Spica Cast Toddler Tips & Hacks

Now that we were in this spica cast situation, we had to figure out how to survive 4 weeks in one. Below are some of the tips and hacks I learned along the way in our spica cast toddler journey.

In my previous post I explained HOW we ended up in with the spica cast toddler situation and this post I will talk about the tips/tricks I used to keep her clean, safe, and happy for those dreadful 4 weeks.

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Diapers:

The first thing I needed to figure out was how to keep her genital region dry and clean for 4 weeks and since she is not potty trained, I needed to get creative with diapers.

I couldn’t put her normal diapers on her because she was not able to sit up properly so when she would pee, the pee would just get everywhere if we didn’t pad it somehow.

Now the doctors/nurses said I should use her normal size diapers and place one inside the cast and then an oversized diaper to go around the outside of the cast to secure the inside diaper in place.

This did not quite work out how I thought it would. Only having two diapers inside of the cast would not stop the cast from getting wet if I didn’t pad the belly and booty side of the cast.

Thankfully I had some preemie diapers that a friend of mine gave me when I was pregnant, that I never used. I used those as padding for the upper and lower sides.

I turned those small diapers inside out and shoved one up the front where her belly is and another down the back where her booty is to make sure no leaks happened.

Then I placed a normal size diaper flipped and shoved up into the cast and finally a nighttime diaper around the outside of the cast to secure the 3 other diapers in place.

Now I will say, this got expensive. Having to buy 3 different types/sizes of diapers was not cheap, but we sucked it up and made the sacrifice so we wouldn’t have to get her re-cast. You could probably use panty-liners as a cheaper solution.

Bathing:

The next thing I had to figure out was how I was going to bathe her.

Now most of her body was casted and it wasn’t too hot here in California yet and she wasn’t running around, so she didn’t get that sweaty but I still needed to wash her hair every so often.

My mother and I looked online for ideas and found this portable, inflatable hair washing station on amazon for around $25.

Once we got this, washing her hair was sooo much easier!

She was hesitant and hated using it because it was foreign to her and she is a very cautious child so she didn’t like it but after the first few times, she got used to it.

Transportation:

The final thing I had to figure out was transportation and how we were going to get out of the house!

I couldn’t stay indoors for 4 weeks, plus I needed to be able to get her to her check-up X-rays 2 weeks later.

My mother-in-law bought this Radio Flyer plastic red wagon that had sides, seats, and a canopy which was perfect! Since my daughter could not sit up fully my MIL had to make-shift something to prop her up without hurting her.

Thankfully she is crafty and sewed some padded covers and pillows to make her ride more comfy. Plus it had princesses on it which made my 2 year old very happy! She basically had her own princess carriage.

We used this for walks around the neighborhood and to our local Starbucks and target to just get out of the house and grab a few things every once in awhile.

We even took it to the local grocery store and ice cream shop and people thought she was the cutest thing in her “ride”.

Now I still had the daunting task of figuring out how to drive her places, like the doctors.

It took about a week and I finally was able to get her into her car seat. She was used to the cast enough to let me move and maneuver her without fighting and resisting me.

Thankfully we had the Britax Marathon car seat which has wide enough base that the width of her legs fit into the seat. In order to get her to sit propped up securely I rolled a towel under her back for added cushion.

The buckle was TIGHT but it clicked. I was able to drive with her and this was a life changer.

Granted I never drove with her longer than 8 miles, but it helped give both of us a sense of normality.

Entertainment:

We also had an air mattress to let her play on so it didn’t hurt her to lay on her belly. We also got toys she could hold on her lap and since she loves coloring, my mother found this cool table that can be propped up (as shown above) to allow her to color!

By the end of the 4 weeks she was able to army crawl in the cast as well as roll up onto her side.

Kids are truly resilient. But these hacks/items were essential to help give our little girl a sense of routine and normality in her life.

Plus lots of new toys, visitors, and ice cream helped too! 🙂