Clubfoot and baby carriers I.

With my first born Vencel I was using a baby carrier regularly and I thought it would be the same with Vili as well. Especially since with a second child you have to be able move around. Vencel was already in elementary school when Vili was born so we had to plan on picking him up at the school. I often used the baby stroller of course (especially during the casting period), but it became more and more difficult as time went by.

Our doctor didn’t recommend using a baby carrier while Vili was in casts due to the weight of the cast on his leg. While this is also true for the boots, they are much lighter than the plaster cast.

After the casting period was finally over we gave the carrier a try. We tried to get some info about it in the Hungarian parents support group. We had an SSC type (soft structered carrier) and with some practice we got used to it. At first I was afraid and I only used it for a short period of time at once, usually until we picked up the big brother from school. I don’t think Vili was in the carrier for longer than an hour at a given time.

We found out that while the SSC type is fine for carrying while wearing the boots&bar it isn’t the best. It’s always down to each individuals preference of course, different things are comfortable for different people. It would be a good idea to buy the carrier at a place where you can try it on.

Unfortunately I had to stop the carrier use quite soon as Vili to say the least is not exactly in the featherweight division – I just wasn’t able to carry him anymore. 🙂

I haven’t come across any useful summary for this before, but thanks to Petra Gerhát there is a video series that will tell you what you need to know about baby carrying while in casts, boots, bebax, etc.

The below summary is published with the approval of Petra and you can check out the link to her video as well.

Part I.

Clubfoot is a birth defect that can be diagnosed before birth already with an ultrasound machine. However it has many challenges for the parents and requires a lenthy therapy for the babies during the first couple of months and years. This comes with a lot of inconvenience and the healing period can even be painful in some cases. During this time every parent will try to make this time as easy for the baby as possible. With a baby carrier you can benefit from the positive effects like pain relief, close physical contact that promotes attachment and bonding right from the very beginnings.

Most of the time however we work with what we’ve got, the feet and the aids trying to correct them leave us with very few options. We can still aim to get close to the physiological optimum, almost every baby carrier type can be used with a clubfoot baby as well. It could happen that after cast changes or adjustments in the boots&bar different things will feel comfortable as the babies posture changes too, but still you will be able to carry your baby during the whole period. Even after they get their first cast! In the video I will discuss the how-to’s, will list the various types of carriers and highlight the basic safety and comfort guidelines.