Helpful Tips (this page is still under construction)
Take Photos!While in the maternity ward, one of the nurses told me that she regretted not taking photos of her prem-baby as she didn't have a record to show her daughter when she was older and encouraged me to take photos of my son. It seemed a bit strange because I didn't really want to have photos of my baby's clubfeet at the time, but I am so grateful for all the photos we do have of his feet now. (And I wish we had taken more!)
- Photos are useful to help track progress of the baby’s treatment and make sure everything is going okay.
- If you do need a second opinion for any reason photos will be important for the new doctor to see what baby’s feet looked like to begin with, how treatment progressed and how the feet look now.
- Photos are encouraging when you can see how much progress you have made
- the heel at the back (to show varus)
- the foot from a side view
- the foot from an inside view
- the feet and legs from the front
- Doctors want to see how flexible the feet are, so a side-view of the foot in dorsiflexion (flexed upwards from the heel) is a useful shot too.
Clothes to buy
We didn't really struggle with clothes or have to do too much different.
Useful items:
- Socks (stretchy or slightly bigger to accommodate the cast)– to cover baby’s toes that are sticking out in winter
- Socks to cover the cast and prevent damage to it for older babies. (I cut holes in the ends of a pair of socks in summer so that Jonathan didn’t overheat, but his cast could still be protected a bit from all the ‘bashing’)
- Leggings (slightly bigger size than what baby is) fitted over the casts cover them nicely in winter or when you go out of the house. (You’ll get a lot less questions as some people won’t even notice the casts under them )
- Leggings/pants/shorts – these were useful for the days Jonathan was getting new casts. We could just take them off for the doctor to work and leave the top on to keep him warm. And once the doc was done and we were ready to home, we’d line his baby car seat with a towel so that it wouldn’t get covered in the damp white plaster and then put a warm blanket on top of him.
- During the casting phase we used baby-growers/”onesies” if they were ‘roomy’ enough, otherwise they are difficult to get on because of how inflexible baby’s legs are with the plaster of paris casts. We didn’t use them at all during the 3 months of full-time brace wear because they don’t work with the brace unless they are the footless kind. We had one footless “lamb-suit” that was great at night when it was cold.
- Bodysuit vests with the poppers at the bottom were very useful. They didn’t interfere with the casts and didn’t ride up Jonathan’s back like ordinary t-shirts can.
- Ordinary pants work best for us with the brace. If Jonathan needs a nappy change while they’re on, we just undo the bar and leave the shoes on, remove the pants, change him, put the pants back on and then click the bar back in. (Not like in the early days of braces when the shoes and bar were fixed together)
Disclaimer:
This is not a medical site. All content is from a mother's perspective and understanding.
I believe all content to be accurate, but am not a medical doctor.
