Re: How distressed is normal? DBB Help

[Guest guest]

Hi Kori-

The shaking and clawing at her face sounds really drastic for an easy going

baby. I think you are right to be concerned. You can quickly troubleshoot if

it is the actual shoe or bar bothering her by taking off the bar and just

putting her in the shoes for 30 minutes. If she doesn't shake and claw you

know it is not her shoe. If she does then there is a problem with the

actual shoe I bet. If you put the bar on and she starts the shaking and

clawing then maybe it is at the wrong degrees. Babies do cry ALOT when

getting used to the DBB but for us it was more a frustration cry than a pain

cry. Darbi's sounds like a pain cry because of her other actions you

mention. I hope you can troubleshoot it quickly. You dont want her out of

the bar for too long there first months because of regression.

>

>Reply-To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>Subject: How distressed is normal? DBB Help

>Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 13:22:36 -0700

>

>We just came home with the DBB and Darbi hates it. She can't sleep and

>needs to and is crying louder and worse than she ever has before. She's

>shaking and clawing at her face and I couldn't take it or let her be that

>way so I took the dbb off. she fell asleep within a minute. I think her

>casted foot is too sensitive. I couldn't even touch it while at the

>appointment without making her cry. I do not think it has anything to do

>with how rotated out it is or that the feet are bound together. It's the

>shoe itself bothering her. I'm going to let her sleep for a little while

>here and try again after I rub the shoes for a while but I need to know

>what is normal for how she's feeling in the shoes. She's REALLY distressed

>and after being a baby who rarely if ever cries this is hard on both of

>us. I'm crying too! This shaking and clawing at her face reminds me of

>how they say those babies who were left in the hot for hours car

>acted. She's refusing to nurse which is also a problem because she needs

>to eat.

>Help!

>

>Kori

>

>

_________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Hi Kori-

The shaking and clawing at her face sounds really drastic for an easy going

baby. I think you are right to be concerned. You can quickly troubleshoot if

it is the actual shoe or bar bothering her by taking off the bar and just

putting her in the shoes for 30 minutes. If she doesn't shake and claw you

know it is not her shoe. If she does then there is a problem with the

actual shoe I bet. If you put the bar on and she starts the shaking and

clawing then maybe it is at the wrong degrees. Babies do cry ALOT when

getting used to the DBB but for us it was more a frustration cry than a pain

cry. Darbi's sounds like a pain cry because of her other actions you

mention. I hope you can troubleshoot it quickly. You dont want her out of

the bar for too long there first months because of regression.

>

>Reply-To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>Subject: How distressed is normal? DBB Help

>Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 13:22:36 -0700

>

>We just came home with the DBB and Darbi hates it. She can't sleep and

>needs to and is crying louder and worse than she ever has before. She's

>shaking and clawing at her face and I couldn't take it or let her be that

>way so I took the dbb off. she fell asleep within a minute. I think her

>casted foot is too sensitive. I couldn't even touch it while at the

>appointment without making her cry. I do not think it has anything to do

>with how rotated out it is or that the feet are bound together. It's the

>shoe itself bothering her. I'm going to let her sleep for a little while

>here and try again after I rub the shoes for a while but I need to know

>what is normal for how she's feeling in the shoes. She's REALLY distressed

>and after being a baby who rarely if ever cries this is hard on both of

>us. I'm crying too! This shaking and clawing at her face reminds me of

>how they say those babies who were left in the hot for hours car

>acted. She's refusing to nurse which is also a problem because she needs

>to eat.

>Help!

