Baby has to wear Pavlic Harness

[Lauralee14]

Hey all,

My baby needs to be fitted for the harness and I'm so upset. The doctor seemed to keep saying " she may developed arthritis in her adult life" " it may cause problems" nothing definite which is frustrating. There's no dislocation, no clicking and they are completely stable on examination. It's only her left hip which is a few degrees under 60 which is the ideal. I know i need to listen to what he doctor says it's just tough.

Has anyone had experience of them? Did the baby mind? What clothes did you have them in? How was travelling in car seat?

Feeling upset and anxious :(

Hello,

My son had to wear one from birth until 4 months. When I had him he was undiagnosed breech and 2 weeks late and they guessed he had been in the breech position for at least 8 ish weeks. As a result his hip sockets hadn't formed around the ball joints.
It was worse for us as parents but it caused him no distress as he had never known any different. Just get sleepsuits and babygrows a couple of sizes too big as they then still do up round the harness. He fitted in his car seat and buggy with it on and just went mad kicking his legs like a frog during his daily bath
But it worked as it was supposed to and his hips are now as good as a normal. In fact he spent ages every day in his jumparoo from 7 ish months and walked from 10 months ish.
I made them give me 2 harnesses to always have a clean one to put on after every bath. It's much harder on the parents than the children but it's for their own good. Don't worry

Thanks for your message. Grace is 13 weeks old, she was also undiagnosed breech!

She just loves to kick around I'm worried she's going to absolutely hate it, but I just have to suck it up and get on with it. Glad to hear your baby didn't seem to mind it xx

My 10mo DD wore the harness when she was 13 weeks old for 12 weeks, 6 weeks full time (except baths) and 6 weeks she could have it off for 4 hours per day. She didn't mind it at all! I on the other hand was hysterical when they fitted it as it came as a bit of a shock. She was breech too but no clicking hip. Like your DD her left hip was only a few degrees out and the harness corrected it in 2 weeks. We have 1 more x ray when she's 1 year old and hopefully we'll be discharged.I found putting her in dresses and socks over the boots of the harness worked best. It actually makes changing dirty nappies easier once you get the hang of it!Its a shock at first but its a very effective treatment and so much better than surgery or having their legs in casts.Any questions ask away.

I apparently can't put tights on her, so I can't put her in dresses as it's too cold. Any ideas on what I can dress her in that will keep her warm and comfy? Also did you have the harness directly on her skin or a vest on underneath? X

Just put baby vests and sleepsuits on. Plus cardigan

Have you been in contact with STEPS?

www.steps-charity.org.uk

OH and baby vest under, sleepsuits Over harness

Both of mine had them. DD loved it and cried when they took it off. DS never really got the hang of it and was very happy when it came off. To be honest the worst thing is the clothes. I hated not being able to dress them up. Big sleepsuits and pretty cardigans were best for DD.

My son was in a harness and im sure he was fine in a larger sized baby grow and vests underneath. :)

Hi Lauralee, DD wore a pavlik harness for 12 weeks from being 10 weeks old. I was beside myself about it but DD not so much. I remember the lovely consultant reassuring me that 'babies thought all the other babies had one'.

We couldn't bath her at all, just flannel wash but that harness did the trick. Her hip joint hadn't formed over the ball during her time in the womb. I seem to recall we had plenty of ultrasounds to check progress. DD was signed off on her 1st b'day and we were told there would be no lasting effects, she's almost 8 now and runs cross country for her school, does ballet, gymnastics etc. You would never know she spent 12 weeks frog like!

I totally understand how you're feeling and remember it well. It's a shock for you but it will be absolutely fine.

We didn't wear dresses, lots of trousers, leggings, larger sleep suits.

Car seat was fine, she could still fit in. She crawled at 8 months and walked at 13 so it didn't hold her back at all.

Best of luck with it. Feel free to pm me if you need more info.

My son had to wear this from 3-10 weeks I think, something like that.

I do understand your upset, I was so down about it. I know there are much worse things, but it really upset me. I just wasn't expecting it.

I found I was hurt by people commenting on it all the time, it seemed like that was all they ever noticed about him. But for the first 3 weeks of his life he had lots of comments about how cute he was, and that all stopped and it was all about the harness and lots of people would tell me stories of someone they knew with bad hips.

However he was fine with it, didn't affect him too much. He was scanned at 10 weeks and the angle was fine and never had any problems since.

It's sometimes used a a precaution. It's better to do it whilst they're young and before they're mobile.

Try not to worry.

Hugs xxx

My ds was in one too for 12 weeks. It was fine. You and baby soon adjust to it. You'll find ways of working around it.
My ds is now a 6ft, 19 year old who hasn't had any problems growing up at all.
Good luck with it.

Hi. My DD had to wear one for about 10 or 12 weeks. She went into it at 6 or 8 weeks old. It was just before Xmas when we were visiting loads of family to show her off for the first time. I was gutted that she looked different and I couldn't dress her properly. I quickly got used to it and became an armchair expert on dysplasic hips!

So, to your questions/issues:

1. DD was not bothered by it at all. They still have plenty of movement in the legs, it's just in a 'frog' position, so knees bent toes out.

