For my regular readers, this post is completely off my usual topic of travel. Please feel free to stop reading now if you’re not interested in pediatric hip dysplasia! For those of you that are still reading, I assume you’re here because you have a child who was recently diagnosed with hip dysplasia. I hope this post gives you comfort and practical tips and resources for how to navigate having a child in a spica (chest to ankle) cast. There’s no way around the fact that having a toddler in a body cast is a challenge, but believe me when I tell you that you, your child, and your whole family can truly thrive during this time.

When my daughter was diagnosed with hip dysplasia in the summer of 2023 at 20 months old, something that gave me a lot of peace of mind was talking to and hearing from other parents who had been through something similar. I’ve always been a big reader and researcher (in fact, those are essential components of my law career), so naturally, one of the first things I did was turn to google. After reading numerous medical articles, I searched for blogs from real parents whose children had hip dysplasia surgeries and had to wear a spica cast. Unfortunately, there weren’t many blogs out there, and most of those that I found were out of date. I am hopeful that by sharing some of our experience, and the gear and resources that were the most helpful to us during our “spica season,” this post will make its way to another “hippy” family who needs it in the coming months and years.

The best piece of advice I got from another mom who had been on this journey was to keep living your life and get out of the house during the spica months. Our daughter had her first surgery at 21 months, her second surgery at 22 months, and was in the spica cast until the week before her second birthday. For the first two weeks after each surgery, she was scared and attached to me, but then adjusted to her new normal. We are blessed with a very easygoing and happy child who took it all in stride. However, she was not very active in the cast and didn’t really move on her own until about 10 weeks into the cast, when she started crawling/dragging herself around and rolling over in the cast. At almost two, our arms got quite a workout from carrying her!

Throughout the 12 weeks in the cast and even beyond, there have been several items that made our daughter more comfortable and made our lives easier. Because my husband and I both read everything we could find, talked to several families, and scoured the facebook support group (more on this below), we had a lot of information. I’ve distilled all of it into a short list divided by category that I hope you’ll find useful.

On the Go

Dream On Me Stroller – This stroller is the single item that we used most while our daughter was in her cast. It is great for walking around, easily going into stores and doctors appointments, and even to walk around the hospital! It’s very easy to get in and out of and they are able to sit straight up and look around. When we purchased it, it was only $49.99, but it’s gone up in price since then. At under $100, I’d say it is still well worth the cost. We took our daughter for daily walks, which were a highlight for all of us.

Summer Infant 3D Lite Stroller – With three kids, we’ve developed quite a collection of strollers for various occasions. This is the only stroller that we already owned that worked with the cast. It is a nice umbrella stroller with storage and reclining ability. It was useful when we needed something more compact than the Dream On Me or needed storage, but mainly, we used the Dream On Me.

Carrier with Hip Seat – Our daughter wanted to be carried and held for most of her time in the cast, other than during her stroller rides. This carrier allowed us to comfortably wear/hold her with more support. She was over 30 pounds with the cast so it really saved our backs!

Diono Radian 3R – This is one of the only car seats that works with the cast. You can buy one or rent it from the hospital. We already have several car seats in our family and didn’t want to buy another so we opted for the hospital rental and it worked out great.

Caroline’s Cart – If you find yourself shopping with your child while they are in the spica cast, look for Caroline’s Cart at your local store. We have them at Publix and Target in our area. If you’re by yourself and doing a grocery trip, it is probably not realistic to be able to push both the Dream On Me and a cart. Using Caroline’s Cart makes it easier to navigate the store!

Seating

Travel High Chair Booster Seat – This seat can attach to pretty much any dining chair. Since the spica cast doesn’t fit in a regular high chair, we used the booster seat on our dining room set chair. We didn’t go out to eat much while our daughter was in the cast, but the few times we did (while traveling for her surgeries, for instance), we brought the booster to a restaurant and it worked great.

Cut Bumbo Seat – If you have a bumbo seat, I’ve linked a simple tutorial for how to cut it into a seat that your child can use during the day. We used this seat all the time for play. My daughter got very into tea parties while she was in the cast so we’d set a little table in between us with the tea set on top. It was also a great place to do puzzles and other activities together.

Spica Table – A spica table is a special table built specifically for children in spica casts. These are great for coloring and daytime activities or if you need to put your child down in a safe place. They are fairly easy to find in the facebook support group (link below), but if you can’t find one in your area, there are websites where you can order one and if you’re handy, you can build one. In full disclosure, our daughter was never a huge fan of the spica table. She’d sit in it for short periods of time to color, but she really preferred to be closer to us. If you are sending your child to daycare while they are in the spica cast, I think it would be very helpful in the classroom.

Beanbags or wedge pillows are other seating options that work comfortably for daytime propping or if you just need to set them down for a few minutes.

