AW No more helmet!

PharmDMom

Lincoln is all finished wearing his helmet!! His measurements are within normal range now, thank goodness. We started tapering his wearing schedule last week and now he is done!

He is scratching his head a lot while getting used to having it off, and also he is a total cry baby when he bumps his head even in the slightest way. haha He is used to having the protection of the helmet so I'm guessing it will take a while for him to toughen up a bit.

Thanks for reading my good news and to my fellow helmet mommas, hang in there! I look forward to seeing your helmet graduation posts someday soon!

And of course, a picture of my tube AND helmet free boy...

deedee1017

Congrats mama!!  He is so adorable with that full head of hair!

shelley1002

YAY!!!  Congrats on being tube and helmet free!  He'll get used to bumping his head soon.

sleepy33

Hooray!

jennlin

KerCo51

Yay!  He is such a cutie!

megs1409

Yay!  Congrats.  What a cutie!

bkeane619

Yay!!!!!

cassey910

Yay!! He is adorable!

sweettwilight16

Yay, congrats!! Such a little cutie

Ajoyd

Great news! Yay, Lincoln!

Kdanson

Yay!! He's so adorable.

PharmDMom

@jennlin‌ Perfect gif. That's exactly what I feel like doing!!!

5speckledfrogs

Awesome news!

PharmDMom

wedding06 said:

That's great news! He looks super cute! I am a bit jelly though. We have a recheck next Friday but last time it hardly changed (0.6%) so I'm not holding my breath.

How is he doing with mobility and being helmet free? Has he seemed to learn quickly that it hurts and he needs to be careful?

I'm so happy for you though. You guys have been through so much. It must be so rewarding to see him in an accessory free state!

@wedding06‌ As far as mobility goes, Before the helmet was off, L only rolled back to belly. Once in a while he would roll belly to back on his crib but that was it. Now he is rolling both ways all the time. He also started crawling and cruising when the helmet came off starting last week. I don't think it was all coincidence! So of course now he bumps himself on the head a lot more, and he cries but doesn't seem too bothered by it. I think he is slowly realizing that banging his head on stuff hurts now, but I know it is still gonna happen often since he's a baby, so I'm guessing he will do better at brushing it off soon. So is he getting more careful? No. But tougher? Yes.

I am certainly thrilled that he is now a totally accessory free little guy. It is actually weird to look at him with no tube or helmet. He looks so... normal. It's exciting but still sinking in!

I'm sorry you haven't seen lots of improvement lately. What is your DS's cranial index down to? I know his started out pretty high but he has made some progress overall right? Do YOU notice a difference when you take the helmet off? We thought L would need his helmet for 4-5 months- we certainly lucked out with a 2.5 month treatment. Maybe your DS will be one who needs it a bit longer? I know it sucks and you just want to get rid of it!!

PharmDMom

Ok so about 1.6% to go. Let's hope for a growth spurt here soon!

We definitely think the reason L's treatment was shorter than expected was related to growth spurts. From 3-5 months he was barely hanging on the growth curve because of his reflux and feeding problems. He got the NG tube at 5.5 months and the helmet at 7 months. From 6-9 months he did a TON of growing because he was finally getting all the nutrition he needed. He had the helmet on for most of that rapid growing time so it allowed his head to be shaped more quickly. Our orthotist said she never expected him to get it off this soon. But he was a SS because of his other issues.

I will send growth spurt and round head vibes your way to hopefully speed up his graduation date!!

Herefishy87

Yayyyyyyy that's so awesome!!!!! He looks absolutely adorable and I'm sure you are over the moon happy to be rid of it! We have 2 more weeks and then we can join the helmet graduates too!
Is today his first day helmet free? So happy for you guys I'm sure it's a wonderful feeling to not have to deal with his tube or helmet anymore!!!!

emmylou78

Good news! And what a cutie.

ajjf1026

Yay!! He's so cute!!

bionicb

Yay!!1!

psychdoc12

What a cutie. Congrats!

skyla13

Yea!!!

PharmDMom

Herefishy87 said:

Yayyyyyyy that's so awesome!!!!! He looks absolutely adorable and I'm sure you are over the moon happy to be rid of it! We have 2 more weeks and then we can join the helmet graduates too!
Is today his first day helmet free? So happy for you guys I'm sure it's a wonderful feeling to not have to deal with his tube or helmet anymore!!!!

@HereFishy87 His first full day off was supposed to be yesterday, but I was so excited that we made his first day off Sunday.

So glad your LO gets to be done with the helmet too in 2 weeks!! It's a great feeling to have it over with!

Amjoy25

Yay! That's great!

[Deleted User]

congrats! love his full head of hair!