Guest guest Posted October 6, 2005 Report Share Posted October 6, 2005 It's great your baby already has a little routine going on, that's so helpful! Well lets try to clarify which shoe/bar you are using, there's a few different varieties out there. If you have a bar that is adjustable, you keep it adjusted to be shoulder width - so his heels are the width of his shoulders. You don't have to get real anal about this but keep it as close to that as you can. Most of us here recommend an adjustable bar because it allows the parents to keep up with baby growth between any check up appointments. (Here and there some babies who have worn the FAB with no complaints suddenly begin to complain and it is discovered they have out grown their bar, which is really uncomfortable.) As for the shoes - are you using the white open toed shoe made by the Markell company? Those are about the least expensive shoe I'm aware of, but then again, I think the price can depend on the supplier. I don't know if you can buy one shoe individually but Jay Markell is on this site occasionally, and/or you can search out Markell Shoe Co. on the web to contact his web page about it. Anyway, it's typical from what I hear to have a clubbed foot be smaller than a " normal " foot. BTW, is your baby's cf set out at 70 degrees? The normal foot should be around 45 degrees. Others here with uni-lateral children can help you more there. Both my kids are bilateral but I know the outward rotation for unilateral kids is different on each foot. If you are worried about him rolling over to his belly in his sleep you might try to swaddle him up tight to sleep, making it harder for him to roll over. Sorry I don't know if I'v been much help here. Do you know how to tap in to the Files and Links? There is so much information there!!! If not, let me know and we'll point you towards that too. It has all this stuff and more, including somewhere I know, the Ponseti Protocol for wearing the FAB that you could print and politely hand to your doctor s. Thank you for the advice. Actually, my son started rolling over to his stomach a couple of weeks ago and he is barely three months old. (I wish he were able to roll back though). It makes me feel better to hear that many kids do things even earlier when they are in the bar. I was afraid was going to be behind developmentally but now see this does not have to be the case. We have another month and half to wear the bar 23/7. Then we will start to cutdown to the 18-20 hours. The doctor mentioned something about having the bar off for about 4 hours but was not very clear. He pretty much was leaving it up to us on how we wanted to go about it. It was not exactly what I wanted to hear. I have to say that when we take the shoes off for the hour it is not too long before bedtime. Once the shoes and bar go back on knows bedtime is coming soon. I think he likes his little routine. The shoes are definitely a part of him. How do I know when he needs a longer bar? Also, the toes on his non- clubfoot are at the end of the shoes already. On the other hand, the clubfoot is quite a bit shorter and has a way to go still. Do you find their feet grow fast now and need new shoes often? My insurance did not cover the shoes and they were expensive. But, whatever we need to do will get done for my little guy. > > Geeze, another doctor not prescribing the FAB correctly! Rrrggg! The whole success of the method depends on your FAB use!!!!!!! Why do docs not listen?????????? (FRUSTRATION!) > > OK Stacey, this is real simple and pretty cut-n-dry. Dr. Ponseti's protocol prescribes the children wear the FAB 23 hours a day 7 days a week for 3 months. At that point it is reduced to 18 hours a day - crap I have crazy screaming kids here, hard to concentrate....um... help me out gang, is it 18 hours until they bear weight? Then down to 14 hours a day, minimum of 12 till they graduate from it at around age 4 years old. I know the exact directions are here somewhere and if someone doesn't pipe up with it you can probably locate it in the Files. > > The FAB does not interfer with normal development when worn according to Dr. P's prescription for use. Your baby will roll, sit up, crawl, cruise, everything normally (provided there isn't some other issue at work besides clubfoot). Some children roll and sit up earlier than normal due to it's use. > > Saying some kids don't tolerate it is a cop out in my opinion. Who gives them the choice? Oh sure some kids may hate the dang thing once in a while, but they hate holding hands crossing busy streets, too, but do we let them run loose in traffic?? If he hated diaper changes would you let him run around poopy? They don 't know what's good for them, that's why they have parents. > > What aggrivates me is