To worry about toddler's uneven legs?

[Yawnyprawn]

Posting here for traffic. My daughter is 17 months old and after noticing that she stands and walks lopsided (one shoulder significantly higher) I took her to the GP. Long story short, she has one leg half an inch longer than the other and has been referred to orthopaedics as a routine appointment. Waiting list for this is 6-8 months.

I know the discrepancy isn't huge and she is having no trouble getting about so the GP is of the opinion that it's probably no big deal. But 6-8 months seems like a long time to wait for that appointment given that she is so little and growing so fast. I know also I am a big worrier so I may just be stressing about nothing. Can anyone share experiences and / or set my mind at rest?

I would suspect hip dysplasia and push for a more urgent appointment.

I was going to say the same thing, my son had hip dysplasia which wasn't picked up at birth and your description sounds very similar.

If you ring orthopaedics them be able to put you through to the secretary of whichever consultant she's down to see. I'd speak to the secretary and push for an earlier appointment, if you get no joy then try PALS.

I think you would be entirely reasonable to push for a much earlier appointment than that.

If there is a hip or other orthopaedic problem then surely the sooner it is identified and taken care of the better, especially with a fast growing child.

Hip dysplasia gets harder to fix the older they get, so I would recommend trying to see orthopaedics sooner

You could possibly ask the gp for an x ray to get the process started. Radiologist might be able to push for an earlier appt.

Get it checked ASAP my dds was missed until she was 3

I have one leg longer than the other. I only found this out this year (in my 40s) when I developed back pain. Having now got risers in my shoes to bring my foot up to the right level, back ache has all but gone.
So I'd guess there isn't much hurry,

You can buy shoe risers off the internet easily enough, which might help her.

Thanks everyone! Should have mentioned this at the start, she had a hip scan for dysplasia at 6 weeks but didn't have it. Anyways, sounds like it's worth pushing for an earlier appointment, cheers for the tips

It could be leg length difference, if that's the car she will need the shorter side raised to even her out. We went through physio first and then onto the orthotic person, whole thing did take a few months though.

As someone who didn't develop dysplasia until 18 months I know it's possible for it not to be there at 6 weeks. Definitely push for an earlier appointment, but if it is dysplasia I was treated, have no memory of it and haven't had any problems since.