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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

my 11 month old baby cannot weight bear and can only crawl dragging his left leg, PLEASE HELP!

40 replies

cd19882011 · 11/12/2011 20:43

I called the HV last week and explained that my 11 month old baby is unable to weight bear and is crawling dragging his leg, she saw my son and referred him to the doctor who has now referred him to the hospital to re examine his 6 week scan they took of his hips when he was 6 weeks old (as he was breech).

We are now in limbo waiting to see here from the doctors weather they want him to come in for another scan or refer him to the leg specialist.
We were told at the time his hips where fine but now i am worried they are not.

Has this happened to anyone else? I am so worried about him

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mercibucket · 11/12/2011 20:46

is this very recent behaviour? could he have hurt his leg more recently?

kalo12 · 11/12/2011 20:49

no advice other than to say these things are so worrying and it is easy to work yourself up. Everybody has something wrong with them and it is easy to think the worsed but it is probably something that can be easily remedied
My nephew did not crawl and did not walk til over 2 years old, he is perfectly normal

ThatllDoPig · 11/12/2011 20:53

Yes, don't worry. I have a ten month old not weight bearing or crawling at all. He's had his hips checked by three different people, all saying he was ok and he's just lazy! You are doing the right thing getting it all checked out and will hopefully be reassured as well.

The HV said that if there is a problem it can be shown by the leg creases not being symetrical, she said it can be pretty obvious.

McQueasy · 11/12/2011 20:54

If this is a new thing, he needs to be seen by a doctor ASAP. Is he otherwise well?
Reviewing a scan done months ago is not helpful at this point.
I would consider taking him to childrens a+e if this is new or he seems in pain. If he is otherwise well he needs to be physically examined by a doctor tomorrow and urgently refereed to a paediatrician.
Get an emergency appt, second hand info from the health visitor is not helpful and he needs to be examined.

Original poster

cd19882011 · 11/12/2011 20:58

I knew he was going to be a late crawler as he is a big baby and has only really tried to start crawling in the last month. Previously he would roll to whatever he wanted to with a huge grin on his face, But now he is in the crawling position and just rocks there and then goes in an army crawl and drags his left leg, I can see he is getting very frustrated.

As far as i know he has not hurt his leg as he has never been able to crawl previously

OP posts:

madwomanintheattic · 11/12/2011 21:03

it's not second-hand from the hv - he's already been seen by a doc, ladies - he was referred straight there by the hv. and he's been referred to the hospital, so it's all in order. no need to panic, it isn't an injury.

they'll do a new scan when the the referral comes through, and i expect he'll be reviewed by the ortho team.

it's pointless telling you not to worry, op, but try not to panic. he's fine, but he might take a little longer to get onto his feet if there is a problem.

the crawling pattern you describe isn't that unusual, but because of his history it's better to get it all checked out.

fwiw, dd2 has cp and was given a standing frame to help with her weight bearing on her first birthday. (her hip joints were very shallow due to her non weight bearing etc. so they review her hips annually. she walked with a frame at first but now runs about quite normally. i don't expect anything that lengthy for ds, but just to let you know that at 11mos it is all likely to still be absolutely fine, one way or another.

it'll be a real pita if they did miss a chance for early casting, but i'm sure it will all work out. x

Original poster

cd19882011 · 11/12/2011 21:05

The HV said she felt his leg creases were not symmetrical but only checked the front as she said the doctor will check the back creases when we see him.

When we saw him he didn't bother to check the back of his leg creases but now looking at the creases at the back of his legs they really don't look symmetrical.

I was also hoping he would check his hips and see if they clicked but they didn't i left feeling very confused and more worried than i was before with no indication to the problem

OP posts:

Original poster

cd19882011 · 11/12/2011 21:10

madwomanintheattic- Thank you so much you have really helped me and made me feel more happier about things, I feel so much better now i have an idea of what the hospital might do

OP posts:

ANTagony · 11/12/2011 21:14

check this out about creases. I previously thought it was leg creases not just the buttock ones.

