Suggestions - starting night splints tomorrow
Tomorrow morning Max (2 years old) and I go to the orthotist to pick up his night splints. Any suggestions on how to get my stubborn boy to wear them? If he fights me, I may just put them on while he's asleep initially. He can be a tough cookie, and often throws fits if I change his shirt, put on different shoes than he wants, etc., so I'm worried about this transition.
I'm going to sneak the receptionist a gift bag before we go in to see the orthotist and ask her to put his "dinosaur boots" (that's the pattern he chose) into the bag so he feels they are a present and exciting when he sees them for the first time. Any other ideas? Thanks in advance!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Rownd on
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We started putting them on Wyatt for a very short period of time in the evening, to get him used to them. After about 2 weeks of extending the time he had them on he slept with them all night. We still have nights he fights us or wants them off in the middle of the night, and he has been wearing them for 2 years. Ughh!!! I hope this helps some.
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Permalink Reply by Tonya on
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My son is now 4, but he started wearing his at 2. We called them his buzz lightyear boots because he loves all of the toy story movies and he liked that idea. We would tell him that Buzz has to wear his boots too and we have a Buzz from Disneyland that has his boots on. We also would always fold over the socks so he wouldn't take them off and open footed night pants that are the tighter fitting ones, just stretched a bit over the boots and he couldn't mess with them. Now because we started so young there is no fighting him it's just a normal part of his bedtime routine. We are lucky that we have the opportunity to start so young, it helps so much.
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Permalink Reply by Jessica Divin on
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Very cute idea with the gift bag. Ben (4yrs) has been wearing his for two weeks now and surprisingly it was a smooth transition. We made a big deal over his new Spiderman boots and talked about them daily while they were being made. He was so excited by the time we went to pick them up he couldn't wait to wear them. He loved showing them off to his older sister and grandparents which helped too! The first night he even wore matching Spiderman pajamas. Our big struggle right now is getting him to cooperate with stretching...
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Permalink Reply by Veronica E. on
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Thanks for the encouragement and ideas! Stretching isn't going so well at our house either. When he's in a good mood, I can stretch him for only 10 seconds at a time. I try to stretch him while he sleeps, but half the time he wakes up. Sigh ...
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Permalink Reply by Cathy Johnson on
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We started one year ago (James had just turned 4), and it's gone fairly well thus far. We told him that these would help keep his legs strong, and he is okay with that. It helps to add stickers to them as well. There are nights when they get uncomfortable, and he takes them off and also nights where he just doesn't want to wear them. I'm okay with that once in a while, as it gives him a reasonable amount of control. James too is very particular about how things are done. Every once in a while he insists on putting his boots on by himself. I don't mind indulging that occasionally either.
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Cathy, I like your perspective on this issue. While I understand the importance of wearing night splints, I'm going to try not to stress out if Max chooses not to wear them every once in awhile.
Cathy Johnson said:We started one year ago (James had just turned 4), and it's gone fairly well thus far. We told him that these would help keep his legs strong, and he is okay with that. It helps to add stickers to them as well. There are nights when they get uncomfortable, and he takes them off and also nights where he just doesn't want to wear them. I'm okay with that once in a while, as it gives him a reasonable amount of control. James too is very particular about how things are done. Every once in a while he insists on putting his boots on by himself. I don't mind indulging that occasionally either.
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Permalink Reply by Kelvinsmom - Michelle on
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For years we have put them on Kelvin after he goes to sleep, he never wakes up when we do though, so it works good. He is a sound sleeper. He sleeps with them almost every night, all night and has never asked for them to be off, except when he gets up in the morning. I hope all goes well.
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Permalink Reply by Joshua's mom on
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When Joshua received his first pair (4 years ago), we explained to him he has to wear them at night to help keep his legs strong. He understood right away. He does take them off in the night sometimes, but not very often. We had them put holes in the back of them to let the air flow through because they can get pretty sweaty when it's warm.
Naomi
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Just wanted to give an update. Max LOVES his dinosaur boots. He fussed when the orthotist took them off to adjust some padding and refused to take them off at the office. He seemed happy as he showed his teachers at school, and only took them off when I promised him he could wear them tonight and show his daddy! I'm just thrilled that so far he's happy to wear them. Thanks for all of your well wishes. I've included a couple of pics
. :)
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Here are a couple more
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Just wanted to give an update. Max LOVES his night boots, wears them all night long, and even requests to wear them sometimes during the day and pouts when I tell him no. I feel SO fortunate that this hasn't been a fight! For about the first week, he would cry in the middle of the night and ask me to take them off (which I would do), but that hasn't happened in weeks.
So, for those of you with little guys, I would definately recommend starting night splints early if it's recommended by your doctor.
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