Hi Littlemissbull
My dd, who is now 15mo, wore the Pavlik harness for 13 weeks, from the ago of 2 weeks. It looks like a little lederhosen, its all velcro. It goes across their chest, over their shoulders and down over each foot. Its worn over a vest and socks, but under their clothes. Dd had to wear it for 23.5 hours a day, only taking it off for the bath. There is a picture of it on the STEPS charity website.
To be honest, its a lot worse in the beginning, you just get on with it after a few days, and you do get used to it. Dd was born in May, so had to wear hers over the summer, which was a bit difficult, trying to keep her cool in a vest and socks! The only problems I found were making sure she didn't get any sores or anything, and she used to protest a bit when I was putting it back on after her bath, but it's one of those situations that is much worse for you than them. They are too little to know any different.
Dd has to go back every 12 months for a check up until she is 5yo, and has been walking now for about 3 weeks, completely normally. She hit all her developmental milestones no problem, as the harness was off well before she was sitting up or anything.
I was completely horrified when we found out she had dislocated hips, and it was shitty at the time (especially as the doctor in Postnatal told mne he wasn't sure she's ever walk - which is bollocks, by the way), but now I count my blessings that the problem was corrected with a bit of velcro, and not anaesthetic and a plaster cast!
Tell your sister she can email me if she likes, [email protected].
It'll be fine, I promise!! Look at dd on my profile, it hasn't done her any harm!