Raphael update/DBB questions

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

First, thanks for the advice on socks. I got 8 pairs of Baby Gap 0-6 month

size, and the orthotist said they were perfect (well, he only said that of the

one pair we brought, but YKWIM).

Raphael's post-tenotomy appointment was yesterday, and when I took

his cast off in the morning, he did not like it! I guess it felt funny to him.

In addition to being fussy, he'd kick and then startle, like it didn't do what

he expected. But that fussiness was mild compared to his initial reaction

to the brace!

Dr. Mosca says the correction looks fine, good flexibility, etc. I was a little

surprised since his corrected foot doesn't look like his normal foot. His

normal foot has a little bit of an arch, which I guess is unusual in babies,

and the cf is corrected to be completely flat. The skin on his left leg where

the cast was is also a bit lighter than on his right side, and his thigh fat

is bunched up over where the cast used to be. I hope that'll even out in

time!

They warned us that he would be pretty upset about the brace for

24-48 hours. Dr. Mosca said these two days will test your love --- meaning

you gotta stick it out because without the brace he will relapse.

He cited a study showing a 10% relapse rate when the brace is worn

according to instructions and an 80% relapse rate when it isn't.

I asked him about tapering down to 12/7 instead of going abruptly

from 23/7 to 12/7. His reaction was that it wasn't necessary, but that

it couldn't hurt --- and he was glad to hear we were willing to do more

hours in the brace than he perscribed.

Okay, questions:

1. Car seat: We have a Graco travel system (which we got for our

older child 3.5 years ago). With the brace on (10 " bar), Rafe's feet are

almost at the end of the seat, and if they weren't, there'd be problems

because before the end his feet wouldn't fit between the sides. He

already weighs about 16 lbs, and this seat is only rated to 20, so

I think we'll be out of it pretty soon, but I'm wondering if anyone's

had any trouble with rear-facing carseats for kids in the DBB? It seems

that since it keeps him from tucking his legs together, he's going to

run into the back of the backseat sooner. Our next carseat for him is

a Britax roundabout, but I'd be interested in suggestions for seats that

work well from others who have BTDT.

2. Angle: This morning, about an hour after I took the brace off to

check and stretch his feet (per instructions) and then put it back on,

I noticed that I'd gotten the angle wrong: about 40/85 instead of

45/75. I fixed it as soon as I noticed, and then worried that I might have

done the same thing over night last night. I know to double check now,

but I worry how bad it was to do that once. Any ideas? Experiences?

3. Tummy time: I haven't tried tummy time in the brace yet, but

how does that usually go? Raphael is 8 weeks old. Do you usually do

tummy time while the brace is off or on?

4. Swaddling: We used to swadle Raphael for nighttime sleeping (but

not naps), but we can't figure out how to do it with the brace on.

Wrapping him the way we wrapped him before causes his knees to

go together, and that can't be good. We have sleepsacks for him

(and in fact were swaddling him over them). Our main goal is to keep

his arms snuggled up so he doesn't startle and wake himself up.

Any ideas on how to achieve that same effect? Or is 8 weeks old enough

that we should just tough it out for a few nights and he'll get more

comfortable unswaddled?

Thanks!