AT three months old, Toren Jensen has spent most of his short life strapped into a harness.
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He was diagnosed with hip dysplasia at six weeks old and mere days later was placed in the harness, which he wears 24 hours a day to develop his hips correctly.
His mother, Emma Jensen, wants to draw attention to his condition during Healthy Hips Week, so more parents are aware of it.
READ MORE: Indications your baby may have hip dysplasia
She said she hadn't found many parents locally in a similar situation, which was why she went to an online forum for some support.
"There's a Facebook page, too, so lots of people with pictures of their kids," she said.
"It was a bit daunting at first, but his is actually quite mild and a lot of kids are in more serious things, so it made me feel a lot better going on there."
The biggest challenge of Toren's treatment came in the first 24 hours he was in the harness, which Mrs Jensen described as "brutal".
"He cried a lot and we sort of wanted to pull it off him a couple of times, but I think we realised that if you don't catch [hip dysplasia] early, treatment's a lot more invasive," she said.
Toren goes to physiotherapy weekly to have his harness adjusted and, once his hips improve, the amount of time he has to spend in the harness will be reduced.
Currently, his parents have to work around the harness when it comes to things like changing his nappy and breastfeeding him, but they have slowly learnt to adapt.
Mrs Jensen said that, as Toren was their second child, she felt that she and her husband were able to handle the challenges much better.
"You kind of just have to roll with it. If it was my first baby I think I'd feel more sorry for myself," she said.
Thanks to early intervention, Toren should grow up to have a normal life.
Mrs Jensen encouraged other parents to keep an eye out for signs that their child might have the condition and said that, should they have it, not to be scared.
"It looks scary, but three months in this little harness is a lot better than a lifetime of hip pain, leg pain and then having to have serious operations," she said.
For more information about hip dysplasia, visit the Healthy Hips Australia website.
