Can my 20 month old weight bear on his non displaced proximal tibia fracture that is 1 week old?

What the evidence says

A proximal tibia fracture is a break near the top of the shin bone, close to the knee. This is different from the much more common 'toddler's fracture,' which happens lower down the shin. Because the break is near the knee's growth plate, doctors tend to treat it more carefully than the lower-leg version.

In case reports of young children with this type of break, doctors used a cast that went above the knee and did not allow weight bearing right away. In one case, children were kept off the leg in the cast and only allowed to start putting weight on it around four weeks after the injury, not at one week. In another series of children with growth-plate involvement, the cast stayed on for six to eight weeks before gradual weight bearing began.

This is different from the common toddler's fracture of the lower shin, where many children are allowed to bear weight as soon as they are comfortable, even within the first one to two weeks, because that break is considered very stable.

Since your child's fracture is proximal, near the knee, and only one week old, the safest path is to follow the exact instructions from the treating doctor or orthopedic surgeon, since decisions about weight bearing depend on the exact fracture pattern, whether the growth plate is involved, and what type of cast was used.

If you are unsure whether your child is allowed to walk on the leg right now, or if the cast feels loose, tight, wet, or your child has new pain, swelling, numbness, or color change in the toes, contact the clinic or fracture team the same day.