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My daughter is going to drive me crazy! She's an 8yo Level 4 who recently had her ankle casted for stress fractures in the growth plate. I mistakenly thought that this would hamper her abilities a little bit, yeah right! I can not get the child to stop running and using it. I have been taking her to her practices because I figured conditioning couldn't hurt her, but I've seen her doing back walkovers, cartwheels, and any other tumbling she can get away with behind the coaches' backs. Because of the weight, she does wait for a spot on bars, but doesn't like it. She was so upset after practice last night, it was their strength testing night and the coach wouldn't let her attempt the sprints. Did she really think she could shave time off her run?

Tonight (her night off), I went over it all with her and "gently reminded" (cough*threatened*cough) her that if she doesn't take it a little easy, the doctor was going to put her back in the cast. I must have gotten through to her a little because later instead of finding her practicing in the basement, I found her having her little brother run his floor routine over and over and attempting to clean it up by demonstrating how to correctly do the moves. At least she wasn't attempting to walk on her hands again.

She already has some cracks in the bottom of the cast and we've had to line it with moleskin a few times because she keeps getting rubbed spots. This child is going to drive me crazy!
 
this is a tough injury because they really don't feel much pain once they are in the cast so they think they can do a lot more than they really should. dd was in a boot a couple years ago and the same thing happened - she tried to do as much as she could get away with. no advice or words of wisdom - just a "been there - done that" hug....
 
What she is doing is dangerous. If she were my kid I would clearly explain the limitations set by the doc and/or you. Then tell her the consequences for not following doctors orders.

Stay for practice. If you see her doing anything against the rules, pull her from practice and take her home.
Then make her SKIP the next practice. Warn her, if you catch her again she will miss practice for a week. If you catch her for a third time she will not go to practice until she is cleared by the doctor for all activity.

Actions have consequences and if she cannot abide by the doctors rules then she cannot go to practice. Her health is too important.
 
8yo level 4 with stress fractures? Shouldn't that ring all sorts of alarm bells (as a parent relatively new to all this).

But yes, I remember a certain club bringing a girl to regional training with her leg in an above knee cast, and her vaulting as usual!
 
My daughter had a sprain that would swell up like a golf ball every time she went to practice to "condition". Her coach finally told me that she could not keep her from doing things she was not supposed to do so advised me to keep her home for at least a week. I did and it finally stopped swelling up every time she went. It has to be hard for them to not do stuff when everyone else is........:)
 
When my son first started level 5, he had a wrist that would hurt frequently. The first time we went to the doc, he said he could go to gym but no support...could only swing on bars and rings. Basically anything he could do with a brace on. The 2nd time, they took him out of gym for a week. No conditioning, no swinging, nothing. Since we did that, his wrist might get sore, but it never hurts they way it used to. Most gymnasts just can't keep themselves from just doing everything, and it is hard for coaches to stay on top of all of it :)
 
She has to learn that what the doc says is what she needs to do(or not do). She was put in the cast for a reason and doing tumbling etc is just going to prolong her recovery. I agree with laying down the law of no practice if she won't follow the rules.
 
My daughter is going to drive me crazy! She's an 8yo Level 4 who recently had her ankle casted for stress fractures in the growth plate. I mistakenly thought that this would hamper her abilities a little bit, yeah right! I can not get the child to stop running and using it. I have been taking her to her practices because I figured conditioning couldn't hurt her, but I've seen her doing back walkovers, cartwheels, and any other tumbling she can get away with behind the coaches' backs. Because of the weight, she does wait for a spot on bars, but doesn't like it. She was so upset after practice last night, it was their strength testing night and the coach wouldn't let her attempt the sprints. Did she really think she could shave time off her run?

Tonight (her night off), I went over it all with her and "gently reminded" (cough*threatened*cough) her that if she doesn't take it a little easy, the doctor was going to put her back in the cast. I must have gotten through to her a little because later instead of finding her practicing in the basement, I found her having her little brother run his floor routine over and over and attempting to clean it up by demonstrating how to correctly do the moves. At least she wasn't attempting to walk on her hands again.

She already has some cracks in the bottom of the cast and we've had to line it with moleskin a few times because she keeps getting rubbed spots. This child is going to drive me crazy!

Pit sounds like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place - even if you take her out of gym for a bit she'll find a way. You can't watch her 24 hours of the day. I really hope she gets better quickly. It's really easy as parents to say 'don't do that, it's dangerous or it's bad for you', but much harder to enforce it. I turned around the other day to see my almost 2 year old on the table ready to practice jumping off. The kid's been incredibly lucky so far. I'd really like to say that there's an easy solution, but your daughter sounds like me determined girl (this will turn out to be beneficial in the future, just not so much now).
 
Pit sounds like you're stuck between a rock and a hard place - even if you take her out of gym for a bit she'll find a way. You can't watch her 24 hours of the day. I really hope she gets better quickly. It's really easy as parents to say 'don't do that, it's dangerous or it's bad for you', but much harder to enforce it. I turned around the other day to see my almost 2 year old on the table ready to practice jumping off. The kid's been incredibly lucky so far. I'd really like to say that there's an easy solution, but your daughter sounds like me determined girl (this will turn out to be beneficial in the future, just not so much now).

Tranquilizers for every one, especially the adults who are getting max six pack abs from tensing up each time dd or ds goes flinging around in a cast. Use a little tough love if they're incapable of understanding the consequences of abusing an injury, keep them home for at least one practice if you see them "cross the line". Kids who can't slow themselves down need us to do it for them. It's either that or one of two things can happen.....a longer recovery time, or a shorter gymnastics career.
 

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