1. I dresses DD in dresses with a slightly too large babygro underneath. You need the ones with the poppers up the inside of both legs and just don't fasten the poppers. The key is not to restrict the straps that run from the shoulders to the feet - they should make a nice triangle and not be pulled in to the body by clothing. I also hated the fact you could see her nappy so I bought some of those fancy covers that you put over cloth nappies (they need to be ones that close with poppers like a nappy, not slip on like pants).

1. No bathing, just wiping. Pay attention to creases as they get sore (DD was a chubster so we had lots of them!) Also you can get a whole new harness of your DD manages to do a massive leaky poo right up the back of it .

4.Car seat was fine. I needed a wider cozy toes for the buggy but I has a 1st generation bugaboo bee which was ridiculously small. I got the chameleon cozy toes and it was fine.

1. DD's hips were only a few degrees out. But in our family my MIL had undiagnosed hip dysplasia. my MIL ended up with corrective surgery age 5 which left her in plaster for 6 months (awful for a child that age). She has always walked with a limp, she had her first double hip replacement in her 30s, since then she's had two further hip replacements and a new knee due to the effect on her gait. I'm only too pleased that DD got a precautionary treatment to save her from all of that. So try to think that this is for the best, you'll be helping her get lovely full hip sockets for a long and healthy lifetime of use.

The harness is under this outfit. Babygro and a pinafore-type dress

This is the sort of nappy cover I'm talking about. She's happily kicking away here.

Thank you so so much for your post and pictures you've made me feel so much better. I will go out and buy some dresses and big baby grows for sure.

Did any of you find it effect sleeping / bedtime routines? Just got it all so perfect I'm worried it's all going to go out the window you know? Grace sleeps on her side so worried she's going to struggle settling on her back x

My son had to wear a harness from 9 days to 5 months old. I sobbed at the hospital when they told me, but even at the time I knew that was a ridiculous thing to do - there are far worse things that parents have to deal with! I felt that I was losing my lovely floppy new born baby and getting a stiff, rigid baby instead. It was fine, of course. We got used to it after a few days. We took the harness off for 30 minutes each day so we could do bath-time, baby swimming classes, and time to wriggle naked on the play mat. He sat up at 4 months and started to crawl just a few weeks after the harness came off so it really didn't slow him down at all. As for clothes, you just have to buy trousers/tights/babygro a few sizes bigger than usual. ( Easier for a boy, I must admit)
The harnesses come in different sizes so please check with the doctor/health visitor every few weeks in case you need a bigger one. We were stuck with a small size for months without realising!!

My son was quite happy sleeping on his front or his back with his legs out to the sides like a little frog! We did have to move him out of the moses basket into a cot but otherwise no problems.

Just wanted to sympathise, as I know how awful it feels. We just avoided the harness, had to put an extra backwards nappy on her padded out with a folded muslin instead, but my girl also had slight talipes and spent a few weeks in plaster from hip to toe. It's a horrible feeling and as a pp said, it's not nice feeling like it's all people notice. My girl wasn't at all bothered by it all, hopefully yours won't be either! And now for us, at 8 months, it's a distant memory.

Hi OP - my DD was in one from 6weeks to 5months and I think I struggled more than she did to be honest. It was hard as each check up I got conflicting information about how long she'd been in it. To cut a long story short, if it's a mild correction then the Pavlik harness phase will pass and she'll be fine. My DD never improved as it was severe so she ended up having surgery to correct it. I'm not trying to panic anyone just saying prognosis is very good from using the harness for a milder issue! Please feel free to PM me if you have any questions

DD was in her harness until she was 7 months. Her right hip was almost totally dislocated. She does have other joint problems so she won't be discharged by the clinic until she is at least 5.

I took DD to Australia in her harness. I had a few stupid comments from people but otherwise it was fine. She fitted into various car seats, push chairs, aircraft bassinets. Airport security was 'interesting'.

Yes, clothes are more challenging. Big baby grows and a blanket when outside are best.

For nappy changes, you won't be able to lift her bottom up by holding her feet up. I used to put one hand under her lower back to lift her bottom.

DD was very uncomfortable during her first night in the harness. I think her joints or muscles were aching. Some Calpol might be useful. Because she was so uncomfortable I put a thin cushion under her legs to give them some support in her cot.

It really is best to get hips sorted out at young as possible. I hate to think what problems DD would have in later life if her hips had not been corrected.

If it's too cold for no tights try some hareem (sp?) type trousers (think MC Hammer style!) i got some from La Redoute that worked great as they were wide enough in the thigh to be worn over the harness. Size up babygro also works well. Vest goes under. It didn't affect my DDs sleep at all and as soon as she had it taken off for a few hours she started rolling over so that reassured me that it wasn't holding her back too much

I was born with DDH but was missed until I started walking and then had a year of treatment including a long hospital stay and six months in plaster. I have no memory of it. Afterwards had no problems through out my childhood or adult hood, pregnancies etc. However now I'm facing a hip replacement pretty soon. I'm 38

My DD wasn't really bothered by it. I don't remember any effect on her sleep routines at all. It definitely didn't distress her at all.