It sounds quite suspicious to me that your nephew was involved in some way, 1pj. I agree with the others, and I wouldn't be subtle - I would be simly telling the child's mother that you know he lied, that he has been caught lying and being rough before, that this time there has been a serious consequence, and that unless she is willing to constantly supervise his behaviour while he is there, that he is not welcome. That is a drastic move, but for a seven year old who is so undisciplined that he cannot even manage to play gently with a 10 month old, I think drastic action needs to be taken.
We had something similar happen to us when DD2 was 9 months old. We accidentally dropped her in our back garden, and she sustained a spiral fracture to her femur. I can assure you there were no twisting forces involved! Children's bones spiral fracture because they are more pliable and therefore tend to bend and buckle before they break completely. That said, one possible scenario comnes to mind in your case - you mention that your nephew said she "rolled and hit her head" - if she rolled while her leg was trapped, possibly under him if he was lying on her or being rough with her, then there would be some twisting force involved.
Children's bones heal fast. DD2 is three now and has absolutely no deficit after her injury.
I agree with others that you should definitely confront your sister and tell her your concerns. I find it very suspicious that she sustained a spiral fracture from just sitting on the floor and not being on the move... I'm sorry and I hope I don't offend, but from what you've said about your nephew, his past behaviour, the fact that he lied about the situation, this would be the last straw for me and he would not be welcome around my child until his mother acted upon my concerns and I saw improvement in his behaviour.
Your sister sounds as though she knows her son is in the wrong as she is acting very defencively, not questioning her children, blaming you and not taking one bit of responsibility. Appalling!
Good luck and please speak to your sister and don't let your nephew go near your daughter without YOU there, because unfortunately, it doesn't seem like you can even trust your sister to own up if her children do do something wrong.
When I first read the above, my immediate thought was he'd given her a Chinese burn (obviously I may well be wrong)
Based on the history, I would be seriously concerned. It sounds like he may well be a nasty little brat whose mother thinks he can do no wrong. A great way to raise a sociopath. Early markers of sociopathy/psychopathy include wetting the bed and playing with fire, as well as harming animals/ young children. I know I might be jumping the gun, but I would not leave her with her cousins unsupervised again.
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I hope she recovers really soon!
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