Baby in a cast

[Guest]

Beth has been in several hip spika's and if it's the same I would say it's not a good idea. For one you may get pressure sores that need treatment, the baby will not be overly happy and the heat will make things a lot worse. Will the airline allow the baby to fly due to pressure and swelling. Traveling in car will not be good due to not being able to sit in car seat. In all honesty I would reschedule when you can all enjoy it. All the best for your dd operation.

[justjo]

My DD1 is now 16 but the day before her 1st birthday she was put into a hip spica or her hip dislocation, she was in this cast for 3 months, and i can honestly say there is no way on this earth i would have even considered trying to take her on a plane and manage her around on holiday for 2 weeks, it was bad enough trying to manoeuvre her into the car never mind a plane!

[justjo]

PS

You may find this place a bit useful...

steps-charity.uk/links/1-0-home.php

although there was no website when I had DD1, this charity helped me with loads of stuff from advice and support to providing special equipment

[Melonz]

Hello. Is your baby going to be in a frog cast? I.e cast on both legs from ankle up to chest? My daughter was in one for 9 months. It is not easy at all and I wouldn't have taken her abroad during that time. First of all you will need a specialist pram and car seat. There are charities that provide these so that not really an issue. It would be almost impossible for her to sit in an aircraft seat. You would definitely need the armrests up and possibly 2 seats. She may be able to sit on your lap but the cast is VERY heavy and cumbersome. The biggest problem that I found was the smell. You can't put a nappy on properly. We had to cut them up to make them fit but theu ALWAYS leaked. This meant the cast also get wet and stunk to high heaven, not very nice if you're thinking of being somewhere hot for a couple of weeks, Mix that with the sweat as i'm sure it must get hot inside the casts and it will be very uncomfortable. We had to have a number of cast changes due to the smell and the weakening of the cast due to the wet. We did change to a different cast which had leather straps on the thighs to keep the legs apart and that was a god send as we could put a nappy on her properly. But this was towards the end of her treatment and I'm not sure they would go with that at first.

I hope this helps. Just trying to let you in on the bigger picture from someone with experience.

Mel

[Irishrover]

My son had this from birth (24yrs ago) he was like a little cheese triangle for the first 12 months of his life first with a plastic nappy type thing, then a cast. We managed most things, but it would be quite uncomfortable in the tight spaces on the aeroplane.


Good Luck with whatever you chose.

bren

[dotty]

hi, sorry i do agree with the majority here although it will be her second cast in theory, the casts are cumbersome heavy and hot, the length of the flight could cause problems and even if that went ok, no swimming or rides due to the awarkdness and positioning would real take the fun out of the holiday. although i admit to taking my twins only 8 weeks old, medically they were fit and well, previous surgery and casts can increase risks of blood clots (dvt) and i personally would defer with the ta for the following year. sorry probably not what you wanted to hear

[Guest]

A tip about casts and nappies. Beth was in 3 in total and we were given by a kind district nurse some non-absorbent cotton wool ( you need to special order it but they can get it). We use to pad Beth out around were she wore her pad. This stopped urine and poo going up into the cast. We had to change her regular as the cotton wool was very wet in urine. It worked wonders and the consultant said it was the first time he removed a cast that did not stink that bad. I am still with the others saying I would cancel and go another time though, sorry.

[DIBBadmin]

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