>

>Kori

>

>

_________________________________________________________________

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http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

[Guest guest]

Hi Kori-

The shaking and clawing at her face sounds really drastic for an easy going

baby. I think you are right to be concerned. You can quickly troubleshoot if

it is the actual shoe or bar bothering her by taking off the bar and just

putting her in the shoes for 30 minutes. If she doesn't shake and claw you

know it is not her shoe. If she does then there is a problem with the

actual shoe I bet. If you put the bar on and she starts the shaking and

clawing then maybe it is at the wrong degrees. Babies do cry ALOT when

getting used to the DBB but for us it was more a frustration cry than a pain

cry. Darbi's sounds like a pain cry because of her other actions you

mention. I hope you can troubleshoot it quickly. You dont want her out of

the bar for too long there first months because of regression.

>

>Reply-To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>To: nosurgery4clubfoot

>Subject: How distressed is normal? DBB Help

>Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 13:22:36 -0700

>

>We just came home with the DBB and Darbi hates it. She can't sleep and

>needs to and is crying louder and worse than she ever has before. She's

>shaking and clawing at her face and I couldn't take it or let her be that

>way so I took the dbb off. she fell asleep within a minute. I think her

>casted foot is too sensitive. I couldn't even touch it while at the

>appointment without making her cry. I do not think it has anything to do

>with how rotated out it is or that the feet are bound together. It's the

>shoe itself bothering her. I'm going to let her sleep for a little while

>here and try again after I rub the shoes for a while but I need to know

>what is normal for how she's feeling in the shoes. She's REALLY distressed

>and after being a baby who rarely if ever cries this is hard on both of

>us. I'm crying too! This shaking and clawing at her face reminds me of

>how they say those babies who were left in the hot for hours car

>acted. She's refusing to nurse which is also a problem because she needs

>to eat.

>Help!

>

>Kori

>

>

_________________________________________________________________

Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE*

http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail

[Guest guest]

Kori-

I am broken hearted reading how poorly things are going for you and

Darbi...( Please go to the files section and see the Shoe file, I

hope some of this helps. Where are you located?

Cast Lady

-- In nosurgery4clubfoot , " Kori M Rush "

<frogabog@q...> wrote:

> We just came home with the DBB and Darbi hates it. She can't

sleep and

> needs to and is crying louder and worse than she ever has before.

She's

> shaking and clawing at her face and I couldn't take it or let her

be that

> way so I took the dbb off. she fell asleep within a minute. I

think her

> casted foot is too sensitive. I couldn't even touch it while at

the

> appointment without making her cry. I do not think it has anything

to do

> with how rotated out it is or that the feet are bound together.

It's the

> shoe itself bothering her. I'm going to let her sleep for a little

while

> here and try again after I rub the shoes for a while but I need to

know

> what is normal for how she's feeling in the shoes. She's REALLY

distressed

> and after being a baby who rarely if ever cries this is hard on

both of

> us. I'm crying too! This shaking and clawing at her face reminds

me of

> how they say those babies who were left in the hot for hours car

> acted. She's refusing to nurse which is also a problem because she

needs

> to eat.

> Help!

>

> Kori

[Guest guest]

Kori-

I am broken hearted reading how poorly things are going for you and

Darbi...( Please go to the files section and see the Shoe file, I

hope some of this helps. Where are you located?

Cast Lady

-- In nosurgery4clubfoot , " Kori M Rush "

<frogabog@q...> wrote:

> We just came home with the DBB and Darbi hates it. She can't

sleep and

> needs to and is crying louder and worse than she ever has before.

She's

> shaking and clawing at her face and I couldn't take it or let her

be that

> way so I took the dbb off. she fell asleep within a minute. I

think her

> casted foot is too sensitive. I couldn't even touch it while at

the

> appointment without making her cry. I do not think it has anything

to do

> with how rotated out it is or that the feet are bound together.

It's the

> shoe itself bothering her. I'm going to let her sleep for a little

while

> here and try again after I rub the shoes for a while but I need to

know

> what is normal for how she's feeling in the shoes. She's REALLY

distressed

> and after being a baby who rarely if ever cries this is hard on

both of

> us. I'm crying too! This shaking and clawing at her face reminds

me of

> how they say those babies who were left in the hot for hours car

> acted. She's refusing to nurse which is also a problem because she

needs

> to eat.

