My baby's hip clicks: when it matters and when it does not
Written by Dr. Mutasem Aldhoon, pediatric orthopedic consultant · Medically reviewed by the Baby Hip Center pediatric orthopedic team · Last reviewed September 1, 2026
A short, high-pitched click when you move your baby's leg is usually harmless — it comes from ligaments or tendons sliding over bone. A deep, low clunk, or a click together with uneven leg movement, a leg that will not spread as far, or a breech birth, needs a hip ultrasound.
"The doctor heard a click" is one of the most common reasons parents start searching about hips at 3am. Most clicks are nothing. The difficulty is that the sound alone cannot tell you which kind you have — the feel of it can.
Click versus clunk
| Benign click | Significant clunk | |
|---|---|---|
| Sound | Short, sharp, high-pitched | Deep, dull, low |
| What you feel | Little or nothing | A distinct movement, as if something shifts into place |
| Where it comes from | Ligaments, tendons, knee, or the hip joint fluid | The femoral head crossing the rim of the socket |
| Reproducible | Often only sometimes | Reliably, with the same manoeuvre |
| Other findings | None | Often uneven creases, limited spread, or a shorter-looking leg |
When a click should be scanned
- It is felt as a clunk rather than heard as a click.
- One leg does not spread outwards as far as the other when you change the nappy.
- The thigh or buttock creases are clearly uneven, or one leg looks shorter.
- Your baby was breech, or a parent or sibling had hip dysplasia or a hip replaced young.
- The click is still there at the 6-8 week review.
An ultrasound settles it
A hip ultrasound in an infant is quick, painless and involves no radiation. If a click is causing you worry, asking for a scan is a reasonable request — not an overreaction.
Clicks that come from somewhere else entirely
Babies' knees, ankles and shoulders all click, and so do adults'. A click that happens when you straighten the knee rather than when you spread the hip usually has nothing to do with the hip joint at all. Snapping over the greater trochanter or the iliopsoas tendon is also common and harmless.
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- The Ortolani and Barlow tests, explained for parents
What the doctor is feeling for during the newborn hip examination, what a positive Ortolani or Barlow means, and why the tests stop working after about 3 months.
This page is general information about developmental dysplasia of the hip, not a diagnosis of your own baby. It does not replace examination by your baby's doctor, and it is not for emergencies.