McQueasy · 11/12/2011 21:53

Madwomanintheattic - it's not second-hand from the hv - he's already been seen by a doc, ladies - he was referred straight there by the hv. and he's been referred to the hospital, so it's all in order. no need to panic, it isn't an injury.

I have to say that this is not clear from the OP. IF this is the case then absolutely, this is in hand and I am sure the baby will be reviewed and treated appropriately.
the original post said I called the HV last week and explained that my 11 month old baby is unable to weight bear and is crawling dragging his leg, she saw my son and referred him to the doctor who has now referred him to the hospital to re examine his 6 week scan they took of his hips when he was 6 weeks old
The part where he was physically examined by a doctor is not clear.
I am not panicking or scaremongering, but second hand information from one health professional to another from a phonecall that you have made makes the information getting to the doctor almost useless.
I have seen many near misses due to breakdowns in communication like this. A limping child or a sudden loss of motor power is serious and not always indicative of a new injury it can indicate anything from minor problems to potentially life threatening ones. I am not panicking, nor suggesting the OP should but on an internet forum, the best thing you can do is make sure that a child has been physically reviewed by a doctor and urgently refereed to an expert

OP sounds like it is all in hand and perhaps the GP should have re assured you a bit better when he saw you.

PicotFanStitch · 11/12/2011 21:59

Just to assure you that this kind of thing can be perfectly normal (though none of us can tell you that it is in your case). But my head-down, easy homebirth dd wasn't weight-bearing at this age, bum-shuffled with one leg folded under her and then crawled with the same leg dragging/tucked under until she got up and walked at about 17 months. It never occurred to me to worry about that (though about lots of other things). We just thought it was quirky and sweet, and so it was.

brightonbleach · 12/12/2011 08:13

my DS did a unusual crawl dragging one leg - we used to say it was like he was in a 3-legged race with an imaginary friend!! we just thought quirky and sweet too :) but some people did look amazed at baby groups and say they'd never seen that before. ! He was still quite quick at crawling like that but he got up and walked very quickly and seemed to much prefer that. he's 25m now and very strong and agile.

NellyTheElephant · 13/12/2011 14:14

Obviously I have no idea whether your DS is OK or not, but like the previous poster one of my DDs had a totally bizarre crawl which only involved one leg, the other just dragged fairly uselessly behind her. After a while this became a sort of sideways crab like walk on two hands and one foot, other foot just dragging along. She wore holes through one of her little leather prewalker shoes, the other remained in totally pristine condition. The HV said she had never seen anything like it. I kind of forgot about it fairly quickly though as DD2 was actually an early walker so her odd crawl did not persist that long and she was soon running about totally normally. She is now nearly 5 and no issues.

blessedmother · 13/12/2011 18:18

I can tell you that being born breech and the subsequent hip problems do not present like this.

Were there any difficulties during the pregnancy/labour/delivery? Does he have a hand preference already?

My son did stuff with one limb first followed by the other within a few days, which is a slightly odd pattern of development. He is absolutely fine now.

Regarding what to do now, your GP would not know the answers. If is a bit silly to review the scan now as it may be something new and even if the scan did show something what is the point in reviewing it now? I mean, he may need another scan as he has grown, IF his hips WERE the problem.

You need to see either an orthopaedician if the rest of his development, intelligence is OK or a paediatric consultant if there are any worries. As it takes weeks to get an appt with either, you should pester the GP to do it now, so that it is in the pipeline. You can always cancel the appts, if the crawling sorts itself out.

WhatABumma · 13/12/2011 18:38

Make sure you get a new scan as soon as possible. Not saying it is a hip problem, but the earlier it is detected, the better. Good luck OP, hope it turns out to be nothing!

