Hip Dysplasia

Hi Susan,

I have been trying to post a reply and for some reason it's not taking it. So I hope this one goes through. I hate having retype everything I just typed and trying to remember what I had typed......

I hope everyone is doing very, very well! Hope the little ones are good!

Anyways, thank you very much for responding and thank you to Bertie also for responding.

Susan, what a relief to hear that from your doctor that Sophie won't have hip problems when she gets older! That was a relief for me to hear as well. When we go to our x-ray appointments I am usually pretty nervous and worked up and I can't think straight...I forget to ask the questions that I want answered (I even have them written down) and if we get good news at an appointment I just can't wait to run out of there I'm so happy...again forgetting to ask questions. What a goof I am...ha ha

Thank you for finding some American hip sites Susan...as far as facebook, I'm really not to familiar with it I wonder if I can access anything without joining. Is facebook like that myspace site? I'm not on that either but I am kind of familiar with what it is and what it's about.

I have enough trouble just trying to post on THIS website. I need more practice I guess?

I will quit rambling and want to thank you again for the info and hope you and you LO are doing great and enjoying your summer (if it's summer where you are or maybe it's summer all year around)....see, I don't even know my geography.

lesa xxoo

Hi Lesa,

When we had our final appointment with the orth specialist I asked what medium-long term issues might we have with Sienna's hip. He said there wouldn't be any issues. All we need to do is see him again & have another x-ray when she is walking (he suggested at around 18 months old) and again when she starts school. This is just to ensure the hip is still 'normal'. As your bub and mine are in similar positions (the dysplasia was picked up at around 6 weeks of age & they had treatment straight away), maybe the prognosis for you is also positive.

I too was concerned (and a small part of me is still concerned) about future problems, however I have to have faith and believe the specialist.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Natalie

Natalie,

I posted a reply a couple of days ago to you but once again it didnt go through. I'm having computer trouble so here goes another try and i hope you get it.

We are going to have to keep getting xrays as well, Im sure to make sure all is well...so to me that is saying that something CAN happen in the future otherwise we would not have to get more xrays....but I hope chances are slim to none.

I wanted to ask you if your little one's legs seemed "funny" after she got out of the brace. Like did they seem floppy or did her feet/knees turn outwards? It seems as though my baby's legs are so used to being in that position (with the harness and then the brace) that they kind of go that way naturally now although she still pulls them up and rolls around and puts her toes in her mouth. Did Sienna's legs do anything similar? She was not braced and harnessed as long though so maybe her's are normal?

Anyways you must be overwhelmed with joy now that you have a contraption free baby!!! That is awesome!! I can't wait for that day! I feel it coming though....it might be a little while yet since her case was severe but I know in my heart she will be fine.



lesa

Hi Lesa

Thought I would reply to your concerns about your daughters legs turning, staying in the same position. DD1 was in two different braces for 6 months in total and her legs were the same when she came out of it, it seemed like it was a natural position for her and her feet turned too. She is now 2 years old and has been out of the brace for about 14 months. She learnt how to walk about 3 months after the brace coming off I think it took a little while for her to get the strength back, she could stand but it took her awhile to get the hang of walking.

We started swimming lessons as soon as she had the brace off during the day and I think it helped her with her muscles and using her legs. Anyway you would never know now that she had hip problems she rans non stop, jumps and climbs all over everything. She had severe hip displaysia in her left hip and was almost sent for surgery just before christmas in 2007 but she improved on her own.

Hi Lesa,

Sienna's legs don't seem 'floppy' but yes her feet/legs turn outwards...it's not so noticeable when holding her, more so when lying on her back (especially while sleeping). I am not too concerned about it, as for half her life she had her legs in this position, so it will take some time for them to adjust. She loves to weight-bear on her legs, which has to be a good sign.

Take care and I hope it's not too long that you also have your bub 'contraption free' :D

Natalie

Hi guys - just checking if anyone is still reading this thread?

There seems to be 2 the same, I think everyone is in the other one ;)

Hi

I just joined as I came across the thread doing a search for hip braces. My 20 month old has just been diagnosed with dysplasia in both hips and was placed in a brace (on Monday). It was missed by her paediatrician whom she was under the care of until 12 months old. We are all in shock, as Josie has gone from being a vibrant and very active toddler to being completely immobilised and distressed. They assure me she will walk in the brace but I can't even get her to try standing. She just cries and says ouch. Her sleep has gone to the dogs also. We just finished a week at sleep school before the brace and were finally achieving some results, but now Brendan (my husband) has taken to sleeping in the spare bed with her again, as she is waking constantly and we are not sure if the teaching to sleep routine is appropriate now??

I am really stressed out and not even sure that we are doing the right thing. Any suggestions for encouraging movement, sleep and entertainment would be greatly appreciated.

Karen

Hi Karen,

I don't know if anyone is still using this thread - jump over to the "Hip Dysplacia Support Group" thread which is really active.

20 months old is so hard to be diagnosed. My DD was first diagnosed at birth and the first brace went on at 7 weeks and the adjustments were difficult for her. I can't imagine what you must be going through.

