Hip dysplasia

[PopcornAndWine]

Hi my DD age 6 months has just had an X-ray and results came back that she has a hip abnormality. GP said she thought it was quite mild but we have been referred to an orthopaedic specialist. I made the mistake of googling it and all sorts of scary things came up. Has anyone had experience of this and and stories to share? Anyone where it was corrected without need for a special brace or operation?

Hi my DD had it. It runs through the females on my side.

At birth her hip clicked.

2 weeks old she had a scan that showed underdeveloped hips.

We were told to wear double nappies for a month. This was stupid as it did nothing to push her legs out!

At 6 weeks a checkup showed her hips were now 2/3 dislocated. We were taking to a room and she was put in a pavlik harness.

Scans every 2 weeks for the next 12 weeks. Then at around 18 weeks she was allowed out of it.

Then she had a scan 8 weeks after.

Then an x-ray at 1 year

An x-ray at 18 months
An x-ray at 2.5
An x-ray at 3.5.
Discharged aged 4

Bits of help. Marks and Spencer have hip dysplasia outfits now. .

Big oversized dresses will cover her legs and be easy to dress her in

I used to buy children's socks to cover her feet.

I hope you are ok? I was abit down for a couple of days and felt so upset. It felt lonely as nobody else had been through it apart from my mum

Thank you, yes I am feeling a bit down and worried. She is just such a happy smiley little thing, I just hate the thought of putting her through anything like that.

How easy was it to manage buggies/car seats etc with the harness on? Could she still play etc? How is she doing now? Sorry for all the questions

Bless you. How you feel is 100% normal. We were under QMC and everytime we went there were around four other babies on the same position too.

Things that upset me were not being able to bath her anymore. Her outfits going to waste. People not wanting to hold. (Small things but totally normal)

I highly recommend joining hip hip hooray on Facebook or Instagram. Loads of parents going through or have already been through this.

I did have to move my little girl into her cot. Her moses basket was too smal for the width her legs were at. I just put her into the pushchair part of my pram so she could have her legs comfortable. We had no trouble with the carseat at all. You do need to stop and give them a break every half an hour.

Playing wise she was still her happy self. She only laid on her back at this point. She didn't like tummy time due to the restrictions. It caused her no upset or pain. Her posture is actually amazing because of it. High chairs might be tricky?

Changing nappies. I still change my other child how I changed my daughter with hip dysplasia. I've continued to lift both hips up. Nappy changes are easy one you've done one. If anything they can't kick out as much so it's easier.

If you need to have a cry for a couple of days and be upset just know it's normal. It takes time to get your head around it. But it will soon be something you just accept and she is still your normal healthy baby. When you hold a baby in a harness you can't squeeze the legs in. So you learn to cradle them but rest your hand on the hip, rather than the leg (which would push it in. You can also hold them chest to chest easier and hold their bum.

Feel free to fire more questions xx

Our journey was different again.

DD diagnosed at 2 years of age and she underwent two rounds of surgery and three months in a hip spica cast.

She's 9 now and perfectly fine! Very sporty and a fast runner. It didn't hold her back. Yes, the surgery and time in the cast weren't the easiest but she was incredibly resilient and was walking in her cast the week before it came off.

You are in a great position - you'll be seen by an expert and intervention now may mean no need for surgery. If she needs a pavlik harness or cast you will cope and so will your DD.

Good luck!

Steps charity were incredibly helpful and supportive and good with lists of equipment to ease the journey.

www.steps-charity.org.uk

Thank you everyone. We have the appointment with the orthopaedic consultant tomorrow. We are in Ireland so not sure if we have the equivalent of the Steps charity but will check it out. And the Facebook group.

Probably a stupid question but can they move on the harnesses? She is just starting to sit up, not crawling yet but very active and rolling a lot.

There's a little movement in a pavlik. I'll try show you a picture of my daughter in hers x

This is her pavlik harness x

So her legs were held like this but she could move her legs just couldn't straighten them out. I don't think it bothers babies as much as it would us x

Thank you for the picture. She's such a little wriggler so hopefully she will still have some movement!

My daughter has been in a pavlik harness for a week - her hip dysplasia is very mild so we are hoping it’s only short term. We’ve actually found things like nappy changes much easier than expected (I was literally interrupted when writing this post to help deal with the first poonami in the harness and we managed to not get any poo on it - I’m very proud!!) and it hasn’t affected her sleep at all which we were worried about. She’s a bit grumpy and uncomfortable at times (We gave her some calpol first couple of days) but can wriggle and kick her legs a bit - the harness isn’t rigid at all so she does have some movement.
Car seat hasn’t been a problem at all to fit her in but it does push her legs together a little so prefer her not to be in it too long.
The marks and Spencer clothes are fab - you can get away with tops and dresses the next size up but the little trousers and sleepsuits from marks are great and wash really well too.
The baby seat we had she didn’t fit into but we’ve borrowed one that works well - www.amazon.co.uk/Chicco-Hoopla-Baby-Bouncer-Dark/dp/B07B171JV6/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?keywords=chicco+baby+bouncer&sprefix=chicco+baby&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1579707000&sr=8-3

@sallysparrow157 thank you, glad to hear your DD is doing ok. Our referral letter says dysplasia is mild so like you hoping if she does need the harness it won't be for long.

Just wanted to thank everyone again for responding, got good news at the appointment today, doctor says it is pretty mild and just needs monitoring for now

My DD had a pavlik harness. I remember thinking it looked more scary than it was because she was so small. 6cms (ish... It was years ago) of fabric down each side looks loads on a baby!
I hope your DD does well!