Too miserable. She's in it for 6 weeks.

And hi everyone... I'm alive. Just drowning a bit....

Yes Elsa was in a spica cast

Feel free to pass on my contact info to her

The problem with the waterproof material is that the moisture just stays on the skin whereas the plaster cast is slightly absorbent

So her main challenge is still keeping moisture out - otherwise the child will have awful skin problems

Diaper changes are her main challenge. Even if they used the waterproof material or especially if they used the waterproof material...

I suggest she line the edges of the cast around the diaper area with Saran Wrap, come it as far down into the cast as possible and wrapping it up and around the cast

Secure it with masking tape which doesn't stick to the cast so much

Then cram the diaper in there - use the biggest one possible. Then tape the whole thing to the cast with more masking tape.

I also suggest she angles the car seat and cushion the butt area so that the kid can sit in it in a reclined way or if that's not possible, just lie flat in the back seat

Moisture is the enemy. The people who put casts on in orthopedics know how to put a cast on, but don't know how to care for the spica cast that well. Telling her diaper changes won't be a problem is stupid

If poop gets down in the leg part of the cast, it's going to sit there on the kid's skin and cause severe breakdown. She absolutely has to be incredibly vigilant about the diaper care. It took me a good 30-45

minutes to change the diaper.

Each time.

Especially without absorbent material like plaster. There's nowhere for the poop to go , so the skin will breakdown

Also, tell her to invest in a wagon. It was a lifesaver and kept us from being completely housebound.

it a boy or a girl? For a boy, you can have better luck keeping the pee out of the cast than with a girl

It's a girl. She also works so her mil will be on duty for the day. I'm going to screen shot all this and share if you don't mind.

Please pass it on - the dry cast part is extremely important! Sometimes the people who put the cast on just don't know much about the long-term cast care.

I can't believe they told her that the waterproof stuff (I'm guessing fiberglass) wouldn't make diaper changes too bad.

Her skin will literally rot in there a la trench foot if she isn't extremely vigilant about diapering.

She posted a good pix and I'm really shocked at how high up the cast goes. It looks like a newborn size diaper fits in the opening. I'll pass on everything. Thanks so much!

Yeah, I think I tried many different sizes of diapers. I also had her lie on those waterproof pad things becUse they all leak

I finally figured out that you can use a big diaper backwards, cramming the front of the diaper in the butt cut out of the cast, then just taping the back part of the diaper to the front / to the outside of the

Cast

Because of the half reclined position, all the pee will flow towards the butt, anyway, so you want the more absorbent part of the diaper in the butt cutout

The cast does go up to the armpits.

With a cut out for the belly and cut out for the butt

And yeah, line the cast with plastic wrap to keep it from getting soggy and smelling bd

You don't want to have to take the cast off and reset if the cast becomes too damaged - it's better to keep that first one on.

This was Elsa's cast before they cut out the butt area

And this was the cast being removed

Oh and one more thing - that ace bandage type of stuff they use at hospitals that sticks to itself? That also works really well at attaching diapers and whatnot to the cast. She should see if ortho will

give her some.

Thanks so much! I've passed this all on to her. It's still so early on for them.