Hip Spica casts for kids

P&L

Recently we had the misfortune of having an infant in a Hip Spica. The hospital staff were great for explaining how to handle and care for the child. But when we got home there was still a lot to learn…

Since I had a difficult time finding some information, especially specific to Ireland, I’ll record what I have learned here in this post.

Firstly, for support and understanding of some of the problems and medical conditions associated with Spica Casts and some great practical advice and tips, I found a great web page written by the parents of a little girl in the UK. They have some really helpful and supportive thoughts which are well worth a read and answer a lot of the questions that arise.
Here’s the link: Hip Kid!
http://www.hipkid.zoomshare.com/

Below, I’ll throw in some some really really obvious advice and reminders, please don’t take these as an insult to anyone’s parenting skills! I just know from my own experience I was so fatigued from the hospital rota, that I was barely able to think straight and that combined with the stress and confusion, can lead to forgetting some of the most basic everyday routines!

Getting the Child home from the Hospital

This is going to be anyone’s first challenge. Depending on how long your child will be in the cast, which could be anywhere from a few weeks to several months, you will probably need a Spica Cast friendly Car Seat.
We found there are some seats specially made for the purpose.

The one we identified as best for purpose was the Britax Nordic 2-way Elite because it can be specially adapted, suits children of all sizes (will re-configure to your growing child if the cast will be long term), you can continue to use it when the child is finished with the cast, it fits any car and is probably one of the safest of all car-seats on the market. But yes, they are very very expensive.

To get one of these in Ireland proved to be very difficult, certainly none of the normal Britax stockists that we spoke to were willing to order one specially, with some claiming they didn’t exist…
Anyway, thanks to an archived post on askaboutmoney.ie, we found a supplier in Belfast who supplies it pre-fitted for Spica casts. They also provide spare covers, second-car fittings and a rental option if required, although I’m not sure about the rental option for Ireland as we didn’t ask. But most importantly they deliver fast, for my order it arrived the next day after ordering.

Here’s the link:
In Car Safety Center
http://www.incarsafetycentre.co.uk/hipspica.html

If you won’t need to use the car while the child is in the cast, I have heard of people using pillow arrangements for that journey home. And although your child will have gone through a lot of trauma in the hospital and will probably need to be held a lot, and will complain about being shoved into the back seat of a car on their own – please don’t be tempted to climb in with them and carry them home on your knee, as the seat belt cannot be worn properly by both of you. If an accident happened under such a arrangement the weight of the child plus the cast would seriously endanger the child’s recovery and indeed survival.

Taking Care of the Child in House

It is going to be a struggle keeping them content and stimulated, but it will surely be a relief compared to the hospital.
But on the practical side of things… firstly one of the best pieces of equipment to have is a big Bean Bag, it can be moved around the house, makes the child’s position easily adjustable and provides adaptive support.
When introducing the child to the Bean Bag, make it fun and friendly, because if they take a dislike to it with their first impression… life can be tough for a while.
Secondly, pillows. Lots and lots of extra pillows. I’d say start with six. They’ll be needed to create a comfortable sleeping position in your child’s cot or bed (of course make sure the pillows won’t slip on top of your child to avoid overheating and maintain support). They’ll also be used to prop the child while lounging in the Bean Bag, and when the start to gain some mobility on the floor. By the way, if you have heard it and find it hard to believe, yes the child will eventually find a way to move around even dragging that massive heavy cast with them! Your child will be getting very intimate with the Bean Bag and Pillows, spending all their time in contact with them and maybe eating and drinking and getting changed on them as well – so try get ones with washable covers.

If you expect a long term condition then you may be interested in getting a Spica Feeding Chair or Perch, we were fortunate enough that we didn’t need one, so I don’t have information on getting them but by all accounts they are ideal, even if they look awful. Alternatively if you would like to sit the child in an armchair for feeding a combination of pillows will do the trick.

There is one key pillow position that always needs to be placed first to allow the child to be comfortable, and to prevent the cast pushing in on their tummys. You’ll need to roll up a pillow into a cylinder (maybe even use a small wrapped sleeping-bag if you have one) and place it between their legs so that they straddle it, this will keep their backsides raised up off the chair.
Then you need to place enough cushions between the back of the chair and the child’s back so that their feet can hang over the edge of the seat.
Finally you’ll need some pillows or cushions on either side of the child to keep them held snugly in the chair. All the while keeping them in a slightly reclined position, to make sure that they can’t fall forward, of course.

If you have the Nordic car seat mentioned above you will see that they use this same principle. They have used a thick block of foam to support the cast under the backside and groin area. And this same principle can be used again for the next section… buggys.

Getting Out and About

Getting the right buggy is even harder than the Car Seat, I found. I didn’t actually find one specifically for Spica Casts, but did find some retail assistants who had experience with parents and children in Spica Casts, on their advice I chose a Quinny Zapp. Now these things are seriously expensive, especially for “this season’s” model (which looked like nothing more than a different fabric colour to me) €350 could easily be spent on them. Having said that, they are indeed a great buggy – spica cast or not. They fold up very very small and fit inside a special rucksack – this is great if you travel a lot with your kids, especially through Airports! And they are very very light.

But none of that matters when your child needs something suitable for a Spica Cast, so why use this one? well actually, the Quinny’s weight and stability are important here too, but the biggest factor is fitting their ’spicad’ legs in without having to crush the cast from both sides. The Quinny range have wide open seats that are also very shallow – perfect for fitting the child into. You will still need a booster between their legs as described above though. And the rolled-up pillow / sleeping-bag will work fine here. Another option is to go to a furniture maker and ask them for an offcut of foam, which they shouldn’t even charge you for. You will need to ask for high-density seat foam, about 4 to 5 inches cubed or maybe a bit longer on one side. There are also plenty of factory foam suppliers around Dublin / Meath / Kildare, I think, so you could approach them direct aswell.

I was lucky enough to get my Quinny Zapp second-hand from eBay.ie in the end, so there are ways of getting them at a reasonable price.

Right, that’s all for now. If I think of more I’ll add it. If anyone has specific questions, but is uncomfortable with sharing personal details – PM is fine.

lowdenclear

Thanks for this.

Our DD spent 6 weeks in a Pavlik harness a little while ago. She's grand now (it was a click hip but it has righted itself now) but I have bookmarked this for future reference as I know this kind of thing runs in families and we're planning on having more kids down the line. Please God we won't need it.