Apparently the pre-plaster era treatment for dysplasia was to do nothing, which led to a lot of people lurching with one leg shorter than the other. I think plaster was one of those things that really worked for some and was therefore used in all cases as wonder-cure for a while. There are certain things that make me want to scream, and people made worse by medical treatment is one of them.
On lifting the baby: babies need a lot of lifting, and even if you can lower the side of the cot (we could) some of them don't lower completely, so you still have to lift four or five inches, which can be a lot to lift a weight over. Also, lowering ours took both hands at the same time at each end of the side of the cot. Look carefully at designs and do not allow grandparents to buy you one you didn't choose. It's only for a short while -- eighteen months or so -- but in that time the baby will need lifting every few hours. Slings are good, packs are good, for moving around, but the number of times the baby needs to come out of the cot for a feed or to be changed or just to be rocked is quite astonishing.
(Poor Zorinth had trouble sleeping. I used to sing him entire albums I'd memorised as a teenager. His dad once got all the way up to "49 men went to mow".)
Toddlers like to be picked up, but it's also possible to train them to climb up onto a lap from the correct side, or to snug up on the sofa instead. The problems from that age on are different ones.
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Date: 2002-12-03 07:17 am (UTC)On lifting the baby: babies need a lot of lifting, and even if you can lower the side of the cot (we could) some of them don't lower completely, so you still have to lift four or five inches, which can be a lot to lift a weight over. Also, lowering ours took both hands at the same time at each end of the side of the cot. Look carefully at designs and do not allow grandparents to buy you one you didn't choose. It's only for a short while -- eighteen months or so -- but in that time the baby will need lifting every few hours. Slings are good, packs are good, for moving around, but the number of times the baby needs to come out of the cot for a feed or to be changed or just to be rocked is quite astonishing.
(Poor Zorinth had trouble sleeping. I used to sing him entire albums I'd memorised as a teenager. His dad once got all the way up to "49 men went to mow".)
Toddlers like to be picked up, but it's also possible to train them to climb up onto a lap from the correct side, or to snug up on the sofa instead. The problems from that age on are different ones.
Good luck with all of it.