As part of Baby Hip Health Week 2011 (13th – 19th March), the national charity STEPS is calling for parents and professionals to learn how to swaddle babies correctly because if done wrong it can potentially lead to hip dysplasia.
Whilst swaddling can comfort a baby, reduce crying and assist with settled sleep patterns, STEPS and the International Hip Dysplasia Institute (IHDI) insist that parents and professionals need to know how to swaddle properly to ensure they’re not putting their baby at risk of developing hip dysplasia.
Babies can be swaddled with blankets or specific products, but in order for healthy hip development, the legs should be able to bend up and out at the hips and the baby’s legs should not be tightly wrapped straight down and pressed together. Swaddling infants with the hips and knees in an extended position may increase the risk of hip dysplasia and dislocation.
The organisations have also said that when using a travel system, a baby’s legs should not be restricted in a straight down and pressed together position. They need to be able to spread their legs wide in an “abducted position” and care should be taken on limiting the time your baby spends in these “bucket type seats” as this could affect the way the hip grows, causing hip dysplasia.
STEPS Director and member of the IHDI Advisory Board, Sue Banton, said, “We don’t want to scare parents but by swaddling their babies in the wrong way or putting them in travel systems for extended periods of time, there is a real risk of that child developing DDH”.
She added, “This announcement is part of our annual Healthy Hip Week which is intended to help raise awareness amongst parents and health professionals of the vital need to check babies’ hips during the first few weeks of life to prevent unnecessary pain and disability in later years.”
Source: Tally PR