Our daughter was diagnosed with developmental dysplasia of the hip when she was 15 months old. When she was 17 months old, she had an open reduction surgery and was placed in her first hip spica cast. The 12 weeks that followed were some of the most difficult weeks we have faced. Luckily, supplies did help us pass the time quicker. Here are a few supplies that made surviving the hip spica cast more bearable.
Supplies for Hip Spica Cast – Post DDH Surgery
1. Bean Bag Chair
2. New Boba 3G Baby Carrier
3. Baby legs– very handy for cold weather since pants don’t fit. I highly recommend baby legs – if there’s no bar on the cast. I found a great sale and stocked up. My favorite pair were Halloween ones with bones on them – they were our good luck legs for healthy hip growth.
4. Shirts, onsies, flouncy dresses in one-two sizes larger than her normal size. Some of her old clothes fit, but not well. Going up 1-2 sizes seemed to do the trick. I stocked up on some clothes at Goodwill so I didn’t have to worry about them being ruined by the spica cast.
5. Duck Tape – sure wish I would have seen this MIZZOU duct tape while Sara still needed it…Duct tape came in really handy for “freshening” up her cast and a variety pack of duck tape was one of the favorite Christmas presents my kids received. Can you say country kids?
6. Moleskin 
7. Incontinence pads, diapers of various sizes, flash light, hair dryer – diapering’s tricky in the Spica. You might want to have a variety of supplies on hand as you figure out how to diaper. The flashlight is a MUST HAVE to check for skin problems hidden under the spica. The hair dryer also helped me out more than once. I blogged more about diapering and supplies here.
8. Baby Advil & Tylenol – helpful right off the bat when the pain is bad (we gave this in between her doses of prescribed meds). There is some evidence of Motrin impairing bone growth, so check with your surgeon before you give lots of does of Motrin.
9. Medicine droppers and a notebook to keep track of meds – we had 3 different prescribed medications and alternated them Advil and Tylenol to manage her pain. Keeping track of when what was due was immensely helpful.
10. Prince Lionheart Wheely Bug – a super toy! Sara loved wheeling around on this – in her cast and in her brace. And so did several other hip children we have connected with.
11. On-The-Go Booster Seat
12. Spica Chair – a lot of people really recommend these chairs. Honestly, they didn’t work that well for us. Our surgeon wanted Sara to remain more reclined on the bean bag chair, and I just had a hard time getting Sara in and out of the spica chair. She always wanted to be on my lap anyhow. You can order a spica chair, or get instructions and build your own.
13. Car seat – you’re also going to need a wide car seat. Our hospital loaned us one to use. There are programs to help you afford one if you can’t get one from the hospital (Steps in the UK).
These were must have supplies for us when my daughter when she was in a hip spica cast after DDH surgery. What have you found to be helpful for your child?
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