Has anyone been through hip dysplasia with their little ones? Our little man has just been diagnosed at eight weeks, and is now strapped into a Pavlik harness which must stay on for the next three months. I’m stuck at work until much later and am desperate to get back and see him.

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise as my wife has a dodgy hip and the little one was breach.

Has anyone else been through this? Did everything work out alright? Any hints and tips? My wife is really quite upset about it all…

Wife had this as a baby. Same sort of treatment and no ill effects.

My nephew had this – harness from about the same age for a few months, and regular checkups, but it was almost a case of once they got the harness off, he was fine and didn’t need any more appointments.

Five years later, I took his 20″ wheel bike down to him last week; he looked at it, got on and disappeared at speed… No issues whatsoever since the harness came off, apparently!

Our daughter had this diagnosed early like yours.
She wore the harness etc.
We stuck to the rules about when to take it off and how long to keep it on etc etc and she’s fine now aged 7
Never been an issue.
She’s very flexible/ hypermobile etc but lives a normal life, doing gymnastics, riding her bike etc.
If you want anymore info help, drop us an email or post on here, happy to help if possible

They reckoned our little one was at risk of hip issues, due to being breach for so long. We were told that the movement of the baby’s legs encourages formation of the socket joint & that being breach could hinder this.
She had the usual tests & an ultrasound revealed that one of her hips was marginally less developed than it should be (it was a tiny amount). The consultant said that the joint continues to develop after birth, so we had another scan 3 months later & all was good.

It must be pretty worrying (it was bad enough for us & she only had a very mild issue that corrected itself without intervention), but it sounds like all will be well if this harness is used; I think it just holds the hips in the correct position so they can develop correctly.

I just googled Pavlik Harness & there seems to be lots of hints & tips websites, like this one…

http://hipdysplasia.org/developmental-dysplasia-of-the-hip/tips-for-parents/pavlik-harness-tips/

Best wishes for your little man’s speedy recovery!!

Thanks for the reassurance fellas – the site you linked to Stumpy was one recommended by the specialist. It is a worry, but I’m sure things will work out – it’s not a nice feeling to know that the little bugger needs a little tweak. No baths / swimming which is a shame.

Thanks for the email offer Jonny…

My daughter (also breach) was diagnosed with this a few days after she was born. She was in a harness for a few months but is absolutely fine now. She wasn’t bothered by it when she was in it, she didn’t know any different I guess. A colleague’s daughter had the same thing although diagnosis was later but she is also fine now. I wouldn’t worry too much, although that’s what parents do.

My son was put into a Pavlik harness at 8 weeks old. My wife had problem hips when she was born and it seems like he inherits that gene! He’s 7 months now and all perfectly normal.

We were both really upset the first night but honestly you just get used to it and he didn’t seem to mind. They look a lot worse than they actually are. Nappy changes take a minute or 2 longer and not being able to bathe them is a pain (especially if they have some explosive nappies) but otherwise try not to worry about it.

After 4 weeks we could bath him on a night which was lovely for us all.

Just keep an eye on the straps to make sure they are not rubbing etc.

He came out of it at 9 weeks (his consultant said he was the first – all of her previous cases have gone to 12 weeks!) and now we just carry on as normal. Honestly, don’t fret over it too much.
Removal day is something to look forward to. It’ll soon come around.

My little fella