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Swaddling and Hip Dysplasia
  • MsAsdy
    Posts: 242Member
    So I swaddle my LO on a pretty regular basis - only at night since she naps relatively well un-swaddled but tends to startle herself awake at night. My sister, who's due late July and just went through her Lamaze classes, said the nurse told her that you aren't supposed to swaddle your child anymore or at least night tightly which I found strange since my LO is 17 weeks old and all the nurses there swaddled the babies before bringing them back, some of them quite tightly. So I did a little research and found this. I'm going with the second method in the video from now on because number one, it looks comfy as hell and number two, its simple :) But figured I would share with you ladies as well, especially if there are other swaddling mommies out there or mommies to be.

    http://www.hipdysplasia.org/Developmental-Dysplasia-Of-The-Hip/Hip-Healthy-Swaddling/Default.aspx
  • SammieSammie
    Posts: 7,307Administrator, Moderator
    My girl has hip dysplasia at birth. The nurses caught it right away. Funny thing? She hated being swaddled. Hated it. I bet that's why. I'd never thought of that! I know the HD caused no pain, but it might have felt uncomfortable wrapped tightly. Then she wore a little soft pink brace from 2-12 weeks, so swaddling wasn't an option. Good info!

    community-manager


  • MsAsdy
    Posts: 242Member
    Isn't it?? My SIL swaddled LO insanely tight one night when we were over there, claiming her proficiency as a expert swaddler. Well, needless to say the second I got LO back from her I unwrapped her. I never cared to have my kiddos so tightly wrapped. I like to loosely wrap them and keep their arms out so they can stretch them up. I posted the link on FB too and made a note mostly targeting my mommy friends but hoping she would see it. I'm also hoping she doesn't get uppity about it. We've had kind of a rough go of things mostly because she never liked me (took her little brother from her and all that crap) so hopefully she wont think I'm targeting her and stepping all over her pretty little painted toes. She probably will and I'll hear about it from someone but I'd rather have her know the damages it can cause and hopefully stop her from doing it, especially since she's a child care provider.
  • chaosmomchaosmom
    Posts: 3,846Member
    My kiddos weren't incredibly fond of swaddling. Hell, they spent months kicking & stretching in my uterus, they sure as hell didn't want to be confined anymore lol! But on the rare occasion that I did "swaddle" them, I always left their hands free & left it loose around their legs because that just felt natural to me. Their little legs like to be splayed out anyways. It was more just the slight pressure around their chest & midsection that they liked.
  • MarySunshineMarySunshine
    Posts: 5,435Member
    We swaddle DS2mo...but more at his arms than at his hips and legs...otherwise his little fists of fury wake him up.
    I'm as sexy as a burp mid-kiss. Watch out!

  • motherofdragonsmotherofdragons
    Posts: 57Member
    DD 3months absolutely hates being swaddled, she finds a way to kick the blankets off and pull them down no matter how tight we tried. Now we just tuck a blanket under her back. She likes that a lot better.
  • blkrosemommablkrosemomma
    Posts: 297Member

  • Thefinder
    Posts: 1,627Member
    Thank you for this.  Dd had hip dysplasia so we will need to know this for the next one as it runs in the family.
  • [Deleted User]
    Posts: 7,033
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
    well behaved women seldom make history
  • SammieSammie
    Posts: 7,307Administrator, Moderator
    @thefinder, I've never met another mama who had an HD kiddo! Did she wear a brace? Did she need surgery?

    community-manager


  • Thefinder
    Posts: 1,627Member
    @Sammie I think I knew yours was a HD kid.... Anyhoo hers was discovered late, at the 6 month checkup, and yes she wore the big rhino brace from 8 months to 1.5-2?  It was whenever she was taking it off on her own.  She may need surgery, but I have been putting off making the appt with the orthopedic guy to check her out.  At this point we are at the wait and see point to see if she continues improving or she regresses more (she regressed a teeny bit at the last appt).  So we are hoping she is done now.

    How about yours?
  • GypsyMamaGypsyMama
    Posts: 614Member
    I get the whole theory behind swaddling but honestly when my kids were crying the most was when they had tummy aches and being able to kick their legs is so important to get the gas moving. My babies slept in tiny sleeping bag jammies (it was in Wyoming) they were warm and snugly and easy to change in the middle of the night without a major reblanketing production.
  • smartismarti
    Posts: 1Member

    My daughter is currently in a spica (body) cast after having open reduction surgery to fix her hip. She was born with it like that but it wasn't caught until right before her second birthday in April. I don't know if swaddling caused it (probably not; probably the act of being born caused it) but she, too, didn't care for being swaddled. She also walked late and when she finally did, it was with a pronounced limp. Today marks three weeks in the cast. It's horrendous, but we're adapting. She will be in the cast four more weeks and then has a second surgery to remove the pins in her hip and get re-casted. Then, she'll be in that cast for three weeks. Finally, because they also had to shorten her femur, which resulted in four screws and a plate being installed, she'll have her third and final surgery in December to remove that hardware.

    Not sure if I'm staying on topic here, but thought I'd mention what we're going through in case anyone else is, too. I've had a hard time find people to talk to about this and information about how to live life around it.

  • pennypenny
    Posts: 799Member
    My son was a sprawler and hated swaddling. He just wanted to stretch those arms and legs. We gave up after the first week, once we were done with the biliblanket.
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