Do you think this would affect his heart health?

[Borikaos]

My 10month old son loves to be upside down. If he sits on my lap he lays back and pushes his head off my legs. Sometimes I also play with him and hold him upside down for like maybe  5 seconds. He loves it, he's gets all giggly and has a big smile on his face.. I did this one day in front of my mom, She told me not to do that because it can hurt his heart... I'm not exactly sure how.. Do you all think this is true? Also another question I have is if you have a heart baby is there a high chance the next baby will have some sort of CHD? ( my mom thinks it's certain on this one.) I dont want to beleive her  and right now i don't, but i would like to know your thoughts on this.

[tinkerbell76]

I can't answer about playing with your baby upside down. I'm not sure!

As for having another baby with CHD my pedicatric cardiologist said there is a 3% chance with my husband and I.

[mmunoz]

I am not really sure about the upside down thing, but I have never heard of it having an effect on the heart. Our cardiologist told us that our chances of having another heart baby only go up by a couple of percentage points, but he said it would be a good idea to get a fetal echo done just to be on the safe side.

[slfenton]

I too am unsure about the upside down thing, but I can tell you that my son who is a heart baby is 11 months old and when my husband does hang him upside down, he doesn't seem to be affected....... although I protest him doing it,  I do agree that the babies seem to enjoy the view by being held upside down!

My husband and I were told by a genetic counselor that there would be less than a 1% chance of us having another heart baby....... that seems like it would be pretty rare-  but from the start of my son's diagnosis there were statistics being thrown at us left and right.  I eventually said I am done with hearing all of the horrifying statistics that go along with survival and such.  I  just went with what God gave me and realized that no matter how many studies and statistical evidence that have been found, God has already laid out the plan for my son, myself, and any future children......

Ok, I am done babbling!  Hope this shed a tiny bit of light onto the issue!

[Pinkytuskedero]

I am not sure either!  I do worry about it and even when my daughter wants to be upside down it makes me nervous!!!  It's a good question for the next Dr. visit!

 

[UmmKhalil]

Khalil still likes to be upside down! Sometimes I'll catch him hanging off the couch backwards and it freaks me out! I'm sure it's not bad for their heart, it must be a kid thing I guess! I wouldn't do it too much though...thats just the worry wort mom part of me..LOL

 

Khalil's cardiologist told us that the general population of expectant mothers has a 1% chance of having a CHD baby, and in our case, since we had one already, our percentage would go up to 3%. So, better speaking, a 97-98% chance of having a HH baby!
If it makes you feel any better, I am pg with #2, and he looks to be 100% heart healthy! But, it's definitely a great question for the cardiologist.

 

[bugzzzyboyz]

I am not 100% sure if the hanging upside down is bad or not for their hearts... My soon to be 3 year olds (both with ToF and repaired) have been hanging upside down since they were around a year. They are little monkies!!!! This may not be the case for all CHD kids, but with mine I do not let them think they are sick and I treat them like any other HH child. My ped cardio told me to treat them like any other child and they will be strong. Being at the age they are, they are very independent and love to play (wrestling and running) with each other. At first that made me nervous but as long as they are not hurting one another it's fine (cardiologist gave the ok). He said don't place them in a bubble. Next time you talk to your cardiologist (or email him/her) ask them about play time for your child. Oh, and also ask what meds you are allowed and not allowed to give with the common cold. You would be surprised what you CANNOT give!

As for the possibility of having another CHD child, the percentages are very low. Mine was 5-10 % because of di-di twins having the same cardiac defect. If you only have one child with CHD, the percentages will probably be 1-3%. This is something you need to talk to a geneticist about.

[crickettty]

Ok I have asked my cardiologist about rough housing and hanging upside down. He said this to me. Allison needs to live like other children. Doing normal kid things are not going to hurt her. (She has HLHS) If she gets tired looking that's because she is tired and needs to slow down and recoup. If she is out of breath the same thing there too. He said that stuff isn't going to hurt her heart. I also was worried about her stuntwoman practice lol. She decided that my rolling ottoman was great to jump from to my couch and vise versa. She also liked jumping off the arm of the couch, hanging off it, and flip off it. He sat there laughing when I described her stuntwoman moves! He said all that stuff is fine. Just don't go on world record roller coasters lol.  Well 6 months after that she was running through my living (just rearranged) tripped and fell and broker her lower arm!!!!!!!!! I about lost it! He saw her not long after and just laughed! He of course asked how. I told him and said she was being a kid and he was happy to know she was just being a kid. No problems with the arm just like any other kids arm!

[luckyvtmama]

Hi there, I dont' think being upside down for a few minutes is going to hurt the heart, but I don't know what kind of CHD he has either....our cardio told us there was a 2% chance of having another baby with a CHD, but it all depends on the defect, because some appear to be more hereditary than others (from what I've read)..good luck and keep having fun with your baby! :)