help with coping with medical harness and short naps!

[amymiranda]

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure which section to post this in so feel free to move.

My beautiful three mo daugher (textbook) was diagnosed with hip displacia at six weeks old and has to wear a Pavlik Harness to try and correct her hips. This basically keeps her legs in the air in a frog like position. It is quite a common condition in girls (2 in 100 babies have the condition).  Luckily I am living in Germany where this is routinely scanned for at six weeks.  The harness should work and avoid operations at a later stage.

It was quite a shock to see her in the harness which she has to wear 23 hours a day (I can only take her out for nappy changes and bath).  I had just started her on EASY as I followed the Baby Whisperer for my eldest DS who is now two.

Luckily DS2 has adjusted really well to being in the harness and I have carried on following EASY. We have quite a bit of success especially with her nightime sleep - she now goes down at 7pm, after her bath, and feeds once during the night and wakes around 8am.

However, I am having a lot of trouble with naps during the day and she has been doing 45 mins naps for a number of weeks now.  I don't know whether it because of the harness - perhaps she is more aware of it during the day.  She really fights sleep when I try to put her down (but the reverse happens at bedtime where she settles herself quite happily). I have tried to look at her activity levels between naps and adjust these, but still the 45 mins naps remain.  It is hard to try any of the normal techniques - ssh pat etc - as I can't lie her on her side nor can I swaddle her.  Nor do I have much time to concentrate on it given I have DS 1 running around as well!

I was planning to try PUPD but we've just been told she has to wear the harness for another six weeks so feeling a bit dispondent. 

My questions really are - does anyone have any experience of this condition and, if so, any tips for helping sleep?  Should I just 'firefight' and be grateful for the progress with the nightime routine until the brace comes off and then see where we are with sleep in general...

Any thoughts/comments/support would be welcome.
Many thanks

Here is our typical day (mainly based around DS2's day and sometimes the afternoons vary because of outings):

E: 8am
A: 8-9am
S: 9-10am (typically 45mins to 60mins)
A: 10-11am

E: 11am
A: 11-12pm (sometimes this is shorter as she is tired)
S: 12pm - 1pm
A: 1pm - 2pm

E: 2pm
A: 2-3pm
S: 3-4pm (normally in the buggy where she sleeps well)
A/S: 4pm

E: 4.30/5pm
S: catnap around 5.30ish for 30 mins or so

A: 6-7pm bath, bottle
S: 7pm

E: Dream feed @ 11pm
E: sometime betweem 3 and 4am

[Shiv52]

 Short napping is a common problem at this age so although the cast may be contributing you may well have had this problem anyways!!

When you say she eats at 8am, is that the time her day starts?  If so having a nap at 9am is probably too early especially after such good night sleep.  A time for 3 months is usually about 1.20-1.30 so i think that an UT nap.

Is she happy when she wakes early and throughout her A time?

[squeakersmum]

Not really any advice on the short naps as my DS was a chronic short napper, but wanted to give a few ((hugs)) for the Pavlik Harness. My sister went into one from 6 weeks, I'm 14 years older than her so did lots of the nappy changes undoing one strap at a time.

You say she'll be in it for another 6 weeks - will she be reducing her time in it? Nikki (my sister) was allowed out of it for increased periods of time until she was wearing it over night before stopping completely.

She was very proud of her harness when she was a bit older and it went into school at least once a year for 'show and tell'!

[amymiranda]

Hi there,

Many thanks for your posts.

@ Shriv 52 - that is a good point about the activity levels especially after her long night time sleep.  I'll try to increase the activity time and see how it goes.  In general she is a very happy and content baby despite the harness.  If she has had a short nap one cycle then after her next feed, she does get cranky so I shorten the activity time.  Bathtime is when she is at her worst - I guess tired from the short naps during the day.  This is hard time anyway when trying to get DS2 to bed as well!  But I'll see how I go with the increased activity time.

@squeakers mum - very interesting to hear about your sister.  Has she had any problems with her hips in her teenage years?

My DS has to keep it on full time for the time being. Apparently the right hip is fine now but the left one still isn't good.  So we'll see in five weeks time...It's the nice cuddles I'm missing the most :-(

Thanks again to you both.

[squeakersmum]

No problems at all - in fact she has more flexibility in her hips than any of the rest of us!  Horseriding, gymnastics, running; she does/has done all of these and has had no after effects.

She, too, had problems with both hips. She had a ball but essentially no socket had formed on either side.