Piedro boots

[HereComeTheGirls]

My DD is 18mos and has been wearing her Piedro boots for about a week, to help with her hypermobility/hypotonia. However she just tends to sit around when wearing them and doesn't do much, playing on floor, whereas if she is in bare feet she is up cruising around the place!

They are very heavy for her floppy skinny legs! Does anyone have any experience of them - does it get easier and it is worth perservering? I don't want to HAMPER her walking!!

TIA

DS wears Piedros, and has since he has been walking.

Do you see a physio? they are often very good at suggesting strategies for this sort of thing.

Tsome of the things she suggested to us for a similiar issue (needeing to get DS to stand on tip-toe regularly), could you:

Place a snack that she really likes, at snack time, on a coffee table at the far end of the sofa - to encourage her to cruise along the sofa?

Take her to the park in them and get her to cruise up the slope to the slide (if they have things like those slides which have a ramp up to a bridge rather than steps), and encourage her to hold on to the railings as she goes?

Always place her toys - or things which arouse her curiosity - a cruise-trip away?

Gently roll a ball away from her.

I would guess she needs to get used to the sensation of walking in them. My cousin's grandchild wears Piedros for the same condition as your dd, and they have REALLY helped him to gain stability and confidence, so do persist.

were you shown a catalogue? depending on what structure she needs, there are lighter models than the 'hiking boot' style - sude trainer-y ones which are lighter. Have a look next time if you think the weight is an issue - but building up her muscles would perhaps be a good thing?

Yes, she sees a physio. unfortunately she could only get one model as her feet are so tiny...a small size 18. The physio wanted a different model but we had to get the first step ones.

These are all great tips thanks! She is very curious and so I do place things along the sofa and get her to cruise up and down.

Unfortunately she is also quite sharp and if she feels its an effort to stand up to play with something she will find something interesting on the floor. This is probably not helping her to adapt.

I will definitely persevere, it is encouraging that your grandson has been helped so much! She definitely STANDS better in them, she just doesn't pull up to standing much.

Sorry your COUSIN's grandchild I meant

Are they the little white ones?? If so, we had those when my daughter was small.
In our experience we are so glad we persevered with the piedros, and they help with walking no end. The tips above were great too. My daughter has bigger ones now (although she is still tiny) and they help massively, and keep her feet flatter too.
Good luck!

They are black patent but I think they are the same!

So, did she have the same problems at first and take a while to get used to them?

Thanks!!

Hi, HereComeThe Girls.

Have you spoken to your physio about whether she should be wearing them all the time, or whether free time in bare feet when at home is OK? Sometimes, they are only required when lots of walking is anticipated.

My son wore piedros for hypermobility and hypotonia when he was learning to walk and until he was stable walking without support. They are quite stiff and heavy, which does make it very tricky at first for a hypotonic and hypermobile child to get from sitting on the floor to standing up in them (as if that bit isn't tricky for them already...), but they are definitely worth persevering with. I'm certain they sped up the process of my son learning to walk independently quite considerably and corrected his tendency (mainly due to totally flat feet and quite severely pronating ankles) to walk with his feet pointing out like Charlie Chaplin. Once he was up and walking independently, the strength in his legs improved significantly, which ultimately meant we could dispense with the piedros - albeit his feet are still flat and his ankles still do pronate noticeably (although they are a lot better than they used to be).

Hi asteamedpoater, and thanks

The physio said ideally she will be wearing them all the time, but can start with just all morning or all afternoon at first.

It's just hard to see any reduction in her activity level as she is improving so much in bare feet!!

But I know she does need them, one ankle pronates quite badly and she tends to go along on tiptoe. She does stand better in them, definitely, and hopefully she will be able to pull to stand well in them soon too.

She is also getting a bit sore where they rub against her feet, she has eczema which doesn't help.

I will definitely persevere with them, it's really helpful to read of all the positive experiences with them!

Thanks iwearflairs, I am so glad your ds has improved!!

Another thing I have noticed..every time I am out anywhere where there are mothers and babies someone asks me where I got them as they think they are nice boots, it's really awkward as if I tell them the truth the person is embarrassed for asking! Did any of you come up with an answer to this one??!

Hi

My DS has Piedros and I think he found them a bit strange at first as they are so heavy and supportive but they're definitely helping him now. I was asked whether they were from Clark's, I just say they're the finest the NHS has to offer, but my portage worker did say you can get them on the internet so you could always say that!

HCTG, I think we used to say 'yes, they are a European make'! Ours had little cats on at one point, and were really sweet looking, especially in red!

My DD2 has hypotonia and pronates terribly. Due to her low tone the physio and paediatric podiatrist agreed that Piedros weren't appropriate as they are so heavy and stiff, so DD2 has moulded insoles for her lightweight normal boots/shoes.

Any chance you can ask to see a paediatric podiatrist and get some insoles moulded for her to try as well?

The physio did say this was another option, if she didn't get on well with the boots. I think I will persevere until she comes back on the 16th and then maybe we will have to look at the insoles option instead.

in answer to the op. we were told dd must never wear hers on the follr as it was bad for her ankles.

floor even

That's interesting...I will ask the physio about that when she comes to the house next, thanks!!

HerecomeTheGirls, my dd has worn Piedro's for just over a year because she has hypermobility and floppy muscles. Despite struggling with the sheer weight of them early on, she is doing great now.

We were advised to gradually build up the time that she wore them, so just half an hour to begin with per day, then a bit more the next day. They will feel strange and might even make your dd's feet and legs ache a bit at first because they're forcing the ankle and foot into the right position. They are also quite stiff, so mshadowsisfab is right about being careful with them on the floor. My dd turned her foot all the way round in them, and hadn't even noticed. It looked awful!

My dd is now 5, and has the boots and the moulded orthotic insoles to fit inside them. Her joints will never be normal, but they are much more stable when she wears them.

Thanks.

I think i will definitely cut down the time she wears them at first, although we were told to try a whole morning. I suppose it depends on the degree of hypermobility etc.

My physio recommended baby botte boots - which aren't special shoes, but she thought were very good. We now have our DS in them when we go out, but have been told to keep him barefoot inside.