> Help!

>

> Kori

[Guest guest]

I'm sorry to hear how upset she is. I'm not sure how old she is, but

my baby was about 7 weeks old when his last cast came off

(after tenotomy), and he screamed all day in his first bar day, after

tolerating the casts really well. Number one, his skin was extremely

sensitive and fragile. The doctor advised me NOT to give him a real

bath for a week, because that just softens the skin even more, making

it more sensitive. After a week, it kind of sloughs off on it's own,

and he could tolerate a real bath. Also, he decreased the angle of

rotation slightly, and then I returned in a couple of weeks and he

increased it to where it needed to be (he had bilateral clubfeet.) I

also put moleskin and band-aids on parts that looked really red, used

thick but well conforming socks with no-skids, and lots and lots of

TLC. He was fine in a day or so, and now, at 9 months old, has no

problems with it at all - in fact, he knows it's near bed time when I

put it on, and often falls asleep during the process. Hang in there -

it gets better!

KC, mom to

born 7/26/02, bilateral clubfeet

> We just came home with the DBB and Darbi hates it. She can't

sleep and

> needs to and is crying louder and worse than she ever has before.

She's

> shaking and clawing at her face and I couldn't take it or let her

be that

> way so I took the dbb off. she fell asleep within a minute. I

think her

> casted foot is too sensitive. I couldn't even touch it while at

the

> appointment without making her cry. I do not think it has anything

to do

> with how rotated out it is or that the feet are bound together.

It's the

> shoe itself bothering her. I'm going to let her sleep for a little

while

> here and try again after I rub the shoes for a while but I need to

know

> what is normal for how she's feeling in the shoes. She's REALLY

distressed

> and after being a baby who rarely if ever cries this is hard on

both of

> us. I'm crying too! This shaking and clawing at her face reminds

me of

> how they say those babies who were left in the hot for hours car

> acted. She's refusing to nurse which is also a problem because she

needs

> to eat.

> Help!

>

> Kori

[Guest guest]

That sounds terrible for you and Darbi. Try massage. Get her foot

used to being touched and have pressure on it. I did this with my

daughter and within a day she was fine and didn't pull away from

touch anymore. It's worth a shot. The other thing that was

suggested to me by the guy who sold me the DBB was to take the shoes

off the bar and let her wear them alone for a bit. Get her feet used

to wearing shoes and then put the bar back on. Your doctor may

advise against it, but if it will give you piece of mind it is worth

a try.

Maurya

[Guest guest]

That sounds terrible for you and Darbi. Try massage. Get her foot

used to being touched and have pressure on it. I did this with my

daughter and within a day she was fine and didn't pull away from

touch anymore. It's worth a shot. The other thing that was

suggested to me by the guy who sold me the DBB was to take the shoes

off the bar and let her wear them alone for a bit. Get her feet used

to wearing shoes and then put the bar back on. Your doctor may

advise against it, but if it will give you piece of mind it is worth

a try.

Maurya

[Guest guest]

I do not remember how old Darbi is, but my daughter was older when

she went into the DBB, she was 7 months and had been casted since

birth. She did not react like your daughter but was definetly

stressed out about it at first. She however did not act like she was

in pain, but more like she was frustrated. The only bit of advice or

suggestions I can offer is this....first of all no matter how upset

you are i.e. if you show alot of sympathy such as " Im so sorry, poor

baby...ect. this will only make it worse for Darbi. This is

something I learned volunteering with handicapped children. The

babies really pick up on its Mothers emotions and if you are acting

upset then your baby will sense something is terribley wrong...in

other words if you are losing it, so will Darbi. I would comfort

her, but at the same time try to distract her from the situation. Do

your best to not let it seem that something is terribley wrong.

