Mikaere’s at risk of hip subluxation or hip dysplasia. Subluxation is where the thigh bone is partially dislocated or fully dislocated from the hip socket, and hip dysplasia is when a hip socket that doesn’t fully cover the ball portion of the upper thighbone (which in turn allows subluxation).
The reason for this is quite simple: because Mikaere can’t weight bear independently, he’s not spending nearly enough time on his feet to allow his hip sockets to form like they should. Let’s be honest, he spends most his day lying down, or in supportive seating. Now that he’s so big, standing is typically a two person job, and as he grew out of his standing frame last year and our trial appointment for the next one isn’t till July… basically, there isn’t a lot of standing going on.
When lying on his back, Mikaere has a tendency to splay his legs wide. It’s called excessive hip abduction, it’s no big deal, except that because he has low tone and it causes his hip to rotate slightly, it can hasten the journey to subluxation.
So, on the advice of our physio we introduced a bit of elastic band to our set up. Don’t get me wrong, there are lots of fancy, therapy-esque things you can get (like hip helpers, or the happy strap, both which we’ve tried and he’s outgrown) but they are all VERY expensive. We had elastic at home, and tied it together in a loop (very technical, and free) which works in the same way.
Essentially, it stops the excessive hip abduction, gives his muscles a teeny bit of a stretch in a different position and it was affordable and accessible. Woo!
I wish all disability equipment was as affordable and accessible as bit of elastic, but hey ho. I’m glad we’ve made it work in this case 
