Cast Two....

Home, London
13thJune 2011

Over the next few days and nights we quickly adjusted to having Oscars leg in plaster, he was a little emotional for the first day, crying more than usual, but so quickly adjusted we were very lucky. I think its the weight of the cast and the getting used to lifting the leg again with the added weight that he found most frustrating. The thing that took the longest to adjust to was for me trying to remember that his leg doesn't hurt him as its not broken its just set at an angle as I would find myself holding him a certain way or putting him down as if his leg was broken! There is no need to buy any new clothes if the treatment is on a baby up to a year old as there leg/legs with a cast on will still fit into sleep suits. Oscar lived in these, romper suits and baby grows on a warm day, so defiantly no added costs for this stage of the method. One thing I would recommend if your baby is sleeping in a cot like Oscar was is to roll up some towels and place them around the edge of the cot underneath the sheet as it stopped his cast from banging against the bars whilst he slept and waking himself up. If you have a winter baby then investing in a grobag would be a perfect. At our hospital visit we had Oscars first cast removed, he was placed into a portable nice warm bath with lots of bubble bath in which he loved, this is to soak the cast to soften it ready to be cut off. I would be holding Oscar and keeping him upright whilst the nurse would be removing his cast. Oscar always cried during this process not because it hurt but because his leg has to be firmly held as a knife and scissors are used to cut the cast off for his own safety. As soon as the cast is off Oscar would immediately perk up we would give him a wash down before drying and dressing him ready for his next cast. Before the next cast was started Denise would again rate Oscars foot out of 6 from just 3 days in a cast his foot went from a 5.5 to a 4.5 we were so happy that the technique was working and so quickly. 3 days is the minimum you can have a cast on as any shorter and you run the risk of it not adapting to the new position. The next cast was applied quickly and we were out of the hospital within the hour with our next appointment set from next week.