Helmet

Jerzeygrl732

I recently switch doctors and when I took my son to the knew doctor he immediately told me that my son is going to have to get a helmet because the back of his head is flat and that he is also going to need to go for physical therapy due to limited mobility on his left side. I am beyond devastated! I am so angry at the previous doctor for never mentioning any of this to me and I feel like now that he is 7 months old we are racing the clock trying to get everything to where it should be. Our new doctor said that once a child reaches 12 - 14 months whatever shape their head take its usually permanent so he suggested getting everything started right away. I really don't know what to think of this, I am definitely going through with the process however I feel so guilty for having to do this to my son. Has anyone had any experiences with helmets? What is it like?

ArmyWife114

My son had a helmet as well as physical therapy for torticollis (tightened neck muscles). He got his helmet when he was 7 months old and graduated out of it at 11 months. You do need to do the helmet ASAP if that's what you decide to do because your doctor is spot on about their skull fusing at 12-14 months.

The helmet wasn't bad really. The only bad part was our insurance did not cover it, beyond that it was easy to keep clean (wipe down with baby shampoo and then rubbing alcohol immediately after is what we were told to do). He wore it for 23 hours a day, so even when sleeping.

The physical therapy was not much. They did stretches with him and had us do them at home and report back on how well they were going and if any were difficult for us and we adjuaed along the way.

Do not feel guilty! This is something your child needs, you are doing it in their best interest. My son adapted to the helmet very quickly and it honestly did not bother him. He slept fine and everything.

ArmyWife114

Also, this is a condition that many doctors miss and a lot of them ate undereducated on helmets and what situations require them. DS was diagnosed with positional plagiocephaly, I know there are other kinds. But there is a lot of information online about it and their is a yahoo group of mostly parents of kids that have it with some adults who have it and were never diagnosed. I can't remember what its called, but search and join. They are a very knowledgeable group!

[Deleted User]

Our DD had a helmet from the time she was 7 months until just before her first birthday.   A lot of pediatricians are still of the mindset that it is purely cosmetic and will correct itself. 

I 100% believe that a helmet is the way to go if the plagiocephaly is severe (as my daughter was).  I wouldn't want to take the chance of it not correcting itself, so we went with the helmet.  Her head is almost completely rounded out now.  I agree with PP that the only bad thing about it was that our insurance did not cover it.  However, I have heard from a few people recently that their health insurance will cover them now, so I would check on that!

Good Luck!

briepileggi

My son has tortolicollis and moderate positional plagiocephaly, so it was our choice whether to get the helmet. We were told it may or may not get better without a helmet and before we got one we spent a month trying to correct it on our own, but nothing we did worked. I too, felt very guilty about it. We decided to try the helmet and physical therapy because I wanted to do everything I could to try to fix the problem now, before it was too late. We were told our son has to wear it 23 hours a day for 3 months. He has had it for a few weeks now and everything is going well. It isnt as bad as i thought it would be. He doesn't seem to be bothered by it at all. Hopefully it helps! If not, we know we did what we could.

daisy19782011

One of my little girls got her helmet last week for plagiocephaly. It REALLY isn't as bad as you think. She actually doesn't mind it at all and smiled when she saw it. We are of course going to bling it out and make it cute Her measurement for correction was a 12.1 if that helps at all and it is all on her back right side, so it is not symmetrical. Her ears and cheeks are a little off b/c of it.

daisy19782011

richzep said:

My son had the same exact thing. I actually had to bring it up to the doctor because I started to notice it.  I don't know if they would have mentioned anything otherwise.  You're not too late and it is a super common problem so don't feel bad.  We've had ours on for 6 weeks now.  Check out the difference.  I'm so happy with it (in fact, I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they regretted putting the helmet on).  It can only help.

Your picture makes me so excited! I hope my little one improves that much and that fast!

roo1oo

My son's pediatrician said she only prescribes helmets if the flatness is nonsymmetrical and is mis shapping the face. She said most kids with symmetrical flatness on the back of the head will outgrow it within a few years, and it is purely cosmetic. If your baby has torticollis though, definitely need to get on that. 

Jerzeygrl732

I am so glad to hear that everyone's babies took well to the helmet. Im so nervous that hes going to have a melt down over it and cry the entire time. Thank you for all the reassurance and I am glad to see all the progress that is being made for those with their helmets already! :-) We go to get ours on Tuesday so Im keeping my fingers crossed everything goes well!

[Deleted User]

@wedding06 I'm so sorry that you have had people actually be rude about your precious little boy in public.  This infuriates me!  I actually lost my cool on a lady who made a comment about DD in regards to her helmet during the first week. DH had to pull me out of the store.  I am so sorry you have had a hard time.  He's perfect and adorable!!!

You didn't fail him at all.  You're an awesome mom!