We're going to pick up dd's AFOs tomorrow - any advice?

[Jenkeywoo]

We're getting dd's first pair of AFOs tomorrow - she has Spastic Diplegia. It's her 2nd birthday on Wednesday so she's only little still.

I have got some long socks in ready and I think we'll put her in tights tomorrow as it's chilly and they should be ok with the AFOs. I have read lots of advice about how to get her used to them and particularly to crawl (at the moment she is just crawling and pulling to stand, no walking yet). I have been advised to only put them on her for a minute or two at a time and build up slowly but someone else recommended just putting them on and plonking her down in the middle of the room and leaving her to it until she figures out how to crawl. What do you think?

I'm really nervous as I know it will be hard for her but I hope it will make the difference and help her to walk eventually.

you will need bigger shoes as well. SGK kids AFO/DAFO's were always bigger than their current shoe sizes.

thank you - I'd forgotten about that. Luckily I bought some trainers in the Jan sales and in a fit of madness bought 2 sizes too big - maybe they'll do.

about 2 sizes bigger, trainers with velco work best.

I always pick up ds2's DAFO's & head for the shoe shop.
DS2 has had no problem adapting to wearing them, in fact he asks for them on. They really have helped, far more than Piedros ever did.
They will give you advice when collecting them about starting for 5-10 mins & building up gradually over the course of about a week or two until she is comfortable, its more so that you can watch for any redness & pressure areas rather than being able to move about with them on.
Good luck, i hope she loves them.

Hi Jenk.

Hopefully the person who fits the AFOS will talk you through how to put them on correctly etc.

With dd the physio suggested starting her in them for half an hour twice daily and gradually building up.Do you have a physio who can advise re dd?

DD has had hers first ones for 2 weeks now and is very taken by the velcro noise as they are being taken off!!Also she signs "stars" when she sees them as they are a funky star design

I would head off to a shoeshop after and buy a pair of trainers with velcro on.dds are size 7 when she is actually a size 5 as they leave about 6 months "growing room" on the bottom of the AFOS.

hth and dd likes them.Good luck(I have to admit that dd struggled to crawl in hers at first but is now managing to pull/crawl herself up the stairs with me following,heart in mouth.She is sooooo pleased with herself)

Thank for the messages - we picked them up this morning and dd was really excited. They are really nicely made actually- she chose a pale blue design with kittens on and they have lovely soft leather pale blue straps and even a kind of bit of sheepskin padding under the straps. I'm really surprised by how nice looking they are. She let us put them on straight away and then she wore them all morning out shopping and when we got in the car to go home I asked her if she wanted to take them off and she said 'yes' then fell asleep cuddling one! The shoe shopping but was fairly evil - she's only a size 4 but we ended up having to get her size 7 shoes as the ankle buckle is really bulky and just wouldn't fit in a size 6. The shoes do look a bit clown like but they are 'fifi' and they flash so dd loves them!

So far she has done some cruising on the furniture and a little standing with support and also crawled about 1 metre but then got tired. We're going to take it easy to start with and see how it goes. We are seeing the physio in a couple of weeks and also going to Conductive Education session tomorrow so hopefully they'll be able to advise.

Wrinkytum - I'm glad your dd is doing so well now and getting on with her crawling and stuff. I remember when you first posted about your concerns - have you got an actual diagnosis since then? I know at one point you were being messed around a bit if I remember rightly.

Jenkey, forgot to mention, I often have to take the insoles out to make the splint sit better in the shoe

yes, take insoles out, and look for shoes which open right our down the front - ones where the opening starts almost from the toe.

But very glad to hear that she seems to have taken to them!

I seem to remember that we were told 'build up v sowly' but it was ok to just get on wih them, really.

Primark are good for long cotton socks.

If her leg gets hot and sweaty, take then back and ask for more ventilation holes to be drilled in the back.

thanks - yes we did rip out the insoles. I'm so so proud of dd - today was her 2nd birthday and we went to the conductive education centre this morning and they had her walking holding on to the parallel bars - it was amazing, last week she wouldn't have been able to do any of this so we're really pleased the splints are helping. She was really keen to put them on this morning and has already cracked crawling so all in all - good so far.

p.s I have bought long socks from primark but also found that H&M have long socks in different colours so she now has a couple of pairs of pink long socks too.

Happy Birthday & well done to little Jenkeywoo..
Thats fantastic that she's made so much progress already