what sounds like your doctor's lack of support in this area, almost giving the parents permission to not use the FAB which is going to lead to horrible results later on. I venture it is the doctor's own ignorance at work here and Cheers to you for educating yourself as a parent! > > The main thing to keep in mind is that the FAB becomes your child's " Normal " . We were talking about this just recently - they grow up in it, it's part of them, part of their world, their life, their everything. Before too long it will really be little moer than an extension of the child's pajamas. My little son here just turned 2 years old. Once he gets his FAB on at night he can hardly keep his eyes open, it's so normal to him that the shoes go on for bed. And in the morning soon as he eats his breakfast he knows they come back off. > > I'm sorry to rant and rave, I really don't mean to, and I'm so glad to have you in the group here. It's the doctors who don't support the parents in their use of the FAB that really aggrivate me because with out the brace, these corrected children revert back to being club footed. > > Best of luck to you! > s. > DBB Question > > > Hello Everyone, > > I have a three month old son named with moderate left > clubfoot who is currently wearing the DBB. He had 5 weeks of casts > (starting on day 4 of life) and then on week 6 starting wearing the > DBB. He has been wearing the DBB approxiamtely 6 1/2 weeks now for > 23 hours a day. We went for his checkup today and the doctor said > that his foot looks good so far and to come back in 2 1/2 months. > He said that we should try to keep wearing the DBB for the 23 > hours as long as possible but can start to cutdown on the hours once > it beings to interfere with his development. How do I know when > this is? How many hours should he wear the bar once it is not 23 > hours anymore? I asked the questions but did not really get a good > answer on what we should be doing. Or maybe I just did not > understand. My doctor said a lot of times the babies just do not > want to wear the bars anymore or have issues with them. So far > is doing pretty well so I want to keep him wearing them as > much as possible since I am afraid of relapse but I do not want to > interfere with his normal development. > > Thank you, > Stacey > Mom to LCF 7/8/05 > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 6, 2005 Report Share Posted October 6, 2005 It's great your baby already has a little routine going on, that's so helpful! Well lets try to clarify which shoe/bar you are using, there's a few different varieties out there. If you have a bar that is adjustable, you keep it adjusted to be shoulder width - so his heels are the width of his shoulders. You don't have to get real anal about this but keep it as close to that as you can. Most of us here recommend an adjustable bar because it allows the parents to keep up with baby growth between any check up appointments. (Here and there some babies who have worn the FAB with no complaints suddenly begin to complain and it is discovered they have out grown their bar, which is really uncomfortable.) As for the shoes - are you using the white open toed shoe made by the Markell company? Those are about the least expensive shoe I'm aware of, but then again, I think the price can depend on the supplier. I don't know if you can buy one shoe individually but Jay Markell is on this site occasionally, and/or you can search out Markell Shoe Co. on the web to contact his web page about it. Anyway, it's typical from what I hear to have a clubbed foot be smaller than a " normal " foot. BTW, is your baby's cf set out at 70 degrees? The normal foot should be around 45 degrees. Others here with uni-lateral children can help you more there. Both my kids are bilateral but I know the outward rotation for unilateral kids is different on each foot. If you are worried about him rolling over to his belly in his sleep you might try to swaddle him up tight to sleep, making it harder for him to roll over. Sorry I don't know if I'v been much help here. Do you know how to tap in to the Files and Links? There is so much information there!!! If not, let me know and we'll point you towards that too. It has all this stuff and more, including somewhere I know, the Ponseti Protocol for wearing the FAB that you could print and politely hand to your doctor s. Thank you for the advice. Actually, my son started rolling over to his stomach a couple of weeks ago and he is barely three months old. (I wish he were able to roll back though). It makes me feel better to hear that many kids do things even earlier when they are in the bar. I was afraid was going to be behind developmentally but now see this does not have to be the case. We have another month and half