Casting 101

Braeden's casts were wrapped at a hospital fracture clinic a few hours away from where we live, so we had to make sure that Braeden was as comfortable as possible before and after his casting appointments. Here are some tips, things to expect, things I brought and things I wish I knew going into the casting appointments, especially the first on.

1) I wish I knew that some (if not all) babies scream the entire time they are being casted. Braeden screamed the entire time the first time he was casted! Luckily, I'm not one of those mothers who gets embarrassed by her screaming baby. The benefit is that after screaming the whole time, he was KO'd for quite a few hours.

2) Some babies are strong enough to break their casts. Yep! He did that too and not just once, but three times. The first time he was casted, Braeden cracked his casts where the knee bent 30 minutes after his appointment, so we had to rush back to the fracture clinic to reinforce it.

3) At Braeden's first appointment, I wish I had brought a soother or something for him to suck on.  It helps to soothe them while they are on the table. We also allowed him to suck on our finger during casting sessions and that helped too. On a side note, I was one of those parents who was somewhat adamant on not giving their child a soother, but that stopped the first night the casts were on. The first two nights the casts were on were the toughest for us and Braeden. He would wake up almost every hour. I finally gave into the God-given gift of plastic and the sound of silence had never felt as wonderful as it did that night as it was the only thing that allowed him to get back to sleep.

4) Don't use clothing that you don't want casting bits on. I always carry at least two to three onesies in the diaper bag anyway, but I made sure to have lots for casting so that Braeden had a change of clothes after casting. Like I said earlier, casting bits get everywhere.

5) Bring wash cloths and a plastic or wet bag. After the casting is finished, the baby from the waist down has plaster everywhere and to wipe it up the ortho tech gave me the roughest hospital cloth ever. It was like sandpaper! So the next week, I made a note on my phone to bring a soft wash cloth to wipe the plaster bits away. Plaster bits sometimes get in the butt crack and if not wiped off good they get angry! The bag is to put the wash cloth and the onesie in.

6) Urine and poop get on the casts. It is gross and you do your best to wipe it off, but you are also glad that
casts are changed once a week.

7) We changed and fed Braeden before we went into our appointments so that he was as comfortable as possible during them. Sometimes that meant he peed or pooped on the table. Makes for good stories later on.

8) The first time holding your baby after casting could be awkward because they are heavier and you also feel like you don't know how to hold them. You adjust to this awkward moment pretty quickly.

9) Know that friends might be scared or find it hard to hold your baby after he or she has the casts because they also don't want to hurt them. I had to assure some of our friends that holding him normally is fine and that they weren't hurting him.

10) And last but not least, speak up! Braeden wears thick cloth diapers, and when the ortho tech was casting him I had to remind him a couple of times during the casting period to not cast so high up on the leg in order for his diaper to fit. Also, if you have any questions (whether you think the questions are dumb or not) about the casts, don't hesitate to ask even if you think they are too busy. Asking any questions helps to understand the process better and eases your worries.