6 mo old with potential hip issue?

[LillianB]

At my daughter's 6 month well baby visit last week, the pediatrician said he was concerned about the way her legs didn't line up and sent her for an xray. Up until now, she's been seeing my doctor who is a naturopath and midwife and who always did the hip click exam but never mentioned anything. The xray showed that the head of the left femur is smaller than it should be. The pediatrician referred us to a pediatric orthopedist and we have an appointment next week.

In the mean time, I am freaking the eff out and terrified that she's going to need surgery and braces. I'd love to hear about anybody else's experience with this. What should I expect?

[lifeguard]

I just want to say I hope the appt goes well. Ds had a definite hip click as a newborn. We saw a pediatric orthopedist & had u/s of his hips when he was 3 months. He outgrew it as they had hoped but the reading I did about correcting it made it all look more like a nuisance than really terrible.

[LillianB]

Thank you, Lifeguard. I think the nuisance perspective is probably true, I just can't bear the idea of anything being wrong. I appreciate your good thoughts.

[fishywishy]

Ugh...I am sorry that you are going through this stressful time.  My LO was diagnosed with a "mild" hip click at his 2 mos appt and we were sent to an ped ortho.  He was put into a pavlik harness for about 1.5 months.  The main thing is, he didn't seem to mind it, it wasn't painful for him, and it did not delay any milestones.  It was kind of a pain for me though - he had to wear it 24 hours/day and he was expected to wear the same onesie for a week at a time.  I had to take him to the ortho office to have the harness adjusted and to bathe him once a week.  (Depending on the situation, some docs allow the harness to come off for baths at home).  It made nursing, sleeping, and car-seat travel a little challenging at times.  It sucked then, but I can barely remember it now though.  Good luck to you and your LO!!

[newmamalizzy]

DD was in a Pavlik harness, too.  She wore it for 1 month full time and 1 part-time, and her hip was normal by 2.5 months.  We started at 2 weeks, so she really didn't notice it at all.  I definitely did, though.  The worst part was not being able to snuggle my baby without a barrier.  I'm not sure if they use the same method for older babies, but I'm pretty sure that there are less obtrusive treatments out there than surgery and braces nowadays.  I'm sure your LO will be just fine, but I'm sorry you have to deal with this at all.  Going to see the ped. orthopedist so often made me feel like my baby was sick or something, even though the problem was fixable and non-serious.