This may be hard with a really little one, but just walking around

and changing scenery or showing different toys and talking in a calm

voice rather than anxious can help tremendously! The other thought

is that the refusing to eat and clawing at her face could be

coincidental and not related to the DBB at all. I have nursed 2

babies and rather than refusing to nurse when they are in pain or

stressed those are the times when they would want to nurse more. I

think Grace stayed attatched to me for the first few days with the

DBB. The only time she would refuse to nurse was when she had thrush

or when my supply was really down. She also clawed at her face when

she had thrush. That was my first instinct when you mentioned the

clawing and refusing to nurse. That is just an idea though, it could

be the DBB alone or a combination of the two. I just thought it

might be something worth mentioning. Whatever the deal is, I hope

you can stick with it and things will get better really soon for

you.

> We just came home with the DBB and Darbi hates it. She can't

sleep and

> needs to and is crying louder and worse than she ever has before.

She's

> shaking and clawing at her face and I couldn't take it or let her

be that

> way so I took the dbb off. she fell asleep within a minute. I

think her

> casted foot is too sensitive. I couldn't even touch it while at

the

> appointment without making her cry. I do not think it has

anything to do

> with how rotated out it is or that the feet are bound together.

It's the

> shoe itself bothering her. I'm going to let her sleep for a

little while

> here and try again after I rub the shoes for a while but I need to

know

> what is normal for how she's feeling in the shoes. She's REALLY

distressed

> and after being a baby who rarely if ever cries this is hard on

both of

> us. I'm crying too! This shaking and clawing at her face reminds

me of

> how they say those babies who were left in the hot for hours car

> acted. She's refusing to nurse which is also a problem because

she needs

> to eat.

> Help!

>

> Kori

[Guest guest]

,

My son too was 7months old when he was introduced to the DBB, He had been in

casts since birth. I feel that he was very stressed with the DBB more because

it restricted him from moving his legs at night. Noah is the type that likes

to sleep with his feet in the air. Soon he learned that he could (after

building up the muscle) and was not so upset about it.

You are very right about how you react to your baby. I have done that many

times with Noah a din the long run he would win the battle. He has learned

that if he acts up mommy takes it off. I have gotten better with it and he is

slowly learning that he won't win. ( some nights are harder than others)

Kori,

I too was terrified when Noah had to wear the DBB, and there were many

times I would cry to. I also got mad at my doctor every time I had to put it

on him. ( I'm so glad he wasn't around when I did put the brace on my son)

There were many times I would take it off him just so we all could get some

sleep. Every time I did he would fall asleep in minutes. There were even

times I would go weeks without putting it on. Just so we wouldn't have to go

through it.

Noah's foot was so sensitive when the casts came off that he would cry in

hysterics if u touched it. I got help with that through his therapist. She

would have me take a terry cloth each day and gently rub it on the bottom of

his foot. I did it when he was taking his bath. We also would get different

things from the house that were different in texture and do the same thing,

as the weeks went by we would rub them a little bit harder. This has worked

for my son and now he has no problem with his foot touching anything. This is

normal for baby's that have had their foot covered for long period of times.

I don't know how old your daughter is and maybe this will not help, or it

can in the future but I have made a routine with Noah and his DBB. We call it

our DBB time.

After dinner we will get our bath taken and then we get ready for bed. As I

put his DBB on I will sing songs to distract him from what I am doing. ( I

remind you he is a baby and this dose not always work.) Then I let him have

playtime, so he is used to the DBB before he goes to bed. I feel that this is

less stressing for him than to just put it on and right to bed. He gets the

idea that it is on and it is not coming off. I also skip the second hole from

the top and lace the top one. This gives me more lace to double knot and it

gives the foot a little more room. It doesn't seem to be so tight that way.

I hope this helps a little for you and your daughter.

sabrina

[Guest guest]

,

My son too was 7months old when he was introduced to the DBB, He had been in

casts since birth. I feel that he was very stressed with the DBB more because

it restricted him from moving his legs at night. Noah is the type that likes

to sleep with his feet in the air. Soon he learned that he could (after

building up the muscle) and was not so upset about it.

