3 Month Old in Spica Casts D/t Hip Dysplasia

Hi,
My daughter also had hip dysplasia diagnosed at birth. We went to Orthopedic Center of the Rockies when she was two weeks old and saw Dr. Sobel, who is great. He put her in a Wheaton-Pavlic harness, which is a soft harness that velcros together around the legs and chest. It was adjustable as she grew and she could still move her legs and kick a liitle while in the correct position. Eventually she only had to wear it at night and it could be washed. I don't know if it depends on the severity of the hip dysplasia as to what type of cast or harness can be used, my daughters' was not too bad. She is now 7 months old and out of the harness and the doc says she looks great.

Just something more to think about I guess

My cousin had the same thing. I do't know how she did it but he walks normal now and you can not tell he ever had a problem.
Sorry I can help more. Maybe she just needs to roll over or change positions at night.
C. B

We went through this with my daughter as well. She was in a cast from 6-9 mo. She didn't like it at first but eventually got used to it and she was a happy baby :) For a sroller we had a combi, it was a double but with the straps she was able to sit in it comfortably as long as we put a blanket under her butt to kind of "prop" her in it. As far as putting her to sleep we would roll a towel up and place it under her legs. Eventually we stopped using that and she slept quite well, waking maybe once a night. Please ask me if you have any other questions. I know how hard it is to go through and I would love to help you any way I can. By the way are you in the Bozeman area?
-A.

I am so sorry you are having to go through this! My daughter's HD wasn't as bad, and it was caught at birth, so we "just" had to have her in a Pavlic Brace for 4 months. A carrier I SO wish I'd taken the advice of my "diaper lady" and bought when DD was in the brace was either a Beco (www.becobabycarrier.com) or an Ergo(www.ergobabycarrier.com). I don't know how far spread your DD's legs are, so I don't know if they would work or be the most comfortable with the cast, though. The one that we did use that I think would work fabulous with the cast is a moby wrap (www.mobywrap.com). It's basically a looooong piece of fabric that you wrap around your body and snuggle your baby in. It's very versitile (you can use it for any carrier position) and it conforms to you and your baby, not the other way around. It does have a bit of a learning curve when you first get it, but I think it's worth it with the HD so you can both be comfortable. My DD was very comfortable in it and my DH would even take her hiking wrapped up in it.

As far as sleeping, I'm sorry I don't have any advice. Just Hugs! Maybe she'll get used to it in couple more weeks though and sleep better. Here's to hoping!

~K.
1y DD Mika in Pavlic from 2w old to 4 1/2m old