Seeking Advice on Club Feet

My little guy, who is 15 months old now, was born with club feet, and we had to go through all of the castings and then the brace. The thing to remember during this time is that the little one will not be able to bend his/her legs at all, since the casts go from the toes pretty much to the diaper. Sleep sacks are good, along with nightgowns that open at the bottom. (We would usually put a wearable blanket on our little guy at night if he was wearing a gown.) Also, outfits that only open down one leg are not going to work for diaper changings - you need something that opens down both legs or something you can slide off. We found that sometimes we had to go to a larger size of clothes to accommodate the extra bulk of the casts. Also, an important note: the casts add an extra layer of insulation, so you probably want to avoid the heavier materials in clothing.

Feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Hi SB,
My son was born with club feet 6 years ago. I was heart broken when I found out but then we talked with a wonderful Dr that specializes in club feet at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee and he made us feel so much better about the situation. We thought for sure he wouldn't be able to run like a normal child and participate in sports. Well I can tell you he is now in Soccer and T-ball and keeps up with the best of them. You couldn't have told me that back then. People are actually very surprised when I tell them that. Anyways, I fallen off track, I bought clothes that were a size larger and stretchy because the cast will be very thick and cover about 85% of the leg. Sometimes I would purchase the tops and bottoms separate so that I could get different sizes. Target is a good place to do that. Buy large socks because newborn sizes won't fit over the casts.

Tell your friend Good Luck & please contact me if you have any other questions.

E.

One of my little daycare girls had this.

They dressd her in flare-legged outfits. Most of the clothes you probably have for her will just fit.

And they had socks on her. Of course they were no good afterwards because the cast majorly stretched the one out.... But they were just regular baby socks. Many of them are quite stretchy.

My son had one club foot when he was born 13 years ago.. I used sleep sacks a lot and put a reg kids sock on his cast so his toes stayed warm as he was born in Nov. tell your friend her baby will be fine i to was worried my son would be clumsy and couldnt run but he has been in baseball soccer and hockey and his foot doesnt slow him down at all.

My daughter was born with bilateral clubfeet. We went through the castings for 9 weeks, and then the shoes/bar for 3 months 23/7. She is 28 months now and is only wearing the shoes/bar at night. I bought TONS of these sleep gowns, it's pretty much all she wore while she had her casts on. here's a link so you know what I mean -
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2435260
Also, she was casted later on for a few weeks, she was about 9 months old, and I bought some of these leg warmers to wear over the cast, they were fun and funky colors and they looked much cuter than the casts. If they come small enough for the baby casts, they are fun, and make the casts softer and not as scratchy. http://www.babylegs.net/

Please make sure you friend researches clubfoot and finds a doctor that uses the Ponseti method (usually consists of serial casting (FULL LEG casts, NOT just up to the knee) followed by the shoes/bar for at least three months, and then nights until age FOUR at least). Our doctor came HIGHLY recommended, he is Dr. Sundberg of Gillette Childrens Hospital in St. Paul. We were also treated by Dr. Ponseti himself, although he has since retired from treating patients. Feel free to contact me if you feel your friend needs any support, there are also a couple of groups that have good information, like ____@____.com

Good luck!

Hi-
Our youngest had her legs cast up to the knee when she was 3 days old. She had the casts on for 2 weeks. Most of the garments that had legs fit, but they were a little tight obviously. Sleep sacks are great because it can keep their toes warm as socks don't fit over the casts unless you use adult socks I suppose (I never thought of that at the time)! The casts will "clack" together but you get used to lifting the baby differently because of the weight of the casts.

Two other pieces of advice:
1. find out if the doctor will be removing the casts with the special cast saw or if you will be taking them off at home. Our doctor let us take them off at home, we had no idea really how to do this! They had told us to "soak" the casts and cut them off, well that is not easy holding a slippery 2 week old in the tub long enough to soak the casts. It didn't work soaking her in the baby bath tub because the casts made her feet stick out! I would suggest having the doctor cut the casts off (ours was afraid the noise from the saw would scare her).
2. I assume that they will give your friend some exercises or physical therapy type instructions for the babies feet. DO THESE RELIGIOUSLY! They really do make a difference even though it doesn't seem so at the time.

Best of luck to your friend and her new little bundle of joy!