AFO'S??

[andrewsmom]

Hi everyone!! I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Ok....Andrew had a consult with a PT awhile ago and she mentioned getting him AFO"S(?) when he learned to walk. I have looked up some older posts on AFO's and I think they are molds that fit into his shoe? Please correct me if I'm wrong on this. I really don't mean to be ignorant about this but just want correct info.

I have a couple of questions on this. Can he wear any shoe with these, or are they specially made for particular shoes? And do we need to wait until he can walk or will these actually help support him more and HELP him with walking? He has been pulling up to a stand for awhile now and will "cruise" furniture and will even use only one hand occasionally. Do you all think this will help give him more stability to walk on his own?

Yes... I AM pushing the walking issue here as my 123 pound body is finding it harder and harder to carry my little chubba around. We go to the Ped on Friday and we are all taking bets around here as to how much he will weigh. I guess 150, 160 pounds?! ;D Feels like it anyway!!LOL!!!
Thanks guys for any input or personal experience.
-Trisha

[Cathy]

Trisha,

Katie wears SMO's which are molded braces that come just above her ankles. They fit inside her shoes, but I have to buy shoes a size to a size and half bigger, in wide width and I have to remove the Foam Soles inside the shoes to get them in.

Its a pain and usually takes Katie a couple of days to get used to new ones (Because of the size).

She started walking when she was 2 and we didn't get the SMOs until she was three and half.. WHAT A BIG MISTAKE!

They have helped her immensely! Its nice that you are preparing for the future, because I feel that anything we can do to help our little ones out can make a huge difference for them.

Good luck! Let us know how much that Andrew tips the scales at!

Cathy

[DevensMom]

Deven has some also and as the above post , he has shoe that are 1 1/2 size bigger, nothing special , but they have to be wide to accomodate the brace. bought them at payless shoe store , they carry this style year long so I bought 2 pairs for the second 1/2 price but a size bigger .
Yes they will help with stability.
Deven was checked for almost a all year since he walked (just before he turned 2) by the ortho before he needed them.
it did not slow him down for even 1 minute, and a little after 2 month we had to made a modification to them because due to the big space between his toes , the bone of his big toe was rolling in since he was using it as support .
I was told it is very hard to eval the need when they just start walking and that was why he was followed up regularly .

[DevensMom]

you can see a little of them on the picture along with the shoes.

[donnita]

Cassie got SureSteps (www.surestep.net) about six months after she started walking. We also had to buy bigger, wide shoes, and take the foam out, but did not have to buy special, or expensive, shoes.
I am not sure if they helped much. She started walking with her head down, watching her feet, all the time. But I don't know if that was because of the suresteps or not, because she still does it and several times has walked right into someone or thing. When she outgrew the suresteps, I did not get her new ones, and her PT has not mentioned them again.

[Kristen]

Carter has the sure steps and the same shoes as Deven! We just get them in wide. I saw on the payless website they go up to a children's size 13, so no problems there! Some regular shoes fit over as well. They help with his pronation, but I honestly put them on them when he has shoes on anyway and that's it. So he has them on at school, on our afternoon outings and there ya go. They help him a good amount, but he can walk without and didn't start walking until he had them almost a year, so they were no miracle for us. He just flat out was not ready. He does really well with them now, though.

[andrewsmom]

Thanks so much for all the good info.
Devensmom.... Deven is adorable!!!! Thanks so much for the pic it really showed me more of what they look like. Thank you!!

[marisa]

Laura has MAFOs, which I think are almost the same thing except they come up to about mid-calf. Laura is no where near walking yet, actually she does not even pull to stand yet. When she stands with support, she is not very stable b/c of the way she sands. The MAFOs are helping her learn how to hold her feet properly, so she will be able to stand better. She got them over the summer and we have already seen a difference. We use them ever day, just for standing. I also had to buy her shoes 1 size larger and wide width. We got stride right brand shoes, but I think any shoe with a flexible sole would work just as well.

Marisa