My daughter is 4 months old. At her 6 week appointment the midwife felt that her buttock creases were asymmetrical and she was referred to the paed. Shes been followed up and her hip exam is normal. There is a remote family history of babys paternal grandma being in a lower limb cast at birth (but grandma is unsure of what this was for, doesnt have access to her childhood medical records, so theres no way to know if it was hip dysplasia or something milder like club foot). At her 4 month appointment her paed was not worried and felt her exam was still normal, but because of this low risk of unknown family history, he said we can do an xray to be safe, as this is the only way to know for sure if the hip is normal or not - to essentially rule out hip dysplasia. The paed did say he expects the xray to be normal.

I am worried about exposing her to unnecessary medical investigations and radiation at such a young age. Especially since the reproductive organs are likely to be exposed in a hip xray.

Regards to radiation, I asked if an ultrasound is safer - the doc feels its not as accurate as the xray for excluding hip dysplasia.

What are your opinions in having an xray and exposing baby to radiation in a very "soft" case like this?