to wear the bar 23/7. Then we will start to cutdown to the 18-20 hours. The doctor mentioned something about having the bar off for about 4 hours but was not very clear. He pretty much was leaving it up to us on how we wanted to go about it. It was not exactly what I wanted to hear. I have to say that when we take the shoes off for the hour it is not too long before bedtime. Once the shoes and bar go back on knows bedtime is coming soon. I think he likes his little routine. The shoes are definitely a part of him. How do I know when he needs a longer bar? Also, the toes on his non- clubfoot are at the end of the shoes already. On the other hand, the clubfoot is quite a bit shorter and has a way to go still. Do you find their feet grow fast now and need new shoes often? My insurance did not cover the shoes and they were expensive. But, whatever we need to do will get done for my little guy. > > Geeze, another doctor not prescribing the FAB correctly! Rrrggg! The whole success of the method depends on your FAB use!!!!!!! Why do docs not listen?????????? (FRUSTRATION!) > > OK Stacey, this is real simple and pretty cut-n-dry. Dr. Ponseti's protocol prescribes the children wear the FAB 23 hours a day 7 days a week for 3 months. At that point it is reduced to 18 hours a day - crap I have crazy screaming kids here, hard to concentrate....um... help me out gang, is it 18 hours until they bear weight? Then down to 14 hours a day, minimum of 12 till they graduate from it at around age 4 years old. I know the exact directions are here somewhere and if someone doesn't pipe up with it you can probably locate it in the Files. > > The FAB does not interfer with normal development when worn according to Dr. P's prescription for use. Your baby will roll, sit up, crawl, cruise, everything normally (provided there isn't some other issue at work besides clubfoot). Some children roll and sit up earlier than normal due to it's use. > > Saying some kids don't tolerate it is a cop out in my opinion. Who gives them the choice? Oh sure some kids may hate the dang thing once in a while, but they hate holding hands crossing busy streets, too, but do we let them run loose in traffic?? If he hated diaper changes would you let him run around poopy? They don 't know what's good for them, that's why they have parents. > > What aggrivates me is what sounds like your doctor's lack of support in this area, almost giving the parents permission to not use the FAB which is going to lead to horrible results later on. I venture it is the doctor's own ignorance at work here and Cheers to you for educating yourself as a parent! > > The main thing to keep in mind is that the FAB becomes your child's " Normal " . We were talking about this just recently - they grow up in it, it's part of them, part of their world, their life, their everything. Before too long it will really be little moer than an extension of the child's pajamas. My little son here just turned 2 years old. Once he gets his FAB on at night he can hardly keep his eyes open, it's so normal to him that the shoes go on for bed. And in the morning soon as he eats his breakfast he knows they come back off. > > I'm sorry to rant and rave, I really don't mean to, and I'm so glad to have you in the group here. It's the doctors who don't support the parents in their use of the FAB that really aggrivate me because with out the brace, these corrected children revert back to being club footed. > > Best of luck to you! > s. > DBB Question > > > Hello Everyone, > > I have a three month old son named with moderate left > clubfoot who is currently wearing the DBB. He had 5 weeks of casts > (starting on day 4 of life) and then on week 6 starting wearing the > DBB. He has been wearing the DBB approxiamtely 6 1/2 weeks now for > 23 hours a day. We went for his checkup today and the doctor said > that his foot looks good so far and to come back in 2 1/2 months. > He said that we should try to keep wearing the DBB for the 23 > hours as long as possible but can start to cutdown on the hours once > it beings to interfere with his development. How do I know when > this is? How many hours should he wear the bar once it is not 23 > hours anymore? I asked the questions but did not really get a good > answer on what we should be doing. Or maybe I just did not > understand. My doctor said a lot of times the babies just do not > want to wear the bars anymore or have issues with them. So far > is doing pretty well so I want to keep him wearing them as > much as possible since I am afraid of relapse but I do not want to > interfere with his normal development. > > Thank you, > Stacey > Mom to LCF 7/8/05 > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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