Talipes/Clubfoot Mothers - Help Needed

[MnM156]

Hi all,
Just need to reach out to mothers who have had a Club foot baby. I hope I am posting in the right category. I was unable to find related threads on the subject. My apologies if there are already such threads.

I am currently 28 weeks pregnant and my baby is diagnosed with a unilateral Talipes. I am going to start my baby shopping soon but am confused about what to buy considering the baby will be in his first cast at 2 weeks. I have a few questions for mums with some experience:

1. Did you have trouble putting your baby in sleepsuits/baby grows while their cast was on?
2. Did you have to buy a size larger to put their legs in their clothes while the cast was on?
3. What baby bath did you use? I was thinking of buying the Shnuggle but after looking at it I think it works only if the baby is bending his knees so might not work for when the baby is in a cast. What do you suggest in this regard?
4. Were you able to swaddle the baby with the cast?
5. Were you able to use a normal sleeping bag?
6. Should I buy a carrier/sling or it wouldn't work with a baby with a cast?

If anyone has had a Club foot baby and has any knowledge about these things please help this FTM. I would really really appreciate it. I am really very confused!

Thanks a lot for reading so far.

Anyone?

The medical term is talipes. Perhaps do a search using this term? Also could google using this terminology As some could be offended by the use of “club foot” tbh.

talipes support group uk

That as a google search brings up a few useful links. I thought it was the link but it didn’t work!

No experience, @MnM156, but there is informal family support offered here: www.stepsworldwide.org/get-help/family-contact-service/

(The national charity use the term clubfoot, @Isadora2007. And OP uses both terms in her heading.)

Or the charity Steps. And they say "commonly known as club foot". I don't think it's remotely offensive. Sorry can't really help with your questions as the way they treat this has changed a lot since my daughter was born with severe bilateral talipes. But she walked at 21 months and at 23 she's fine. It will be fine.

My DD had positional talipes so I don't have any helpful advice for your situation, but the physios we've seen have been AMAZING and really helpful with practical stuff.

I wonder if your midwife could put you in touch with specialist physios before the baby arrives to ask this sort of stuff?

Not that it really matters, but they also run a session called the Club Foot Club and I've never heard anyone object to the term!

@Isadora2007

The medical term is talipes. Perhaps do a search using this term? Also could google using this terminology As some could be offended by the use of “club foot” tbh.

Hey Isadora, Thanks a lot for your reply. I do know the medical term and I have used both in my message. I have been researching about the topic since last 2 months now and have always come across both the terms. Google uses both terms as well. Even the Fetal Medicine Doctor and my Midwife uses both these terms so I didn't think it would offend anyone. I mean it doesn't offend me and I am a mother of a baby with the same condition. However, I will be careful.

@Isadora2007

That as a google search brings up a few useful links. I thought it was the link but it didn’t work!

Thanks a lot!! That's really helpful!! Thank you very much once again!

@SparklingLime

No experience, *@MnM156*, but there is informal family support offered here: www.stepsworldwide.org/get-help/family-contact-service/

(The national charity use the term clubfoot, @Isadora2007. And OP uses both terms in her heading.)

Thanks a lot!!

PM'd you

Hi, my son was born with fixed bilateral talipes.
He went into casts at almost 2 weeks old and we found footless sleepsuits much easier if you can find them or cut the feet off which is drastic but helps. We didn’t buy a size larger but he was quite small with long legs. You quickly get used to dressing/ changing them with casts on. Just be careful as if they kick you with casts on it can do a lot of damage!

Bathing was tricky as you can’t get the casts wet, although this was almost 6 years ago so things could have changed now. We used to top and tail him as much as we could in just a basic baby bath.

I never swaddled him or used sleeping bags as he was too small for the bags. Once he was in his boots and bar he did fit into sleeping bags though.

We sometimes used a carrier from when he was in his boots and bar but he wasn’t very keen, never tried when in casts.

Be prepared for lots of mess on the day of casting/ changing casts. If you’ve got any questions please ask. It seems daunting but the casting works and as it’s pretty much all they’ll know I think it’s worse for us than them. Good luck! x

Hi - my son is nearly teenage now, but I can probably remember some useful tips! His feet are great now, by the way - boots and bar seem like a distant memory!

1. Did you have trouble putting your baby in sleepsuits/baby grows while their cast was on?

• no, not really. I looked particularly for footless baby gros- I don’t think the normal baby gros with feet would have been that easy. Mine was a summer baby though so often in vests! H&M and baby gap were good for footless baby gros.

1. Did you have to buy a size larger to put their legs in their clothes while the cast was on?

• The cast stage doesn’t really last that long. You’ll always be needing to have the next size up available as they grow so quickly so just play around and see what size works!

1. What baby bath did you use? I was thinking of buying the Shnuggle but after looking at it I think it works only if the baby is bending his knees so might not work for when the baby is in a cast. What do you suggest in this regard?

