Dear All,

We were told at a routine 6 week check that our son, Harrison had a clicky / dysplastic right hip, and saw the paed last Friday. 2 days ago we saw the Orthapedic surgeon who confirmed the condition, but explained it was in both hips. He immediately put Harry in a hip abduction brace, and now almost 3 days on he is very distressed, feeding is difficult, sleeping is difficult, his clothes are no good, and friends and family insist that we should be happy that he does not have somtheing more serious - we arent asking for their sympathy but at the moment this sort of talk is no help to us.

I've searched the web and found this thread, and having now read your stories I understand that many more people are going through or have been through what we are. Having suffered with this condition myself as a child, spending almost 18 months in a combination of spica casts and braces I thought I would know naturally what he's feeling and going through, but this is not the case; we just feel helpless and so cruel to our baby boy who at 9 weeks has had little life experience, and know the next 9 weeks and possibly more are not going to be easy for him.

Any advice whatsoever would be very much appreciated to help us make his life in brace as comfortable, enjoyable and as tear free as possible. One thing I am struggling with is how some of you have managed to endure months of your baby in brace and stay positive; 2 days down the line I am very angry and very bitter that my baby is having to go throug this.

Thanks for your time; looking forward to reading any advice or comments.
Laura x