Spica Casts

How to Keep a Spica Cast Dry

It was only a 24 hours after Natalie received her spica cast that she would endure more difficult moments. The following day we found out that she had a stomach virus. This was a huge problem. She was making a mess of her cast. I had cleaned and cleaned and it was still gross. I did not know what to do because there is no information on what to do if your baby develops a stomach virus while in the cast. The poor baby was stuck in a cast that was full of you know what. That is when I cried for the first time. I was alone with a baby in full body cast who could not even sit up alone and she was stuck with no where to go. My husband had gone back to work, my mother was gone, my sister worked, every one worked. I felt terrible like I had let her down because I could not stop it or make it better for her. I used the blow dryer on cool air for hours to dry her out. That did not work at all and nothing else seemed to work.

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.