Sleeping

Thankfully, my daughter found a comfortable sleeping position and slept normally after just a few days. I know others have a harder time with sleep, but I think a big part of our success was being able to prop her up on pillows so she could sleep on her belly, which has always been her preferred sleeping position. We used a newborn lounger pillow on top of a throw pillow and it was just the right height to slide under her torso and support her while taking pressure off of her hips and back. Alternatively, you could use wedge pillows to do the same. My daughter was almost 2, but if you have a younger baby, I understand you may not be able to lay them on their stomach or have pillows in the crib. Ultimately, talk to your doctor about acceptable sleeping positions and whether it is safe to use pillows to support them.

Hygiene/Diapering in Spica Cast

There are several helpful videos on YouTube about how to diaper in a spica cast. This was one of my biggest concerns pre-cast, but it’s honestly not too bad, despite the double-diaper situation. You tuck one small diaper into the cast and then fasten a larger diaper like normal over the cast. Due to my aesthetic, environmental, and financial preferences, we decided to use cloth diaper covers on the outside of the cast. I liked that they looked more like bloomers under a dress rather than a plain diaper. I found this set of AlvaBaby Cloth Diaper Covers, which come in a variety of colors. I used the cloth diaper insert overnight for extra protection and we never had problems with leaking.

One of the biggest challenges of the spica cast is that you can’t give your child a proper bath. You have to get creative to keep both them and the cast clean (and dry!). This is a helpful YouTube tutorial about how to bathe a baby in a spica cast. Most of the time, we used Mustela No Rinse Cleansing Water to wash our daughter’s body. We also liked Clean Life No Rinse Bathing Wipes. These were great when we were in the hotel and hospital before and after surgery. They were also helpful to reach down her cast to make sure her back was clean. We also frequently used a blow drier on cool to make sure the cast was dry, especially after being outside. She had her cast from August through November in Florida, so there were many warm days.

Clothing

You can buy special spica cast clothing like shorts and pants that fit over the cast. I’ve seen hip dysplasia leggings at Target.com and very cute onesies and shorts/pants websites at Hip Clothing AU. However, for girls, we found that buying loose dresses a size or two up worked best and was easy and economical (she can still wear them now!). Keep in mind that our daughter was in the cast during warm months, so I don’t have any advice on dressing with a cast in winter.

Activities

It was interesting to see our daughter become more interested in quieter, seated activities while she was in the cast. She naturally gravitated toward coloring, play-doh, tea parties, puzzles, and lacing beads. She loves music generally, and we were able to attend a weekly music therapy class which was a highlight for both of us. It was something she was able to participate in with other children, which was nice since we kept her home from her preschool while she was in the cast. We also had a couple of playdates with a local family whose daughter was also in a spica cast. It was also really nice to make friends with other parents going through the same thing.

One of our daughter’s favorite activities while in her cast was taking walks. We took daily (sometimes more than one) walks around the neighborhood. She loved spotting animals, waving to other walkers, petting dogs, and learning her way around. It was also a great way to get some fresh air and exercise and get out of the house.

Other than the above, we tried to live as normal a life as possible while in the cast. We took her to her brothers’ sports games, school activities, and shopping trips (always in the Dream On Me stroller)! One of the hardest parts for us was it was a hot time of year so sometimes she would just get too hot to be outside for long in the cast.

Support Groups

Facebook – DDH – Hip Dysplasia – This group is a fantastic resource for all questions about surgery, recovery, spica care, and general support from other families. I was also able to connect with local families and even a college acquaintance who had been on the same journey. If you’re on facebook, I highly recommend you join the group. Even if you don’t want to ask questions on the group, you can search members’ posts for previous questions. This is also a place where people post about passing along spica gear. We were able to connect with a family a few hours away who generously gave us their spica table, bumbo, high chair booster seat, and wedge pillows. We’ve since passed everything on to another family, who has since passed it on! I’m so grateful to this community for their continued support!

Facebook – Spica Gear – Buy/Sell/Donate is another good place to look for spica gear. This page is specifically devoted to spica gear only. I think more people also post their gear on general DDH page, but if you can’t find what you need in your area, it’s worth checking this one too.

Helpful Blogs/Links

As I mentioned, I didn’t find much in the way of blog posts, but this one – How to Survive and Thrive with a Spica Cast – helped us to feel prepared and gave us positive encouragement to truly thrive in our spica season!

If you are looking for more general information about DDH and spica casts, check out hipdysplasia.org and spicalife.com. Spica Life has a series of short videos on cast care, which are really helpful.

Please feel free to email me (candietravels@gmail.com) or comment here if you have any questions or if you just want to connect with another spica parent. I was incredibly overwhelmed when we first learned about our daughter’s hip dysplasia, but it already feels like it was such a small blip in our lives. I am deeply thankful for the many families who helped and supported us in so many ways and I want to do the same for others. If you are reading this and have a hip dysplasia success story, please post that here as well! I am always uplifted and encouraged by positive outcomes.