“The baby had small intestinal gas that fell out when he cried, so we picked him up when he cried.” This was a mom recounting her medical history to me. Her 2-year-old son was walking in the office, wobbly and still unsteady. Then there was a 5th grader who had an inguinal hernia discovered when he was 4 years old and hadn’t had a single gym class since. So can a baby with a hernia play sports or not? We know that inguinal hernias in children are caused by a lack of atresia of the “sheath”. This is similar to a pouch where the opening is not closed and the small intestine falls in. Therefore, the healing of an inguinal hernia depends on whether or not the opening of the bag closes on its own. Books say that inguinal hernias in babies younger than 1 year old have the potential to heal on their own, but unfortunately the percentage of such self-healing is found to be very low in the clinic, and most of them are in babies less than half a year old. Since inguinal hernias do not heal on their own in babies older than 6 months, there is clearly no basis for restricting exercise in babies. Parents may say that they are preventing their baby from exercising because they are afraid the hernia will fall out and get stuck, which is what doctors call an incarcerated hernia. Is this true? A baby’s abdominal wall is very soft and elastic, so a hernia can easily protrude, but not become incarcerated. Secondly, incarcerated hernias occur when there is a sudden increase in intra-abdominal pressure, such as when coughing, sneezing, or holding one’s breath with great force, and these are obviously not something that parents can protect themselves against. Therefore restricting the baby’s movement does not reduce the risk of an incarcerated hernia either. “2 lifting, 4 rolling, 6 sitting, 7 rolling, 8 crawling and walking” is the rule of motor development for babies under one year old. Without adequate exercise, the baby’s motor skills may be compromised later in life. When the child is a little older until puberty, restricting the child’s movement will affect the child’s shape, size and physique, and even have an impact on lifelong health. It would be a “small loss”. Although some hernias can be observed clinically, once a hernia affects a person’s quality of life and mobility, it should be treated, which is the main danger of hernias. For some of the more stable pediatric inguinal hernias, they can be left open for a while under close observation. However, my recommendation is to surgically cure them by elementary school at the latest. Parents of all these babies should learn how to maneuver back the hernia, and when it protrudes, do so promptly at the first opportunity. With medical advances, inguinal hernias can be cured in a day today. Parents should not let a small illness affect their child’s lifelong well-being!