Congenital Hip Dysplasia Surgery Question

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 19, 2010

• #1

My 10.5 mo old baby girl, Callihan, will be having hip surgery next week (and the other hip 6 weeks later). She will be put in a spica cast. For the first 6 weeks only one leg will be casted, but when her left hip gets operated on, her right will be changed to a shorter/half cast. This will mean that she will not be able to be in a regular carseat, high-chair, stroller (only some umbrella strollers will work), etc. The carseat that the hospital uses and my insurance will get for me (and really the only option that I have been able to find) only rear faces up to 20 pounds (casted weight). She weighs nearly 16 pounds now and the cast will weigh 5-10 pounds and then about 15 pounds when both legs are casted. She is not 1 and not 20 pounds. We bought a carseat for her before knowing about all of this, and we were planning on rear facing as long as possible!!

What are we going to do???

Sorry for the vent. If anyone has experience with this, please let me know. FWIW the carseat is called the Spelcast Car Seat.

 

ShumNum

Senior Community Member

• May 19, 2010

• #2

Good job for planning in advance! It's such a problem when it becomes a last minute issue. The easiest solution would be to find a Hippo car seat. It's made by Snug Seat and is essentially a modified Britax Marathon. It can rear-face up to 33lbs. The hard part is finding one. What state/city are you in?
If that doesn't work, a Sunshine Kids Radian (not a special needs seat) would likely work as it has no "sides" to it.

 

canadiangie

New member

• May 19, 2010

• #3

I have some experience working with babies in spica casts...

A mom came to me having been told to buy Britax Marathons for her twins. The problem though was that the sides of the Marathon were too high. The babies cried constantly.

We tried a few seats, and by far, the Radian was the best for the babies' comfort. Having such a low profile (no sides) was just what they needed.

The current Radian line-up offers seats that rear face to 40 and 45lbs. :thumbsup:

 

ctbcleveland

Well-known member

• May 20, 2010

• #4

Just wanted to wish you good luck! I had hip dysplasia at birth and wore a brace for the first six months of life.

I did use a car-seat, but I am sure it was an improprely used over-head shield 33 years ago!

Anyway - I wish her a speedy recovery.

 

E

Eclipsepearl

New member

• May 21, 2010

• #5

I had hip dysplasia and so did two of my kids. It was detected at birth and thankful that they only needed 4 months of a soft brace each.

Mine was different. 2 1/2 years of treatment. Surgery (which was really just putting me under to position my hips), cast and then a metal brace. I still can't fully turn out my right hip but considering how badly I had it...

As a baby, there were no car seats (I'm "older") and my mom put me in a playpen in the back of a station wagon.

Can you imagine??

But try out the Radian. It's really low on the sides.

My grandfather had it too. Don't let anyone tell you it's not genetic! (as they told me). More common in celtic peoples (Irish, Welsh, Breton, Scottish). I had a pediatric orthopedist come to the hospital when my 2nd and 3rd were born and check them right away.

Good luck!

 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician

• May 21, 2010

• #6

What car seat is she in now?

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 21, 2010

• #7

Thanks for the replies. She is still actually in her infant carrier seat. The next seat we bought for her is a Britax Matrix Marathon. It is still in the box, so we should be able to return it and get a Radian. I have a call out to our insurance as well to see if they will help to get the Hippo seat. Either one could work. I guess we won't really know until she is casted and we can see the angles that her legs are at. I don't want to risk anything, though, and she will need to get home from the hospital!!

She is a tiny peanut. She is almost 16 pounds and 27.5 inches. I just can't imagine her in casts. I was having a hard time thinking of her walking and talking!! I guess that I will get a few more months now before she walks... careful what you wish for.

 

ShumNum

Senior Community Member

• May 22, 2010

• #8

I forgot to ask...what kind of car do you have? Sometimes the Radian is very, very difficult to install in certain cars.

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 23, 2010

• #9

I drive a Prius.

 

ShumNum

Senior Community Member

• May 23, 2010

• #10

carseatdata.org seems to show that people were able to install the radian in your vehicle (though they weren't checked by a CPST)...so my guess is it would work fine. Some Subaru's can be problematic with Radians.
Let us know what worked for you and best luck with the surgery!

 

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician

• May 24, 2010

• #11

Confirming (as a tech) that a Radian fits a Prius.

Something else to consider, if you take a picture of her in the Radian (or even better, the Radian) to the doctor that will be casting her, he can cast her with fit for her car seat in mind.

If there are any gaps in the fit because of the casts, you can use firmly folded receiving blankets to support her positioning. You don't want her back arching against the edges of the casts and causing pressure sores that can get infected (this is why we say special needs and car seats are a gray area. You would never do this normally), You will also want to fill in gaps behind her knees to help support the weight of the casts.

Where are you located? We may be able to find a special needs tech near you that can help you out.

 

U

Unregistered

Guest

• May 25, 2010

• #12

We are in Colorado. A little North of the Denver area, but will be having her surgery at The Children's Hospital in Denver.

 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin

Staff member

• May 25, 2010

• #13

ShumNum said:

I forgot to ask...what kind of car do you have? Sometimes the Radian is very, very difficult to install in certain cars.

Click to expand...

:thumbsup: This is a point that is often completely overlooked. While an experienced advocate can usually get it installed without extreme difficulty, the typical parent may not be able to get an acceptable install. In the same regard, the Radian is often recommended primarily on the basis of its high rear-facing weight limit, which isn't your primary concern at the moment. While great on paper and for parents who fully intend to push those limits, the typical parent is not likely to reach the limit of most models rated to 33-35 pounds rear-facing anyway.

I agree with ShumNum on the suggestion of the Hippo seat. You may have to be the squeaky wheel, but I would press your insurance company if they cover a child safety seat in the first place. What they want to pay for and what you can get if you have coverage are often two totally different things if you complain.

 

D

DaniannieB

Ambassador - CPS Technician

• May 25, 2010

• #14

I'm really surprised the Denver Children's spica cast seat only RF to 20#. I attended a SN training at Denver Children's with several of their CPSTs and they had Hippos and other SN seats available then. I would ask again about the Hippos; they really should have Hippos available for loan since that is the special needs seat for spica cast children.