Infant hip dysplasia?

[willow33]

DD had her 6 month check-up yesterday and after examining her hips the doc suggested we get an x-ray to rule out hip dyplasia. He also showed me her asymmetrical skin folds on her inner thighs which *can* be a sign of dysplasia.

Anyone have experience with this? I really wish I didn't google it last night because the photos of the kids after surgery and in a half-body cast really bothered me.

[vmcorno]

DD1 had an x-ray for suspected hip dysplasia when her ped found a "click" in her right hip at a well baby visit. It turned out to be nothing. Hope its the same for you!

[LMPC]

DD was checked for hip dysplasia because she was breech and a girl...apparently 2 risk factors. I googled it too. Freaked me out. But I have to tell you that most of my friends that have dealt with it have only had to have their DCs wear a brace for a little while. I also hope it turns out to be nothing, but if it is HD then better to catch it now. Hope it all goes well!!!

[mommylamb]

My friend's daughter was born with hip displasia because she was in a strange breech position. She had to be in a harness as an infant for a while, but was fine in the end. I think she also went to PT because she was behind with gross motor skills because of all that time in the harness. Now she's perfectly fine.

[willow33]

Thanks for your posts. We take dd in for an x-ray early next week and get the results in about 5 days. I keep thinking there is nothing wrong because she is doing great developmentally (is already on hands/knees and rocking at 6 months) but I know that may not mean anything.

Fingers crossed...

[nfowife]

Hi, my dd was born with hip dysplasia. It doesn't run in my family or DH's and she wasn't breech, but she still had it (firstborn girl was her only risk factor). Anyhow, since it was detected at birth she was in the harness from weeks 6-14. At the time it was hard but looking back it was just a minor blip I don't even remember anymore.
Did they do any hip manipulation at your ped. appt? That would tell more than the folds. Just having the skin folds doesn't seem like much. My DD didn't have that.
I don't think it affects crawling, but it does affect when they are walking. My DD was a slightly late walker (15.5 months) but since then she has been right on par with everything else. After the harness came off we did checks every 3 months, then 6 months, then yearly. This year was our last check and now she's considered "normally developing".
Check out the yahoo group called "hip-babies". It's a pretty active group that has tons of info that was helpful to me at the time. Realize that if you do have to do the casting it isn't the end of the world....yes it will be difficult but plenty of children have to go through it and they are just fine :).
But first, see what the x-rays show. It is probably nothing! They do check at birth and if they didn't catch it then hopefully it is nothing!

[catpagmo]

I had to have DD xrayed for hip displaysia when she was about 1 year old. Her ped noticed the assymetry on her skin folds, too. She was also having difficulty with gross motor skills. It turned out to be nothing. They had me all freaked out for absolutely nothing.

Just my $0.02, but I wouldn't worry about it. They're probably just being cautious.

[sariana]

I don't have any experience with this particular condition (and I had a breech girl, too), but my son had to wear casts on his feet for two months when he was 2 1/2 to correct his toe-walking. I was devastated, but it didn't even faze him. He wore braces at night for more than a year after that, and he didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, he was often the one who reminded me that we had forgotten to put them on that night.

I just wanted to share that even if you do have to go through surgery and/or casting, it probably will be much worse for you than for your daughter. (Not that I want it to be bad for you.)

Let's hope it's not an issue at all.

[mom_hanna]

Just a note with regards to the cast...my ds is in a spica body cast right now - almost 3 weeks, 3 more to go. He broke his femur, but the first thing most people ask when they see him, is if it is his hips? So I am assuming that the casting for hip dysplasia is similar. Anyway, it is far more distressing/annoying for us than for him to be in the cast. He is scooting around on the floor and rolling around to get where he wants to go. The only time he seems uncomfortable is at night - sleeping.

This is all to say that if your dd does end up having dysplasia, the casting will not be a big deal. And it is temporary. HTH.

Jennifer

[AshleyAnn]

I had it and had to wear a brace. I learned to crawl and stand up in it. I think it was a lot harder on my mom than me (I only remember it because there a 2 photos of me in it). I wish I had more info but I'm pretty sure my brace design is considered outdated.

[jenmcadams]

I had to have DD xrayed for hip displaysia when she was about 1 year old. Her ped noticed the assymetry on her skin folds, too. She was also having difficulty with gross motor skills. It turned out to be nothing. They had me all freaked out for absolutely nothing.

Just my $0.02, but I wouldn't worry about it. They're probably just being cautious.

Ditto for us...Our Ped was worried about the assymetrical fat folds :) and we had an X-Ray and an ultrasound done on the hip and all was fine. One of my friends daughter's was diagnosed with a confirmed case of hip dysplasia and wore a harness for a while as an infant. She's no almost 6 and is a great little athlete (gymnastics, first kid on a two wheeler at not quite 4, etc.)

[emily_gracesmama]

My friend had her dd screened for it and they said the xray came back ok but she just felt something wasn't right so she pushed for a specialist and turns out the xray very clearly showed her dd had it. Thank god for her mommy intuition since her daughter got her first surgery and will have her next in January. But she's doing fine so far and apparently bounced back pretty well after the first surgery, starting to walk again soon after she got her cast off.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I had it (risk factor) and DD (firstborn girl - two risk factors) had a click that got checked out 2-3 times, x-rays and all. She didn't have it. I had the cast but don't remember anything about it and never saw any pics. My parents said it wasn't a big deal.

[amldaley]

DD was born with DDH (development hip displaysia). She was first born, daughter and was breech up until the week she was born. It was suspected one her exam at birth.

Ultrasound at age either 2 or 4 weeks showed both looseness in ligaments AND shallow sockets.

Subsequent ultrasound by pediatric ortho confirmed at 6 weeks and she wore a pavlik harness from 6 weeks until 16 weeks.

We were incredibly careful while she was in the harness and did everything by the book.

Her subsequent ultrasounds showed ligaments tightened up, one socket was deepened and the other was close to deep enough.

However, they still cant see the balls of her femurs forming yet. We go back at the end of Jan when she will be 18 mo old.

I would question having an X-ray to determine this at 6 months. I would request a referral to a pediatric orthopaedic specialist. They will likely do ultrasound and x-ray.

Things you can do in the mean time...

Double diapering or cloth diapering

Encourage her to sit Indian style and froggy her legs out

Be cautious with things like a Jumperoo and carriers that are narrow in the crotch like the Baby Bjorn (Ergo is considered the safest of the mass market carriers for hips).

It can be worrisome, but think of it this as a good thing. She will either not have it at all, or you will be catching it now while there is time to make corrections. You would not want this to go untreated!!!

[larig]

I had it when I was a baby. My ped found it and I wore what they called a "pillow cast" at the time. We have pictures, it was a big white plastic thing that stretched my legs apart. I'm sure they don't use braces like that anymore (this was 1970). I was a late walker, although I don't know if the two are related or not (I'd assume, yes, but DS is a very late walker himself).

When DS was born his very first exam by his ped the morning after he was born Dr. noticed a clicking (skin wrinkles looked fine though). We took him in for his first well baby visit with her, and she still heard/felt the click still, so she had us go get an ultrasound for the hip (I think he went in at about 3 wks). The dr. who did the ultrasound said he looked fine, so we never had to do anything about it. I think she still hears a click sometimes.

What PP said about ergos and cloth diapers makes sense. the ergo when I front carry DS holds his legs in a similar position to what the pillow cast did to my legs.

ETA: as an adult, I'm perfectly fine. A little clumsy, but don't think the two are related.