possible for a couple weeks, and could only wear slippers on my feet because regular shoes hurt too much

If your nanny is expected to pick up and carry your child, this could be a problem for her.

[flex]

I just recently broke my "ring" toe on my left foot. It hurt a lot when it happened, and I had to hobble around for a couple weeks wearing sandals only. But I was not incapacitated. A week seems excessive, but I was super self-aware about not stubbing or dropping something on it. Caring for children would add to that self-awareness.

It took six weeks to feel completely without pain.

[alleinesein]

I've got a broken toe right now and while I can walk, some things are difficult and if I have to be up on my feet for an extended period of time, I am in a lot of pain. My mobility is definitely affected and I can't wear any type of closed toed shoes.

If you don't believe her, ask for a doctor's note but don't be mad if her aftercare instructions tell her to stay off her foot for a few days and to keep it elevated.

[ECB]

I'm definitely in the "it depends" camp. DS recently broke his 4th toe on his left foot. It was just the tip and it barely slowed him down, BUT if he does too much activity/running today, it starts to bother him.


So- depending on the toe/ severity of the break, and then also what her job is like when taking care of your kids, I could see the possibility of needing some downtime.

[brooke77]

I broke my middle toe while pregnant. It was super painful. I wore a walking boot and had to tape it. I have a desk job so I still worked.

I would not have been able to chase a kid, but I would not have been out for a week. Maaaayyyybe 2 days.

[definitelyO]

it hurts like a mo-fo.
but, wouldn't cause me to miss any work unless I was in a cast. I'd probably have to take it easy and not run around the playground...

[Susie]

I broke my 2nd toe once. I taped it to the one next to it and KOKO. If it were a big toe it would've been a bigger deal.

[TBM]

I broke the two small toes on one foot when my youngest was 18 months old. I could barely walk and couldn't put a shoe on for a couple of days. Even then, the only shoes that I had that I could wear were my sneakers, because they didn't put pressure on that part of my foot at all, and the laces could be tiedtight enough to keep my foot from moving around in my shoe and pressing in the wrong places.

When my foot started to heal, my toddler stepped on it in that hopping, grinding way that toddlers do, and rebroke it. Twice.

I broke it in the beginning of December, and couldn't wear different shoes until Easter.

[lexxasaurus]

Yep, depends. I broke a piece off the lower bone that dislocated the other bone and ended up in surgery to put hardware in. I was on crutches for what felt like forever. But then I have broken others (I'm fragile!) and buddy taped them and been okay, though sore.

[loira]

My pinky toe broke from a horse stepping on it. I still went to work the next day at the stables, and my job was quite physical. But I have a pretty high tolerance for pain.

[lostrn]

I broke my big toe and ended up in a boot for 6 months before I finally had surgery to get everything fixed up. I would have definitely appreciated a full week off work with my foot elevated! But my broken toe was special lol. Not a normal break, I sort of had a "splinter" of bone floating around in there that they hoped would heal but never did.

[killercupcake]

I broke my pinky toe at the beginning of the summer. It was pretty tender, but I could definitely walk and function.

[cville]

I went to work the day after I broke my big toe.

But it was a "clean" break and didn't require surgery or anything. It hurt like hell.

[thatgirl2478]

Depends on the toe, depends on the location of the fracture.

DD1 broke her 1st metatarsal and was in a cast for 6 weeks. Hurt a fair amount for the first week. After that mostly just annoying.

I sprained my ankle, was on crutches for 3 days, and could hobble slowly for 3 days after. Took me a good 3 weeks to walk without pain. Another week or so for the bruising to go away.

[MixedBerryJam]

It was so long ago that I honestly don't remember which toe it was. I was a sahm at the time so no, I didn't miss any work days but it was an 11 on the 1-10 pain scale and I definitely wouldn't have wanted to chase someone else's kids around the house. I'd prob ask for a doctor's note but also cut her some slack because man it hurrrrt. And I do recall it hurt for a long time. Months.