Seeking Moms Who Know Something About Slight Hip Dyplasia on the Right Side

A.:

I use to babysit a little girl who had this. Now that has been several years ago (like 32 years ago), but she was in a cast, and then like a brace, but after all of that you would never known that she went through that, because she is like a normal kid (or young adult) today! They probably have perfected how they treat it today, but I just know from my past experience of babysitting her, that she did everything that 2 and 3 years old do.

C. Freeman/ ____@____.com

Oh yes, I am quite familiar with hip dysplasia. My daughter has had three surgeries for it and four spica casts plus years of braces. She sees Dr. Schoenecker at Children's Hospital. He is also at Shriner's but you have a better chance of seeing him at Children's. We go back on July 19 as it appears she will need yet another surgery.

9 months is a little late to put her in a brace but it depends on how slight it is.

You can email me if you'd like. I've got tons of information on hip dysplasia and things you can do for your child plus I've got designs for chairs that you can make to put your child in to sit as in the spica cast, sitting is hard.

M.
____@____.com

Hi A.-I'm a physical therapist and am familiar with hip dysplasia. Depending on the severity of the dysplasia, your daughter may only need strengthening (later on) for her hip. Please don't get caught up in the scary name of her condition until you go to Children's Mercy and find out the severity of it. Your daughter might not need to go through the surgery(s) that everyone is talking about, I hope. Don't be alarmed just yet.

I'm not sure what they do to fix it, i know surgery. My sister in law had it when she was born and is fine now because she had surgery, my mother in law didn't get the surgery and now she is bound to a wheel chair at 40 years old. Very sad, she cannot walk at all anymore. You can be sure not to worry, the surgery will be good for her. Childrens Mercy is a good hospital but i'm sure she will be fine.

My daughter (now 2 1/2) had hip dysplasia and was put in a harness for a few months when she was a baby. She also see's a orthopedic that takes x-rays to ensure that her hips are developing like they should. She'll have to see the orthopedic until she's like 13. Right now we go every year, I think they said when she turns 5 we go back every few years. They never once mentioned anything about surgery. My sister had it when she was a baby (in the 70's also) and was also in a full body cast. Thank God they don't do that anymore! :) If you live in the KC area, we see Dr. Guda in OP.

I had full hip dysplasia on both sides when i was born. That was in 1975, so they put me in a full cast. I couldn't imagine a baby in a full cast, but my mom said I was good. Now, I have seen babies in a brace that goes on the outside of their clothes. I can tell yuo that I still do not have any problems with my hips, had two pregnancies and everything was OK.

Hope everything goes well with your daughter.

A.--my name is J. and I am an information, resource, and outreach specialist with the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Resource Center. We provide information, free of charge, to individual with developmental disabilities and their families. I would be happy to supply you with a packet of information about hip dysplasia. Feel free to call me at my office ###-###-#### (out of greater KC area? Toll free at 800-444-0821). Please know that we also have mentor moms available that can help answer "mommy questions", listen to concerns, and talk with you about their experiences in parenting a child with the same or a similar condition. this is also a free service. Voice mail is also available 24 hours a day for messages. Hope to hear from you! Sincerely, J. Hatfield-Callen

At her age it sounds like it may be too late to do a harness. They will probably do x-rays and different test to get a better look at her hip but the treatment is to have her placed under general anesthesia and do a procedure called a "closed reduction". Under anesthesia she will be completely relaxed and they will be able to manipulate her hip back into place. Then she will have to wear a splint until the doctor thinks she can take it off. The good new is they don't actually have to "cut" her like an operation. And also if it was discovered after she was one, they probably wouldn't be able to fix it and she would have pain later in life.

Hi A., I had slight hip dysplasia as a baby. It was not caught until I was 14 months old and was not walking. Oh, by the way, I never crawled either. My parents said I scooted on my bottom and wore out my bloomers and one of my shoes, so my mom made extras and as for the shoes, well they just lived with it. Apparently I was really fast getting around that wasy.
I was not put on a brace though. Our doctor sent me to a chiropractor and I saw him every other week for 6 months. Then he told my parents to put me in dance to help strengthen the muscles around my hips. It worked. I've been dancing ever since I was 2 and still dance to this day. I didn't have trouble with it again until I was pregnant with my first and as my pelvice started to widen my hip would pop out of joint. I fell a few times and other times my husband was around to catch me.
I don't remember much from when I was a child, just what my parents have told me. That was in the early 70's and I'm sure times have changed. All that said, don't fret to much over it. Since it is slight, it shouldn't be to much to correct it. Good Luck and God Bless.

My daughter has the same thing & she's 8 months old. It was diagnosed as soon as she was born, but it's so slight, it doesn't appear that the doctors will do anything but keep taking X-rays every 3 months. We go to Children's at Barnes-Jewish in St Louis. They mentioned something like a brace she'd wear at night if they did decide to medically intervene. I'm surprised it took your pediatrician so long to diagnos this b/c the warning signs are: first baby, baby girl (for some reason), and the last sign is that the baby doesn't go head down until last month of pregnancy. It was the first thing our pediatrician looked for. Good luck. I know we're in the same boat.

I know nothing about hip dyplasia but would like to recommend Shriners Hospital in St. Louis. Dr Perry Schoenecker is the chief of staff there and knows what he is doing. He's also at Children's Hospital in St. Louis too, but Shriners is free and a drive from KC would be enough with the price of gas.

If they put your baby in a spica cast I have a suggestion for the diapering process. My son is in a body cast now and the way the Dr's told me to diaper him is actually more difficult and not as effective as what I figured out.

