4 Monthold in Spica Cast

My niece was in a cast like that for a dislocated hip also, and she would sleep in bed proped up by lots of pillows, maybe try a night time cd, to drown out other noises and sooth her.

Hi C.,
My daughter had a spica cast on for 6 weeks when she was 16 months old. She slept pretty good in it when we put pillows underneath her legs to support them. We would also turn her on her side a little and sides 2-3 times per night so she wouldn't develop sores.

Here is a website I found helpful, too:
http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/ortho/DDH%20and%20Spica%20Cast...

Hi C.!

Both my sister and I had dislocated hips, with the cast - I can send my mom an email with your question? The answer may take awhile - she is living in Asia...!

M. Holmes

Unfortunately, I understand your pain. However, my dd was just days away from her 2nd b-day and broke her right femur.

Let me give you one piece of advice I had to figure out on my own....so baby doesn't leak urine into the cast area, go out and buy a pack of cheap bathroom washclothes (I found them super cheap at Wal-Mart and got 16 for about $4). Take 2 or as many as needed and tuck them between the diaper and cast and push them a bit upward into the cast. My dd got urine inside hers and the dr's wouldn't let us change the cast. Therefore, I tried several ways to keep it clean and also smelling better. This is the only one I found that works as it soaks up urine that is already in the cast as well as any additional that leaks. Change washclothes with each diaper change.

My dd was pretty sleepy the entire time as she was on pain meds, so I have no clue how to keep yours sleeping. Have you tried one of those bouncy seats with vibrator?

Good Luck!

Hi C.. My daughter had a spica cast at 6 months old. We placed a boppy pillow under her legs and it seemed to help her sleep better. Good Luck!

Wow! How was her hip dislocated so bad that she needs a full body cast on both legs for three months? This is only my opinion but I say hold her and maybe sleep in her room each night a little less until she's used to her condition. That's a lot for a four month old to deal with and then to be alone in that condition at night. Is she able to move in her cast?

When my grandson was in a spica cast. We build a pillow castle around him and it worked wonderful. There doesn't seem to be any confort for them in the spical cast. So if you put pillows under and around the cast that seems to hold it snug and they can sleep better.
Good luck.
Grandma

Are you wrapping her up in a blanket before putting her down to sleep? A blanket swaddled around her and a cap on her head will help her to feel warmer. She is probably sleepless without you because she is cold without you.

Consider: her legs are now held apart causing her to feel cold - she can no longer curl up and provide her own warmth. She needs to be held to sleep because she needs someone else to warm her.

So, wrap her up in her softest flannel receiving blanket and buy her a cotton baby cap (if you don't have one already). This will make it much easier to set her down to sleep.

During the day try this: Wrap her up and cap her, put a pillow on your lap and set her on it
face down (or up if they don't want her to lie face down). When she is asleep, you simply lift the pillow up with the baby on it and set her in her crib, or wherever she sleeps.

Both of these things work under normal circumstances ~ what you have with your baby is not normal C., but tricks like this can work... I wish you the best of luck!

C., I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter! It brings back memories with my oldest son. They didn't catch the dislocated hip until he was 18 months old. Since he'd been in traction for 4 weeks, he was used to immobility. He had to have it on for 6 months, and again when he was 4 years old for around 6 weeks. With her being only 4 months old, she may just need extra security from mama. I would check to make sure she isn't hurting anywhere. It's easy for the cast to rub against her skin. If she acts like she's in major pain, get her back to the dr as soon as possible. Our son was in pain toward the end, they couldn't figure out why. When they finally took the cast off, a hole had broken open in his knee.
They searched the casting material and never found anything that would have caused a pressure point, but something did.
If she isn't in pain, she may just need reassurance. I think it would be hard to want to move and not be able to. Try making her as comfortable as possible with pillows. How do you have her positioned when she sleeps? We propped our son on his side and elevated the crib some. This is another "This, too, shall pass" time. My prayers are with you!

You might try regular massage therapy. It will help relax her body, but also should help her mind relax from the mental stresses. Also, you might try putting a warm pack on her low back area. Make sure it's warm heat only, not hot, as the cast materials may cause excess heat transfer and/or retention which could cause burns. You can make one using white rice or whole flax seed and 100% cotton flannel - heat in the microwave in 30 second intervals (take out and shift to "mix" rice after each interval). Heat placed on the low back helps the nervous system to relax, thereby causing overall relaxation.

If you have a cat, try and have them lay accross her and get it to purr. The frequency and vibration of purring is very healing to the body... if you can find someone who has a Chi-Machine (chiropractor, massage therapist, or naturopath), they may be able to give her treatments to help stimulate healing and relaxation.

Also, I would highly recommend massage therapy post treatment as her little musles and ligaments will need the assistence to fully recover from being immobile for so long.