You are very right about how you react to your baby. I have done that many

times with Noah a din the long run he would win the battle. He has learned

that if he acts up mommy takes it off. I have gotten better with it and he is

slowly learning that he won't win. ( some nights are harder than others)

Kori,

I too was terrified when Noah had to wear the DBB, and there were many

times I would cry to. I also got mad at my doctor every time I had to put it

on him. ( I'm so glad he wasn't around when I did put the brace on my son)

There were many times I would take it off him just so we all could get some

sleep. Every time I did he would fall asleep in minutes. There were even

times I would go weeks without putting it on. Just so we wouldn't have to go

through it.

Noah's foot was so sensitive when the casts came off that he would cry in

hysterics if u touched it. I got help with that through his therapist. She

would have me take a terry cloth each day and gently rub it on the bottom of

his foot. I did it when he was taking his bath. We also would get different

things from the house that were different in texture and do the same thing,

as the weeks went by we would rub them a little bit harder. This has worked

for my son and now he has no problem with his foot touching anything. This is

normal for baby's that have had their foot covered for long period of times.

I don't know how old your daughter is and maybe this will not help, or it

can in the future but I have made a routine with Noah and his DBB. We call it

our DBB time.

After dinner we will get our bath taken and then we get ready for bed. As I

put his DBB on I will sing songs to distract him from what I am doing. ( I

remind you he is a baby and this dose not always work.) Then I let him have

playtime, so he is used to the DBB before he goes to bed. I feel that this is

less stressing for him than to just put it on and right to bed. He gets the

idea that it is on and it is not coming off. I also skip the second hole from

the top and lace the top one. This gives me more lace to double knot and it

gives the foot a little more room. It doesn't seem to be so tight that way.

I hope this helps a little for you and your daughter.

sabrina

[Guest guest]

,

My son too was 7months old when he was introduced to the DBB, He had been in

casts since birth. I feel that he was very stressed with the DBB more because

it restricted him from moving his legs at night. Noah is the type that likes

to sleep with his feet in the air. Soon he learned that he could (after

building up the muscle) and was not so upset about it.

You are very right about how you react to your baby. I have done that many

times with Noah a din the long run he would win the battle. He has learned

that if he acts up mommy takes it off. I have gotten better with it and he is

slowly learning that he won't win. ( some nights are harder than others)

Kori,

I too was terrified when Noah had to wear the DBB, and there were many

times I would cry to. I also got mad at my doctor every time I had to put it

on him. ( I'm so glad he wasn't around when I did put the brace on my son)

There were many times I would take it off him just so we all could get some

sleep. Every time I did he would fall asleep in minutes. There were even

times I would go weeks without putting it on. Just so we wouldn't have to go

through it.

Noah's foot was so sensitive when the casts came off that he would cry in

hysterics if u touched it. I got help with that through his therapist. She

would have me take a terry cloth each day and gently rub it on the bottom of

his foot. I did it when he was taking his bath. We also would get different

things from the house that were different in texture and do the same thing,

as the weeks went by we would rub them a little bit harder. This has worked

for my son and now he has no problem with his foot touching anything. This is

normal for baby's that have had their foot covered for long period of times.

I don't know how old your daughter is and maybe this will not help, or it

can in the future but I have made a routine with Noah and his DBB. We call it

our DBB time.

After dinner we will get our bath taken and then we get ready for bed. As I

put his DBB on I will sing songs to distract him from what I am doing. ( I

remind you he is a baby and this dose not always work.) Then I let him have

playtime, so he is used to the DBB before he goes to bed. I feel that this is

less stressing for him than to just put it on and right to bed. He gets the

idea that it is on and it is not coming off. I also skip the second hole from

the top and lace the top one. This gives me more lace to double knot and it

gives the foot a little more room. It doesn't seem to be so tight that way.

I hope this helps a little for you and your daughter.

sabrina