Just buy the normal sized diaper you'd usually buy and tuck the diaper up into the cast until you get it around him and use the tabs the way you normally would. For overnight, add a few maxi pads for more protection against wetness. This works much better, for me, than double diapering. I would suggest buying pampers, huggies, or luvs as the store brands don't absorb wetness as quickly and you will get leaks.

I'll keep you and your family in my prayers!

Wow, you brought back some old memories. Yes, my daughter had HD. We caught it at 4 mos because my husband sister had had it. So, the dr was checking hard for it and found it. Actually, in her case it wasn't herititary, but because she was sitting "indian style" en utero. That pulled her ball out of her socket. Remember, this was 21 year ago so treatment options may have changed. But, she was in a brace until she was about 1yr old. The brace pushed the ball of her leg into her socket and allowed the socket to grow around the ball. Once that happened, she was OK.

Good luck and I would be curious about how this turns out for your family. If your daughter winds up in a brace, I'll pass along some tips to help you and her deal with it.

When my daughter began walking her feet turned inward about 30 degrees. We were told by the specialist that she would grow out of it by 7 or 8 - and so they did nothing. One day I mentioned it to my chiropractor and at his request brought her in. After taking more x-rays (the ones done by the doctor did not show much) he saw that her hips were not in the sockets correctly. He very gently put them in place and gave me very gentle exercises to do with her. We continued with a few appointments with the chiropractor and did the exercises everyday. He told me that if it would have gone untreated that she would have had permanent hip/walking problems. Today, she is 15 and doing just fine.
P.

well, the head pediatrician where i work said they used to just triple diaper the babies who had this to kind of roll it into place. they can also use what's called a pavlik harness, or maybe a closed reduction. call ur ped and see about triple diapering until the appt. good luck!

Hi A.,

I know a little about hip dysplasia, because I have it and so does my sister. However, we weren't diagnosed until a few years ago as adults. I just had my son to Children's last week to get checked out, he is 4 weeks old. I am sure you are seeing Perry Schoenecker, MD who is one of the best in the countryfor children's hips. They will do an ultrasound on your babies' hips, which doesn't hurt at all. Hopefully your daughter is young enough to wear the harness to correct her dysplasia. The harness might seem horrible for her to wear, but it will fix the problem. There are surgies available too, but hopefully your daughter won't need that. Please let me know if you have any questions at all. Good luck and let me know how everything turns out.

My daughter had hip dysplasia and had to have surgery on both hips to correct them. She was in a body cast with the bar holding her legs apart. She was in a sitting position so she could not lay on her back for naps or sleeping. We went out and bought a papasan chair and filled it with pillows and that is were she slept for 6 weeks. Right after she got the surgery done, there were nights she watched tv all night while I dozed beside her. She is also special needs, so her therapists helped me alot with equipment that she could sit in and be more comfortable. Also for the surgery, you will need a special carseat for the duration of the time in a body cast. Sponge bathing, needing 2 people to wash her hair, changing diapers and messy ones too, were something to learn but finally get the hang of doing it. Taking the cast off was great until you could smell the oder!! Immediate bath when we got home !! My little girl finally learned to walk 10 months after the cast came off and she was 3.5 years old. The doctors at birth said she would never walk!! She now has metal in both hips but as far as I know doesn't bother her. I do know from my son who also has metal in both hips, says when it's cold out, they hurt. He had other medical issues that caused his hips to go out. Oh yeah, and stollers, they don't work either with a body cast so you get use to carrying her all around but hey it builds your arm muscles up.

At the time, I was scared but with 3 kids all having major surgery, I would take the hip surgery over my 8 month old having open heart surgery anytime. That is another story!!

Any questions just email me and I'll answer them if I can.

Good Luck!!

I don't know about babies and hip dysplasia but I was diagnosed as having mild hip dysplasia when I was 19 and pregnant with my 1st. I would be walking and suddenly my hip would give our and I would fall down, towards the end I had to sit to go down stairs or use and elevator. It is good that it is caught early, as an adult I have hip discomfort almost daily and my dr. has said I will eventually need to have the hip replaced which I am trying to wait as long as possible to have done. I am Children's Mercy will do a fantastic job. Good Luck!

Hi! I'm sorry you & your daughter have to go through this. It's no fun. I don't know anything about 'slight hip dyplasia'. My son had full hip dyplasia (his hip formed outside of the socket in the womb). This is what happend to him...
My son was diagnosed at birth with congenital hip dyplasia. They tried the pavlic harness & it was hard until he got used to it. Once it is on you can not remove it for daiper changes or baths. My son screamed everytime he woke up because he could not move his legs & when he tried it pulled on his shoulders. (If you like I can e-mail you a photo. I do not think that the triple diapering will work for your daughter because of her size.) The harness did not work for my son. We went to Children's Mercy to see Dr. Brad O'lney. He is wonderful! My son needed an open reduction, since his hip formed outside of the socket. Durring his surgery his hip socket had to be broken open to put his hip back in. Then he had to be in cast from his belly button to his ankles for 10 weeks. Then he wore what I believe is called a walking harness for a few more months(it's been a long time so I don't remember if that is what it is really called). That was 6 years ago. We still go to see Dr. O'lney every year to check on his hip.
I did not write this to scare you. It sounds like her hip is not as severe as my son's was. The doctor will try the least invasive procedure first. Maybe the pavlic harnes or the closed reduction or a different type of harness. I just want you to know that Chidren's Mercy is the most wonderful hosipital & clinics. Your daughter is in very knowledgeable & caring hands at this hospital!
Please let me know how it goes. I have suggestions for activities, positioning, diapering, ect. for a cast or harness.

God Bless!
K. Crabbs