Original poster

cd19882011 · 13/12/2011 20:33

My pregnancy and c-section were quite normal, My child has no hand preference and has very good fine/gross motor control with his fingers and arms, he is able to swap things from one hand from another from only a few months, he also picks up sounds such as if someone says cat he will try to repeat the sound which is now recognisable.

The doctor has already wrote to the orthopaedician for an appointment as the HV believed the creases in his legs were not symmetrical. I am hoping they will put him in for another scan ASAP to try to determine if there is a problem and get it sorted as soon as possible.

OP posts:

familyfun · 13/12/2011 21:05

hi, my dd was exactly the same, has totally different leg creases but hip scans showed hips are fine, she didnt weight bear, was very late crawling and when she started she commando crawled with her right leg dragging behind like a dead weight, then when she actually crawled she still dragged along this dead weight right leg, 1 month later she has started pulling up to standing, cruising, standing alone for 10 seconds and proper crawling and her legs are fine

Original poster

cd19882011 · 13/12/2011 21:40

That is really reassuring to know that your child's hip scans came back fine and your child is crawling exactly the same as my son, Thank you, you have made me feel much better :)

OP posts:

familyfun · 14/12/2011 21:31

i did mention it to the hv at about 11 months and she said lots of children crawl like that and to monitor her progress and she may need physio to strengthen her legs but they seem to be much stronger now.

Midge25 · 15/12/2011 21:31

Our dd was a big baby, and after 12m check, when hv/gp could not get her to rotate her hips into that 'froggy' position, referred us to hospital. At the time she wasn't crawling, just doing an unusual bum-shuffle. They did an x-ray, pronounced her fine, and she walked 6 m later. X

littlemiss06 · 15/12/2011 21:55

My daughter crawled in the exact same way but didnt start that till 4 days before her first birthday we were worried too but she was absolutely fine, she started pulling to stand at 13 months

BaronessBomburst · 18/12/2011 23:23

DS's leg creases aren't symmetrical either, and the HV was always getting in a dither about it. I can't tell you how many times DS had his hips checked in the first year. He was, and is, fine. He slithered commando-style on his belly, then he started walking on his knees, and then just stood up and walked when he was 15 months old. He never sat up, never crawled, and never cruised.

By all means get a proper professional assessment, but don't worry unduly in the meantime!

hub8allthemincepies · 19/12/2011 00:47

i have very recently gone through the same, i know your what thinking/feeling. Everythings running through your head. My dd (10months) had ddh at birth which was corrected by 3.5months in a harness. At 9months she wouldn't weight bear on her right, had uneven skin creases and her right leg was longer than her left, the physio told me to prepare myself for a spica. I wish she hadn't. I went through 6 weeks of hell thinking about surgery and casts. Finally we had an xray which showed her hips to be normal. I was so relieved. My consultant has said that skin creases are not reliable and only when he see's an extra one in the groin does he do extra checks. He also said some babies prefer a certain side so some don't always weight bear until they want to.
Does your ds roll over both ways?
When he goes for his appointment he'll be more likely to have an xray than a scan, you will need to strip him below the waist inc nappy. You'll stay with him whilst wearing a lead vest and hold his legs straight for one then once with ankles together and knees down. Very quick and painless.
Hope you get the outcome you want but if you ever need any advice or just to talk please feel free to inbox me.

Original poster

cd19882011 · 19/12/2011 21:30

I took my son for a x-ray on Friday and they did everything you said above, Unfortunately they could not give me the results their and then much to my frustration.
I have called the doctors 3 times today just in case they have received the results as i really don't want to have to wait over Christmas feeling the constant worrying that i am feeling, I think i will feel better once i have the results so i can either be reassured that everything is ok or prepare the best i can for my child to be in a spica cast.
My son rolls both ways very confidently and has really started to get about which is reassuring, but the doctor has said their is certainly something wrong with the way he is dragging his L-leg although he is not doing it as much this week.
That's great news about your child's hips being normal you must have been so relieved.

OP posts:

mercibucket · 20/12/2011 15:33

good luck with the xray results

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