This page is a guideline for caring for your baby while they have a Ponseti cast. As a parent, you know your own baby best and if you have any concerns about the cast you should contact the Plaster Theatre.
A Ponseti cast is used to correct talipes (club foot). It is applied by one of the plaster team with correction (manipulation) carried out by the doctor. Plaster of paris is normally used and sometimes it can have a strengthening layer of fibreglass and softcast on the outside. The cast is changed once a week, which allows enough time for the muscles and ligaments to relax and for the bones to grow into the corrected position.
When the plaster cast has been applied, you will need to look at your baby’s toes to make sure that they are warm, similar in colour to their normal skin tone and that your baby moves them.
When your baby is sleeping, you may position their legs on a pillow or cushion, which may be more comfortable.
You may need to get bigger socks to help keep their toes warm and bigger clothes to accommodate the cast.
You will need to look at the position of the toes in the cast, ensuring that you can still see them as the cast may slip down. If this happens, please contact the Plaster Theatre to arrange an appointment for you to bring your baby back to have the cast changed.
Your baby’s cast must be kept dry at all times, therefore bathing your baby will not be possible. You will need to clean your baby’s skin using baby wipes or you may wash their body and hair as normal, ensuring that the cast is kept dry.
On the day that you bring your baby to the Plaster Theatre to have their cast changed, you should soak the cast in the bath for approximately half an hour to soften it. You can wrap the cast in a damp towel for the journey to the hospital. This will make removal of the cast easier. Once the cast has been removed, you can weigh your baby and record the weight for your health visitor. You can give your baby a bath before the new cast is applied. We have towels, baby scales and a baby bath for you to use, however, you may prefer to bring your own toiletries.
If you bottle feed your baby, please bring their feeds with you so that you can feed your baby while their cast is applied or immediately afterwards. If you are breast feeding your baby, you will have privacy to do so after the cast has been applied.
Contact details:
Plaster Theatre Tel: 020 8909 5467
Opening hours Monday to Friday, 07.45 - 17.00
Children’s ward Tel: 020 8909 5487
Opening hours 24 hours a day
24-58 © RNOH
Date of publication: July 2024
Date of next review: July 2026
Author: Plaster Theatre Team
Page last updated: 05 August 2025