Since spica casts are not pre-made, each one is unique. According to the reader these male guards are wider and a little bit shorter than a feminine pad. However, according to Wal-Mart there are different sizes, I suppose it may just take some experimenting to find out which ones will work for your childs cast.

Again, I just want to make the comment that I can not really vouch for these as we never tried them. However, you may find that for your baby’s cast that they are easier to use. The process is done the same when it comes to tucking them into the cast in a way that is safely done, but will hopefully protect your child from a skin rash and the cast from smelling bad.

1. Keep the cast dry - If the cast becomes wet, I suggest you use a blow dryer on cool so that you do not burn their tender skin. I did this often those first two weeks, but she was so sick that you just couldn’t keep it dry. So I came up with a different solution. Remember that your child’s cast can become wet from excessive sweat so dress them lightly even during the winter months. It is best to carry around a blanket then for them to be dressed in layers. Natalie developed her sores because of her Halloween costume. It was made of a thick material that made her sweat while indoors. It was perfect for outside unfortunately we were indoors most of the evening.

2. StayFree Feminine Pads - I placed stayfree ultra thin feminine pads on the inside of the cast. The pads would get wet or soiled instead of the cast. You can remove the pads, and the child stays dry and happy. Natalie developed sores before we could figure out the solution with pads. She now has scars on the outside of her hip from where she had either soiled the cast or it did not dry from the excessive sweat that her Halloween costume caused. They are in a place that while in the cast it was impossible to reach. I know this because I tried every possible way to get every inch of her cast dry and clean. Sometimes it is just not possible. Placing the pads on the inside of the cast may be slightly difficult for parents with larger hands. Detailed directions for this are at the end.

3. Baking Soda - You will want to keep some baking soda around for the smell if you cannot get the cast completely clean. This will help a whole lot with the smell. ONLY place the baking soda on the outside of the cast because their skin can be easily irritated.

4. Support Blankets - we did this because there are commonly weak spots in the cast that can cause breaks. If the cast breaks, a new will be needed to replace the broken one. This means more anesthesia for your child and the possibility of the hip coming out of place. This is unnecessary if you take the extra precautions.

5. Cast and Food - Do not allow food to fall inside the cast while your child is eating. A large t-shirt or a one piece outfit is the best solution for this particular problem. If food or small toys fall inside the cast, you child’s skin can become irritated or could possibly cause an infection.

Taking care of child in a spica cast can be difficult. I found that the one thing that kept everyone happy was to keep the cast as dry as possible. If the cast becomes wet or soiled it will become very uncomfortable for your child. Natalie’s cast was wet off and on because of a stomach virus in the first two weeks. I found once she was dry, she was a lot happier and everyday life became a whole lot easier. She was more willing to play by herself for about 30 to 45 minutes at a time before she became bored.

Directions for placing the pads on the inside of the cast are a little complicated to explain so I will try my best. You will need a total of three pads to fully protect your child’s skin.

1. Take a pad and cut in half. Take half of that pad and place on the inside of the leg so that half is inside the cast and half is on the outside of the cast. You will want it to be long ways. Then use white medical tape to tape it into place. The sticky part of the pad will only help a little bit that is why you will want more tape. Repeat this step for the other leg.

2. Now take the two remaining pads and slide them through the back side of the cast. The soft cotton side should be to their skin. You should have enough left over so that you can tape the pads into place on the outside of the cast. That means you will want them to be taller than they are longer. If that explains it, like I said it is somewhat difficult to explain. You will want to tape the pad into place so that they do not slip around and irritate your child. This may not be very pretty, but your child will be a lot happier if they are dry.

Drifting can mean that they walk to the side more times than not, or perhaps all the time. They typically use furniture or other stable things to pull themselves to a standing position. After this, they will walk alongside of it, but rarely let go and walk for themselves. Many were doing this for quite sometime, up to close to a year for some prior to discovering why they were not actually walking normally yet.

If your child is a constant drifter or side stepper, you should consider taking them to a pediatrician to take a good look at their hips. Also, do not be afraid to get second opinions. Although delayed walking is not an uncommon thing, it is important to catch hip dysplasia at the earliest stage possible.

Natalie’s doctor did the normal hip rotation test and never seemed to notice any thing until I brought up the fact that her leg was shorter than the other. I watched her do the same hip rotation that she did in the very beginning and she still did not mention DDH. I believe that is why it was such a shock when the orthopedist diagnosed her with DDH in the first five minutes of the visit. We were given pamphlets on DDH, but nothing that was in depth to really tell you about the condition. It really only stated that she had DDH and the surgery is commonly used to correct the condition. It showed an x-ray of a dislocated hip and a baby in a Spica Cast following the surgery. It did not say what could have caused it, how often does it happen, or risk factors involved. We went into the surgery with very little information available to us. The internet at the time did not really answer very many of our question because we really did not know what to look for.

One year after the surgery we have gotten more information. DDH is more common than most people realize. The numbers are somewhere around 1:1000 infants a year will be diagnosed with DDH. Depending on the age of the child will decide if surgery or a brace is required. Early detection is the key to save your child from the possibility of surgery.

Here are some of the most common causes of DDH:
• Female child
• First pregnancy
• Breech baby (feet at shoulders)
• Caucasian
• Previous child with DDH (possible that it can run in the family)

Children born after previous child diagnosed should automatically be screened with in the first three months of birth.

A few states require that a breech female baby be scanned for DDH before they leave the hospital or with in the first month of life. This condition can alter the life of your child if it is not diagnosed early. In many cases children developed osteoarthritis due a late diagnoses of DDH. I suggest if you have any concerns, you should schedule an appointment with your pediatrician as soon as possible. Do not delay if you suspect that some thing might be wrong.

