Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Children's health

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

4 yr old going to have legs in plaster- tips to make it more comfortable?

7 replies

MrsJamin · 04/04/2012 06:32

DS1 will have both legs in plaster in a few weeks' time, from foot to just below knee. This is to correct his tiptoe walking as he cannot put one heel on the floor at all. I am a bit daunted by this and wondering what to do about washing, walking, socks/shoes etc. I'm also worried about how to make it more comfortable for him. I hope the docs and physios will be able to answer my questions but also thought there might be some
MN wisdom on the matter... Any tips?

OP posts:
brighthair · 04/04/2012 06:46

Socks - use bigger ones with lots of stretch
Washing - you can get waterproof covers which were fantastic when I was in plaster

Hope it all goes ok, sure someone will have more answers Smile

SneakyBiscuitEater · 04/04/2012 08:10

My eldest had exactly the same thing when he was 3, serial casting and night splints for toe walking. The things we found most useful were:

Adult size slipper socks to go over the casts at home we have a resin floor in the kitchen and tiles in the bathroom that were dangerously slippy for him to walk on in his casts - grippy soles meant he was safe.

We just did a 'sink wash' until he needed a hair wash and then we taped bin bags over the casts with sellotape (on the bin bags to make a gathered 'cuff' not on the skin) to prevent splashes and then DH and I dunked him in the bath so that his knees were bent over the edge and he was flat on his back in the water iyswim?

He was given 'cast shoes' by the hospital (velcro sandal type things) which were great for round school but gave no weather protection and your number one concern is keeping the casts dry so we bin bagged over the casts with cast shoes over the top for travel to school. Bin bags removed as soon as he arrived though or otherwise he'd have stunk!

You may want to get a cheap pair of black jogging bottoms from the supermarket and cut the elastic cuff at the bottom in case he can't get his uniform trousers on. Or if he's more confident you may be able to get his summer shorts on??

He stayed inside at playtime if it was raining or there were puddles on the floor.

No PE (at schools insistence - not ours)

If you walk far regularly e.g. We did quite a big school run daily and you have smaller DC you could consider a buggy board - as he's older he might not go for that, how about a tow on his scooter if he has one and you can manage it?

We also got him using blankets rather than his usual duvet at night as he got too hot on his feet.

School will have dealt with kids like this before and should have an idea of what's sensible but it may be a good idea to go in and speak to them anyway. On a separate occasion DS had a broken wrist (oh yes all but one limb so far has been in plaster before he's 6) and he was allowed to play in the sand tray in reception class as we had only specified not to play in the water tray D'Oh!

We always had our cast changes very first thing in the morning - they said they liked to get kids in and out before there were lots of injured people in the waiting room. This meant DS met one of his now best friends, a girl who was a few weeks ahead of us treatment wise and we got to see her having her casts cut off so DS wouldn't be worried about it. As it happens DS giggled his head off as he said it tickled every time he had a cast off (some others can be frightened of the sound of the 'saw')

Oh and the last thing - you will be massively worried about this and how it will affect him. I can almost guarantee that after the initial its not fair no playtime in puddles he will not be arsed in the slightest. My DS loved the minor celebrity status in his primary school from having two casts!

QIelf · 04/04/2012 08:17

Get a limbo?

www.limboproducts.co.uk/

Littleplasticpeople · 04/04/2012 17:28

My ds had this last yer aged nearly 4. Make sure you get those padded Velcro shoe things for him to wear- he will run about!
Also those big socks with The sticky grippy bits on the bottom, as the casts are slippy on tiled / wooded floors.

The Limbo things are good for baths, but tbh you will probably just have to limit baths quite a lot!

My ds ran round in his fine, he started walking about 3 hours after the operation. However, when his casts came off (6 weeks later, they weren't changed weekly) he was very wobbly for a few days. It also took a few months or his calf muscles to fill out again. I have a brilliant clip of my ds scooting at break-neck speed with both legs in casts. Grin

Good luck, he will be fine Smile

MrsJamin · 04/04/2012 20:08

Trust MN to find two mothers with DS's who've been through this exact scenario! Reassuring that it all went ok with your boys- children just roll with situations like these, don't they? He will love having all the preschool attention of little girls wanting to play doctors with him and his friends writing their names on his cast!

Good advice about the socks, he's got some grippy ones from H&M at the moment so I might just buy some more in bigger sizes. My biggest worry is how much pain he'll be in, because the days when he has been trying harder to walk on his heels, he wakes up in pain in the night, and I am anticipating this if his legs are cast in this position. His preschool is great and know him well now so I am sure that he can be looked after fine there, and we will work together to accommodate him in the casts, if needs be. He does have a scooter but to be honest I think the use of it has exacerbated the tiptoe walking especially as his left foot (that drives the scooter) is much worse than his right. I still have a phil and teds with doubles kit so I may just put him in that to help him get around, at least he won't look ridiculous in it being just over 4.

Thanks again for your ideas, I will revisit to what you've written just before the day of casting I think!

OP posts:
Littleplasticpeople · 06/04/2012 08:26

Mrsjamin, I have our limbo covers still, if you would like them just pm me your address and they are yours. No use to us anymore!

MrsJamin · 25/04/2012 20:10

Round of applause please for Littleplasticpeople- she sent me some plastic covers for DS1's plaster casts, wouldn't accept any reimbursement and he loved his bath in them tonight! :)

OP posts:
New posts on this thread. Refresh page