3.21.2011

Our Shriners Journey- Part 2

If you missed it, see Our Shriners Journey- Part 1

Life with a Pavlik Harness
I had to modify my breastfeeding, propping her on a pillow, trying to get her positioned just right with that giant bulky harness. Forget about wearing her in the Moby Wrap we got. I couldn't dress her in many of the clothes we had gotten for her-- they either wouldn't fit over the harness or were onesies-- no way to get them on her.

Clothing tips for the Pavlik Harness
Daily—She wore a small white t-shirt under her harness each week, and every day I put another larger shirt or dress over her harness. It’s easier, if you have to change the undershirt due to spit up or blow out, to put them in an undershirt that snaps. Her Mimi altered some onesies for her into t-shirts and bought some cloth diaper covers for her to wear over her diaper, so she at least looked dressed. We were so thankful that she was a girl—she could wear larger dresses over her harness and looked so cute.

Our little lady was so bulky in the harness, we called her our little dock worker.


Nighttime—we had to get creative with her nightclothes because we didn’t want to use a blanket and swaddling was certainly out of the question. (See this info about swaddling that’s safer for hips.) We tried sleep gowns with the open bottoms for a while, though we had to alter them by cutting them up the sides a few inches to accommodate the harness. We eventually settled on long-sleeve button shirts over her onesie and harness. That seemed to keep her warm enough. I do remember putting socks on her hands some to keep her warmer, and even using some little leg warmers on her arms. You do what works. 

Spitting Up
It happens. Luckily, she didn’t do it too often. She wore little bibs—almost constantly. Easy to change, the bibs helped prevent her undershirt and harness from smelling like spit up for a week.

Diapering
We lifted her by her bottom to change her diaper, not by the legs. I still do it for fear I will damage her hip. We even wrapped the boots of her harness in foil for a few days, for fear she would kick her feet in her dirty diaper and would be stuck in a stinky harness.


I lived in constant fear of blowouts and spitting up because she couldn't change her clothes without serious work, and was stuck in the harness until the next Shriners appointment. I'm sure we could have taken her harness off if it got really bad, but we didn't want to compromise her treatment in any way.

See Our Shriners Journey Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

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