Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4

Original poster

AIBU to ask if your baby's leg fat folds are symmetrical?!

90 replies

Hallomother · 07/05/2020 13:57

This might sound mad but after talking to a friend, I've noticed that baby DS has asymmetrical fat folds on his delicious chubby legs.
His legs are the same length, feet same size, no problems straightening or us pushing them gently up to his chest/cycling his legs etc.

One of the legs is slightly chubbier and has a bigger knee fold that the other, if you see what I mean. Apparently this can be an indicator of hip displaysia (not sure if I've spelt that correctly) and he was breech, but he had a hip ultrasound at 6 weeks and had all his rotations checked at 8 weeks and all came back clear.

Just wondered if this is common or not? I hadn't noticed previously but from pics it seems like he's always had it, even when he was very very tiny and barely had any fat on him!

Also, how deliciously squishable are baby legs?!

OP posts:

Jade245 · 07/05/2020 23:08

I would suggest asking the GP about it. We’ve noticed this on our baby but he’s much older and is displaying less mobility on one side. It might not be hip dysplasia but I wish I had said something sooner.

BeardieWeirdie · 07/05/2020 23:15

My baby had the 8-week check today by the GP and he said he was checking for symmetrical thigh folds. I did not know this was a thing. Weirdly, baby wasn’t weighed, nor any other measurements taken. The health visitor service has been disbanded under lockdown so we haven’t seen anyone since the midwife at 2 weeks.

Original poster

Hallomother · 07/05/2020 23:16

Sorry to hear that @jade245 are you having any investigations done? When you say less mobility do you mean unable to move as well on one side or favours one side? Hopefully it's a quirk that your DC Will grow out of and not a hip problem.

OP posts:

Original poster

Hallomother · 07/05/2020 23:17

My health visitors never looked at his legs as far as I'm aware but he wasn't this chubby then so maybe they wouldn't have spotted it at that point anyway

OP posts:

Isadora2007 · 07/05/2020 23:19

@Hallomother your gorgeous squishy baby is lovely. However in that second photo his legs do not look equal in length- could be because his foot is against the edge of the mat... but I would thoroughly recommend asking for a referral anyway as these things really are best dealt with promptly. You’d be so upset in years to come if it turned out something was wrong that was harder to fix then. This has happened to two people I know- their doubts were just put aside and later turned out their should have pushed for further testing (nothing awful though- I’m NOT trying to panic you at all!!)
Enjoy your squishy chubster- but please get it all checked out.

Original poster

Hallomother · 07/05/2020 23:23

@isadora2007 thank you I will! I think it's because he was doing crawling movements so the one that looks shorter isn't properly stretched out IYSWIM
I did have pics where they are but they had my.engagement ring and some identifying jewellery in them so went with the next best one which is that
You're right thought best to be safe than sorry

OP posts:

Jade245 · 07/05/2020 23:26

@Hallomother he favours one side more than the other which is obvious now that he has recently started to crawl. We will have to wait for outpatient services to reopen before any investigations can be done.

It could be nothing, but I would like to spare you the worry we are feeling now.

Original poster

Hallomother · 07/05/2020 23:26

This is probably a stupid question but if one leg were to be longer would it be expected to be the chubbier one if that makes sense? Just curious.

Really pleased I started this thread, Mumsnet is brilliant sometimes

OP posts:

Original poster

Hallomother · 07/05/2020 23:27

Thank you @Jade245 and I sincerely hope that your DS is ok and it's nothing to worry about. A friend of mine had a little boy who did the same and ended up doing a strange side movement instead of a crawl, which had to be investigated but was all fine and he grew out of the side favouring. I hope it's the same for your little boy

OP posts:

snowybean · 07/05/2020 23:31

My baby's folds are asymmetrical. Had an ultrasound for hip dysplasia but all seemed okay. Seems like it's the norm.

They're sisters, not twins.

sparkysdream · 07/05/2020 23:39

I have hip problems so all my kids had hip scans at 6 weeks and were deemed fine. I noticed my daughter’s folds were asymmetrical at around 7 months and panicked just like you OP. I saw a GP who confirmed if her scan was fine there was nothing to worry about. She’s 8 now, and indeed no issues.

packetandtripe · 07/05/2020 23:47

he was 6 weeks old and it was my mother who noticed it, she changed his nappy one day, it wasn't noticeable to me until then; he was my first baby, had no idea about what looked normal or not. She insisted I checked it, went to GP and he said he should have symmetrical folds and then on checking the arm folds which were off also, he referred him to a consultant. The differences were not huge within mms also at that small an age. I didn’t spot them as a mother myself.

He had a birthmark on his back, apparently that is a comorbidity alert, so he was tested genetically and was tested for every other bad thing you can google if you look up hemihypertrophy, don’t google past the first page, it’s really not relevant, we all do it to ourselves though, I know. These days he is 8, sometimes the difference is noticeable, sometimes over the years it looks like nothing, changes with growth rate. Absolutely fine, nothing to worry about, just one of those things. A good GP would pick it up fast.

YeahWhatevver · 07/05/2020 23:51

🥰

Original poster

Hallomother · 07/05/2020 23:55

Thank you @packetandtripe if it can be just mm then there's every chance it could be that as measuring a wriggling baby is tricky! Glad to hear he's doing well now. He's my first also and it is hard to know what is actually something and what's a 3am neurotic anxiety!
I'll take all the advice here and speak to my GP.

OP posts:

RockThrills · 07/05/2020 23:57

Eeeek! I loooove chubby baby legs!

If it's any help OP I have hip dysplasia and I'm
Ok!

packetandtripe · 08/05/2020 00:00

do speak to your GP, it is something to check and best of luck, it will be fine either way for your little fella.

Original poster

Hallomother · 08/05/2020 00:15

Thank you both :) right I should probably try and get some sleep now! Thanks again to everyone who took the time to post

OP posts:

Nameofchanges · 08/05/2020 00:34

DS had uneven folds. They xrayed his hips and everything was fine.

terrelontane · 08/05/2020 01:58

I had asymmetrically folded legs, or whatever you call them, as a baby. My mum noticed straight away and kept asking doctors about it, but they said it was nothing. Over three decades and many pillars and posts later, I've finally been sorted out with a heel lift to correct the length of my one leg and I've come to terms with the fact that skinny jeans will never look right on me because my one knee will always face inwards.

Original poster

Hallomother · 08/05/2020 08:33

@terrelontane that's terrible that they kept fobbing your mum and you off! I'm glad you finally got it sorted. I will definitely call the GP when they are open on Monday

OP posts:

Wobblysausage · 08/05/2020 08:37

Omg I miss DD’s little fat rolls at the tops of her legs. Can’t say I ever noticed if they were symmetrical though

Wobblysausage · 08/05/2020 08:45

Just had a look at some photos and they were not symmetrical. She also had scans as a baby for hip dysplasia and they were fine.

Original poster

Hallomother · 08/05/2020 09:19

Aw @wobblysausage your username kind of describes baby thighs perfectly
Were your DD's similar to DS'S?

OP posts:

CraftyGin · 08/05/2020 09:31

My DS1 had uneven folds, and was investigated for dislocated hips. He was given the all clear, but the consultant said he was asymmetric all over, and concluded that he was just a 'mouldy' baby.

The theory was that he was very compact in the womb, and just didn't grow evenly.

Wobblysausage · 08/05/2020 09:50

Yeah they were exactly the same. She only had one fold on one leg

Flip

1 2 3 4