Symptoms for a baby are:

If you feel that your child has any of these symptoms, you should contact your pediatrician as soon as possible. The earlier this is caught, the easier it is to correct.

It can be difficult to travel with a child in a cast especially if you plan on staying for a short trip at a family member’s home, church, or a hotel. This is because you pretty much have to bring your entire home with you. That is what it seemed like to me any ways. You have to pack plenty of diapers because you have to change them so often. I always brought a bean bag for Natalie to sit in so that she did not have to be held most of the time. We also brought extra pillows that I made for her. She had three pillows that we took every where. You never know when might need to give her more support. The bean bag would fit around her to support her cast so that she could sit up almost on her own and play. The bean bag worked well at my parent’s house and at church. I know it sounds like a lot to bring for one place, but she liked to be able to sit up with out being held all the time.

The first cast she was in was really too big for her to fit any where. We had to bring her stroller for her to sit in at restaurants because she no longer fit in the high chairs. She did not fit in any high chair or any normal sized chair for that matter. We carried her stroller with some special pillows that I made to support her and the cast every where that we went. The pillows that I made fit under her legs and behind her back to give her some extra support when she wanted to sit up.

We read some suggestions of using rolled up blankets, but they always came unrolled during the move. I ended up placing rubber bands around the ends to keep them from unrolling. The rubber bands helped save a lot of time.

We have seen some parents with children who have created or found special desks. They are typically wider, and look similar to coffee tables where they can sit in a bean bag or umbrella chair to play with their toys.

Another popular type of toy for a child in a spica cast would be those that the child can ride on. Most are designed in ways that are not obstructing from sitting on it while in a cast.

We also have seen a mother who had a nice blown-up ball pit. Their daughter was able to sit in it in her bean bag chair and play. They said that it worked really well for their child.

Keep in mind that most children who are old enough to crawl will quickly learn that they can pull themselves along to different places in the house when they want to. Putting things down low that they enjoy playing with will help them feel more independent. Just keep in mind not to allow them to play with toys that can fit down into the spica cast. You should always keep a lookout for items that could potentially fall down into their cast. Also remember to keep clothing on them to help prevent that.

I was so tired already and this was just the first week. I thought how in the world am I going to make it for 11 more weeks. I thought to myself she is already covered in poop, the cast stinks, and I can not make the diapers work. I was about to lose my mind until I remembered that the pamphlets suggest that you use a feminine pad inside the diaper for extra absorption. I thought this is what I forgot to do and this will make it all better. Well I was so wrong that I was out of my mind. This not only made her even madder because it was so uncomfortable, and it did not work good at all. I thought what in the world am I going to do to survive 11 more weeks of this. So I decided I was going to try to use the pads in a different way. I noticed that any extra moisture was going up her back and down her legs. I placed the pads in these areas. This was the best thing that I could have done for her and myself. The cast was no longer getting wet or soiled from extra moisture that the diaper did not catch. The second diaper is supposed to catch the extra moisture but guess what, it doesn’t. The only thing the second diaper does is hide the first diaper. I placed the pads with the cotton side to the skin and used medical tape to hold them in place. It was soft like wearing pants to her. This completely changed the whole experience for me.

It took three pads for one diapering session. Every morning I would change out the pads, but if they needed through out the day they were replaced as needed. I only changed the ones that were wet not all of them. I would cut one in half and place them on the inside of the legs. I would place them so that half was taped inside the cast and the other half was taped to the outside the cast. The other two where placed on the inside of the back of the cast. I would feed them through from the top and out the bottom. I would then tape them in place on the outside of the cast. This keeps them in place so that they do not fall off or rub her back causing an irritation. You can also spread butt paste to the ones on the back to keep her skin from getting irritated from sweating. The morning diaper change will take about ten minutes if not more to complete, but it is well worth the time.

I figured this method out about the time that the stomach virus was over. The stomach virus lasted like two whole weeks. I think some of it was linked to the anesthesia. I wished there had been this information available to me because it would have saved so much heartache. Natalie would not have suffered so much discomfort as well. By the third week she had figured out how to crawl, roll over on her own, and she was completely dry by this time. She still had to stay in the stinky cast for another three weeks, but we could survive the smell that slowly faded over time. A little baking soda on the outside of the cast helped a lot.

I hope that writing out our families experience will help you through the times that are about to come. There are going to be trying time, but just remember that you can and will survive if you remember to keep the baby dry. If the baby is dry everyone will most likely be happy.

The cast makes it very difficult to hold them close. The nurse had to show me ways that would be comfortable to her and me. A little time passed and we found out how to hold her comfortably. The cast can make it difficult to hold them close to your chest so that they can lay their head on your shoulder. You have to place a pillow at first under their chest to make it even with the cast. That is how the nurses wanted us to hold her. She did not like to lie down like that at all so we had to find other options. After about five minutes of twisting and turning Natalie was able to find something comfortable for her. This was also something that I was not prepared for. It is hard to not be able to hold your baby close to you like you have since they were born. That was one of my difficult moments.

Natalie had a rough time with the anesthesia. She would jerk herself awake every few minutes causing her to cry for about a minute then she would slowly go back to sleep. This happened all night long. I read later that in babies the anesthesia can make them feel like they are falling. This was apparently what had happened to her because she was scared when she would wake up. She was probably in pain as well since she would make her entire body jump awake. She also had an upset stomach and was soon being treated for dehydration. Luckily, she recovered the next morning, and we were able to go home as planned. We packed up all of her stuff, and headed home.