United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Does anyone have any suggestions for keeping my son's (8 months old) statue of liberty splint in place? He moves all over the crib, and the splint rides up to where it rubs his chin! Although he sleeps pretty well through the night, he wakes up crying every morning at 4:30 or 5:00am. It's hard for me to "let him cry" to go back to sleep while he has that splint on and I'm not sure if it is bothering his chin. I know of one little girl who had a strap that went between her legs to keep the splint down, but this seems like it may not be comfortable for a boy, although he is still in diapers (i.e, has some padding there). Did anyone have this strap for a boy or have any other suggestions? Thanks so much.

have you tried a onesie underneath - the foam holding on better to the cotton maybe? or putting some velcro on the onesie and some opposite velcro on the foam? that might work instead of a strap?

Hi,

Noah (a boy ) had a strap. It was made out of the same moleskin. It just went from the front of the splint, between his legs, and to the back. It was held in place with the same velcro used for the other straps. It was maybe three inches wide.

It definetly helped hold the splint in place. The strap usually slid to the side; it did not stay in the middle of his trunk, so I don't think you need to worry about it irritating a boy. He was 14 months old at the time.

I don't know why you were not given one. Probably it would be best to call the nurse or PT and ask.

Good luck.
Maggie

I couldn't imagine trying to keep that splint still w/o a strap between the legs. Although my only experience is with a baby girl, I remember the strap and don't see it being a problem for a boy, esp. over a diaper. If you're not near the hospital that made the splint, you can go to any local OT or the therapy dept. of a children's hospital (or any hospital for that matter) to get the material. It's just a basic foam strap. BTW, the moleskin is not what's used for the strap. The moleskin is actually a material that is soft on one side and adhesive on the other side. If you look at the pictures on the below link and look at the one with the numbered straps, you can see a small piece of moleskin stuck onto the edge of the arm portion of the splint b/w the two #1s. The foam strap is the same foam used for the shoulder straps -- it sticks to the velcro.

http://www.injurednewborn.com/maia/solsplint.html

How much longer will your son be in the splint? If you haven't already done so, you might want to get enough extra foam to put on the inside and outside of the splint as a spare set so that you can was the original ones. This is very helpful not only in case the baby sweats a lot, but also if they were to get sick and mess all over the splint. It's great to have a good backup for emergencies. They used to automatically give extra padding, then it seemed like you had to ask for it. I think that once the hospital gave us the extra set already all sized out, etc., but another time I had to find a quiet / relaxing time for my daughter when my husband was around to hold her arm in position; I would remove the splint and take the pads and straps off one at a time in order to size out the extra set.

~Tina, Mom to Nicole (6 y.o. w/LBPI) & Joshua (1 y.o.)

Thanks so much for all of your replies. Jason has about another 6 weeks in the splint, and luckily only has to wear it at night. I don't know why we weren't given that extra strap for between his legs! We did get the extra set of all the straps though.

Do you all remember if the strap went through the little plastic thingy then back again or just was velcroed on front and back? I did make an appt with an orthotist, so I'm sure we'll get this taken care of. Poor baby having that crazy thing rubbing on his chin this whole time! I feel like such a bad mommy that I didn't get it fixed sooner!

We didn't have a plastic thing for the crotch strap. It was just the strap connected to velcro in the front and back. The other straps we had did have the plastic thing, but not the crotch strap.

At TCH they didn't give out crotch straps. Actually, I requested it myself because we were having problems with it hiking up right then and there in the hospital so they just brought up an extra strap for us. But it was not a normal thing that they did. We used the strap for just a week or so, then didn't need it. Don't know why but it just seemed to have stabilized. Also TCH splints had the D clip velcroed on. Everyone makes splints differently. BTW the crotch strap was just a regular splint strap that used the same velcro that was there but just went between the legs - it wasn't anything special. You could do it yourself. Also - you could probably just put some moleskin (Dr. Scholls) on the plastic piece that is sticking up.

You are NOT a bad mommy so don't even go there in your thoughts.

I hope I didn't offend you. You are certainly not a bad mom for not getting the strap. I do recall now that it wasn't done automatically, but we had to ask for the strap. We used it the whole time Nicole was in the splint. Since you have an appt. set, you might as well have them put moleskin on too that way if the strap is uncomfortable for your son, the splint will be softer against his chin. While you're waiting for your appt., you could always just use one of your extra straps if you have one the right size and try that out as a crotch strap. The crotch strap was the same for us as the other straps and I didn't even need extra velcro b/c I just adhered it underneath the bottom horizontal strap that went around the torso.

~Tina

Tina,

No, no, no of course you didn't offend me! All these suggestions were so great, and tonight I used an extra strap and just used velcro and sort of wove it through the other straps to stay on one side, and realized I could use the plastic thingy on the front where I'm no longer putting a strap over his "good" shoulder (that's where it was really riding up). I'll see how it works and may even cancel my appt with the orthotics guy! Oh, and his whole splint is covered with the moleskin, but somehow the actual corner of the splint is what really rides up! Thanks again!