legs and rearfacing (NOT about touching the seat)

Simplysomething · Oct 21, 2006

OKay, I was wondering about leg issues and rear-facing. I don't care if my 19 month old touches the seat with his feet, it's no big deal, he doesn't seem uncomfortable. lol

But I was wondering, he walks oddly--and the pediatrician said it was in his hips, and at home to make sure he didn't sit a certain way, etc. Now, with the carseat, sometimes his legs go at a weird angle (but of course not the way that ped told me NOT to have him sit. [which may or may not be W sitting. lol]).

Anyway, could there be any orthopedic issues there?

I would think not, because, among other things, most people aren't likely to be in the car for very long periods of time.

LEAW · Oct 21, 2006

Actually, the bent knees, wide hips position is where they end up casting kids who have hip surgery... to get the hips in the sockets properly to heal.

"W" sitting (knees forward, feet back) is bad for hip development, as is dangling legs (like babies in Bjorn carriers or Snuggli - they don't support the pelvis properly).

Sitting RF in a car seat is almost a squatting position, which is one of the most natural positions for children (and adults) to use during the day. We'd all be a lot healthier if we did regular squats.

Simplysomething · Oct 21, 2006

Thanks Lisa

I knew it wasn't nearly the same as the w sitting, but I couldn't help but wonder.

lovinwaves · Oct 21, 2006

I'm going to ask my aunt who is a chiropractor. But I think Lisa covered everything!! LOL!!

lovinwaves · Oct 21, 2006

Ok Simply,
So I just read this thread to my Aunt(the chiropractor). She is extremely interested in this topic (gee I wonder why LOL!!) She has a Marathon in her Sienna for Peyton when she goes with her. She said she wanted to say something to me about the way Peyton was sitting and positioned in the carseat. It's kind of funny how things just come about, but anyways you have started a very very very interesting thread. I am interested to see what everyone else thinks about this subject.

It seems that you are not only talking about your son's Hips, but also any child's body positioned rear-facing. My Aunt is INCREDIBLE, and very dedicated to her work. I can't wait to see what she says. I think she may need to see Peyton in her car-seat again to make a final evaluation.

But, thank you SIMPLY for bringing this topic up. VERY VERY exciting for me to discuss this.

LEAW · Oct 21, 2006

Just wanted to throw in that my info came from physical therapists who work with kids with physical/orthopedic disablities... before dd was born I asked them about it too, since I was of the "their legs will break" group before getting educated

In any case, my PT coworkers and the ortho surgeon both said it was fine, and agreed that FF too soon would put extra stress on the body..

Now I'm interested to see what chiro says! My chiro (that dd also sees) has an 18 mo old ds, and she has turned him FF already but has no problems with the way my LONG leg babe sits RF. She is also a good friend of mine, and she KNOWS that it's safer to RF but can't cope with the "screaming unhappy toddler" syndrome... she always tells me she's glad dd is still RF, though she also says she's surprised that dd tolerates it.

lovinwaves · Oct 21, 2006

Ok, so I talked to my aunt again. She is a little busy right now to respond to this thread, but will in the near future. She did however send me an email tonight after reading this thread. I asked her permission to paste the exact email on this thread. I don't know if it includes everything she is thinking, but it is something to get us started. She said although short car rides are no problem, longer car rides could be something to think about (an hour or longer). I have noticed Peyton after a long car ride seems to walk kind of funny, almost stiff like. Poor thing we were in the car for 15 hours with some short breaks! LOL no wonder she was walking funny

Well, here is the email.

Melissa,
Your Car Seat forum question is worthy of reviewing and I would first try to separate the issue of the child walking oddly all the time or just after
getting out of the car seat. If he is walking abnormally all the time and the pediatrician is on a "wait and see" agenda then the parent can always
consult a Board Certified Pediatric Orthopedist to evaluate him to make sure that there is indeed no issue of hip dysplasia or other concerning condition.
In this case, the earlier the intervention and treatment, the better. Albeit, I have extreme respect for the knowledge and experience of a Pediatric M.D.,
as a parent I would encourage a second opinion.

Regarding the hips being in the open position this puts the femoral trochanter into external rotation. In the short run it is indeed similar to a yoga hip
relaxation pose. However, over extended amounts of time it can put stress on the hip capsule and depending on the position of the child's knee it can
cause abnormal stress on the knee capsule as well. This of course depends on the length of time and the length of the child's leg when they are RF
in the seat. Fortunately, infant-toddler's are extremely flexible and resilient and there is less concern. I would be mostly concerned with the children
at 18 to 24 months and older due to their bones becoming ossified and the nervous system becoming more developed which in turn means that their
bodies will start having a memory pattern when placed in one position for long periods of time. One possibility to correct the excessive hip rotation is
to do as we discussed and put a pillow or bolster under her knees. Give this a try and see if you can get Peyton's knees more supported and to return
the hips joints to a more desirable neutral position without altering the performance of the car seat itself.

To get a better visual of how the hip joint functions you can go to the following webMD website to review concerns of hip development/dysplasia in children.
http://www.webmd.com/hw/raising_a_family/hw165969.asp

Hope this helps,
love,
Aunt D.

wendytthomas · Oct 22, 2006

Interesting.

Piper doesn't walk funny after getting out of the car, not for 10 minutes or for 12 hours. She sometimes says her butt hurts, but after about 9 hours in a car so does mine.

Course, she moves her legs around. Sometimes they're cross-legged, sometimes they're up, sometimes they're dangling over the side, whatever she wants. So she's not stuck in one position for hours at a time. She was riding FFing this past week for a day or two in my car and I noticed she kept putting her legs crossed on her seat. I asked her if she was more comfortable with her legs up like that or with them hanging down. No surprise, she said she preferred them up. So I think for most kids, being RFing versus FFing may not make that much of a difference since a lot of kids seem to prefer having their legs crossed and their hips open anyway.

Wendy

LEAW · Oct 22, 2006

Wendy, that's a great point, our kids aren't static.. Lauren is always changing position in teh car, even on short rides, her feet are crossed, dangling over the sides, up on the top of the seat, one crossed in, one dangling out, sometimes she pulls her feet up and plays with her toes, etc. - she'll be 2 in Jan. and she never walks funny after being in the car, and we've taken many long trips.

lovinwaves · Oct 22, 2006

You know I have never noticed Peyton doing the things you guys have said. She just kind of leaves her legs in the same position. What I am wondering is is their hips in the same position no matter where their legs are? Also my aunt has not seen Peyton rear-facing in a carseat but a couple of quick moments, so like I said before she wants to observe her more. It's amazing how rubberband like kids are. I wish I could just flop my legs around like that!

Simplysomething · Oct 22, 2006

wendytthomas said:
Interesting.

Piper doesn't walk funny after getting out of the car, not for 10 minutes or for 12 hours. She sometimes says her butt hurts, but after about 9 hours in a car so does mine.

Wendy

For the record, in my OP I wasn't talking about him walking funny after long car rides (or even short ones), I was talking about in general. He walks with his toes pointed oddly (it's hard for me to describe unless he's walking right in front of me, barefoot. lol)...anyway, the pedi said it wasn't his feet, it was his hips and to watch the way he sat--etc. At his two year, we'll re-examine. I'm not overly concerned, not enough to switch him at this point. lol

legs and rearfacing (NOT about touching the seat)

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