• we didn’t bath him at home while the cast was on. We just topped and tailed. We could bath him once a week at the hospital when the cast came off. He was totally furious every time! They were lovely at the hospital about the bathing time.

1. Were you able to swaddle the baby with the cast?

• we didn’t try but I don’t think it would work.

1. Were you able to use a normal sleeping bag?

• yes we used gro bags all the way through. Including boots and bar stage - actually they were really really helpful as they cushioned the bashing boots against side of cot sound!

1. Should I buy a carrier/sling or it wouldn't work with a baby with a cast?

• for the cast stage, we used a sort of bag type sling. But a year or two after, I saw they’re not recommended so much as it’s a bit easy for them to get into a bad position. We were v careful but not sure I could recommend that type now. I loved slings, we used a connecta baby carrier with buckles which was really easy to wear with the boots and bar in place when he was a few months old. You could try a soft carrier for the newborn stage, and maybe leave the cast sticking out and support it with your hand? Worth experimenting.

I also worried about if he would fit in a pram or pushchair with the boots and bar, but it was fine - best not to go for totally slimline ones but he wiggled his feet around so much it didn’t matter.

Best of luck with it all. The steps charity is excellent and there is a good forum there too I think (well there was years ago!!)
I know it will all seem totally overwhelming now, but it goes by so fast, and it’s a really excellent treatment in our experience. You might find you need a cot sooner than expected as the boots make it a bit of a tight squeeze in a Moses basket. Actually, I often found a travel cot worked really well, as when the boots clonked against the side, it wasn’t noisy in a travel cot. If I were doing it all over again (ha!) I might actually get a good proper mattress for a travel cot and see how that works.
Good luck!

Ds had bilateral talipes.. Cast at a week old. Changed weekly. Boots and bar at 4 weeks. Socks without seems a necessity.. Found girls socks in plain white inside out worked fine. Boots and bar 23 hours a day - bath and proper cuddles in that hour!! Bf was awkward as was nappy changing. Dungarees with crotch opening were best options for day clothes. Pj's without feet for night. Ds is nearly 12 and an amazing footballer - you would never ever guess!! Treatment ended at 4 not 5 he did so well!!

I have experience of this, also unilateral talipes. Assuming your baby will be treated with the Ponseti method. Firstly, please don’t worry, you soon get used to it and baby knows nothing else.

1. We bought sleepsuits and babygrows with no feet but more often just chopped the feet off the usual ones, you‘ll probably be advised to buy thin socks for the boots

1. Maybe go for slightly larger in case you do need to chop the ends off

1. Don’t worry too much about a bath at first. Baths will be rare as you will need to keep the cast dry, and only soak it for a while just before it is changed (weekly for us), ended up dangling his leg in a bucket so the rest of him didn’t get cold!

1. Didn’t really try swaddling but I‘m sure you‘d manage

1. We used a normal sleeping bag, was a bit tight but fine, try to find one with a generous width

1. We used a baby carrier no problem, just clicked the bar back on the shoes after he was strapped in

@MnM156 sorry if I seemed rude about the club foot terminology. I see now it’s generally acceptable but when I was working in the field back 20-odd years ago it was a bit frowned upon as considered insulting (don’t know why?)
Anyway- lots of helpful advice above- and I’ve also seen that lots of babygros are footless just now- Asda, next certainly so...perhaps buying now before the winter designs come in.
Frugi is also lovely for soft dungareesand tend to come up larger- as does the design Little Green Radicals...

Dear @damefaffalot @Sunnydaysstillhere @Talipesmum @Alwaystired99 @PaulinePetrovaPosey @Isadora2007

Thank you all very very much! You have all given such great suggestions. It has really cleared my confusion. I feel more confident and in control somehow so thank you for that. Glad I posted here on Mumsnet. You have all been a great help!

[quote Isadora2007]@MnM156 sorry if I seemed rude about the club foot terminology. I see now it’s generally acceptable but when I was working in the field back 20-odd years ago it was a bit frowned upon as considered insulting (don’t know why?)
Anyway- lots of helpful advice above- and I’ve also seen that lots of babygros are footless just now- Asda, next certainly so...perhaps buying now before the winter designs come in.
Frugi is also lovely for soft dungareesand tend to come up larger- as does the design Little Green Radicals...[/quote]
Don't worry about it and I didn't take your comment to be rude. I am learning everyday like everyone else so I don't mind people correcting me if I am wrong.

Thanks a lot once again for your suggestions! Will definitely look into them.

Club foot baby here too.

Carrier will be fine, any baby bath will be fine (but you won’t be able to bath him when he has the cast; it’ll be one bath a week at hospital when the cast is changed).

Went for footless stuff here - mostly baby dungarees and onesies rather than babygros.

In years to come it will be forgotten op... Ds has no memory of wearing them! He finished his treatment the week he was 4..He managed to walk around wearing them. And gleefully banged them on his siblings toes!!! Ddog learned to keep her distance! He managed crawling up /down stairs just fine too!