The things these babies can do in the brace is astounding. My DD learned how to roll over and sit up in it - she's 10 months old and not up to walking yet anyway, so we haven't had to come to that hurdle. Give your daughter some time to adjust and I'm sure she'll give walking a go again. Sleeping does become impossible. The discomfort they feel is evident. Try putting a flat cot pillow under her legs while she sleeps to try and lift them a little so the brace doesn't put to much pressure on her legs.

What sort of brace is she in?It's not an easy journey, but if you come into the other group, you'll find many mums and dads going through the same thing and the support is just incredible.

Good luck

Corelly.

Hi

Firstly, I'm so sorry for all of you who are going through this. My little girl's hip is not dislocated so we didn't need surgery. I cried for 2 days just with the brace (stupid, but I can't help it). I can only imagine what you are feeling.

My daughter was diagnosed with hip dysplasia at 5 months. She wore a brace for 6 weeks and I was so excited when the doctor said we could move to nights only as it was 99% fixed.

We went back for our six week review yesterday and it has reverted. It is now worse than before and she is now in a rhino brace full time for 8 weeks initially. I feel really guilty as we went away over January and her brace stopped fitting, so we could not put it on. She only wore it for 3 out of the 6 weeks at night. I think I've set her back. She was sleeping on her side and rolling over, feet in her mouth. So angry.

Has anyone else had their diagnosis reversed?

Nat

Hello,

I am new to this blog, but my 4.5 month old baby, Lucy, got a DB brace on monday for her left hip dysplasia. The doctor/physio and orthotist all told me she would adapt really quickly. She is fine when she is awake but has hardly been sleeping at night. We have had a week of no sleep! She was a brilliant sleeper before. Is this going to settle soon? Has anyone got any suggestions? I have been giving her panadol, have put a pillow under her legs and nothing seems to work. I am going crazy from sleep deprivation.

Josie

Hi Josie

Our Josie (now 21 months) was put in a brace about 6 weeks ago. The first two weeks were a nightmare with sleep. We tried panadol, which seemed to help. I didn't use a pillow as she is too old and moves around too much. She did settle after 2 weeks and found a way to roll herself over. It does get better. Josie now crawls and cruises along the furniture.

We are off to the beach for a week in the chool holidays and I have decided for everyone's sanity that Josie can have more than 1 hour out of the brace a day for that week. Will see how it goes.

Hope it setlles for you soon.

Karen

Thankyou Karen. It is nice to know others are experiencing the same as you! I hope the sleeping settles. Dont know if I can handle another full week though!

Good luck with the holiday. I hope Josie enjoy's it.

Josie S

Hi Joise

Hope it has improved a bit.

Josie actually walked quite a bit in her brace this weekend and I never thought that would happen.

We have another review in June and I am hopng like hell that as a minimum she moves to night wearing only. They are so cruel. I try to balance the physical gain with her mental health (i.e on bad days she has more than 1 hour off).

Hang in there.

Karen

When DD2 was born, she was sent for a hip check ultrasound thing (I had to wear a brace as a baby so they wanted to make sure although they felt fine) which they said was borderline shallow on one side. She was then rechecked and given the all clear.

DD2 is now 11months old and has just started walking unaided (about a week ago), completely normally from what I can tell. Last night I had a dream where DD2 was having her 12month check up and she walked in front of the doctor who said 'oh no, we need to check her hips, something is wrong' so now I am feeling uneasy but cannot get an appointment till after Christmas so was hoping somebody could reassure me in the meantime.

If she has been given the all clear once before, can roll, crawl, climb, walk, stand, squat up and down in what appears to be a normal manner, has even leg creases and doesn't have any sound or pain in the hip region then she is probably fine right? What kind of signs would there be in an older baby?

No idea why I would even dream this because it isn't something that has been on my mind at all since the all clear but now I can't stop thinking about it.

:hug: not a nice dream to have.

I was told that if the US is clear, it's not something they will develop later on so I'd say that she's likely to be fine.

To me, dreams are more about the emotion involved than the actual content. How did you feel? Fearful? Guilty? Scared for her future? Is this an emotion that is perhaps needing to be expressed about another aspect of your life / your parenting journey?

Definitely guilty that I hadn't picked up on it earlier. Not sure about where that would fit in elsewhere? Maybe because she is the second and having DD1 (who is 3) I feel like I'm missing things because it is a lot less one on one than I had with DD1 (extreme one on one too as I was also a single parent). I spend a lot of time with them but it is mostly all three of us. DD2 does co-sleep and feed to sleep and has naps on me (carrier or lap) and all of that though so we definitely have our moments but interacting is done more group-wise. It does sort of makes sense I guess with her walking now, it feels like she was a baby for such a short time; my eldest didn't walk till almost 18 months so was not really expecting her to grow up this quick. Also DD1 has a speech delay so I guess seemed littler for a lot longer because of that too.

We will have more one on one time next year as DD1 starts kindy 5 days a fortnight (turning 4 in March) so that will help but maybe I am mourning that my little baby isn't much of a baby anymore and feeling guilty that it sort of passed before my eyes unnoticed. We are undecided on whether we are having more but leaning towards stopping at two so the whole last baby thing might be entering into it too.

Interesting thoughts. Thanks for the insight.