Does anyone have experience or advice in regards to cranial remolding helmets?

marsht

LO has toricollis and is now diagnosed with deformational plagiocephaly also seeing some unrelated oral sensory stuff/feeding issues and headed the EI route. She has been going to PT 2x a week and pool therapy 1x week. We were casted for a starband last week. 

Looking for advice to help LO make the best possible transition to  wearing her helmet from those who have been there.

cabiddle

My son had a helmet (starband) for a while.  It was a million times easier for him than it was for us.  He never acted like it bothered him but it did take us a while to get used to it. 

Florak8

It has been a year now, but here is what stands out to me. Hope it helps!  

Stick with the wearing schedule you are given. If you are wishy-washy about them wearing it, they won't "buy in".

The only exception is if they get a pressure point red mark. Then you need to stop use and take the kiddo in to get the helmet adjusted. This happens as they grow and their head remolds. That is really the worst part of the process- making time to get in to get adjusted. Our company had an office at the hospital where DS gets therapies, so it was pretty convenient. 

Decorate it with vinyl decals. We used a company called "Bling Your Band." They did great work.

Ours stunk like rancid feet. We followed the cleaning regime faithfully, but it still reeked. You kind of just have to embrace that.

It seems like a big deal at the time, but the time they actually wear it goes by pretty fast. The head hardens up at a certain point in time, and the helmet is useless after that.

Have fun with it. I think they look adorable in them and we took lots of pics so he can see himself in it someday.  

marsht

Thanks!!! 

mauipup

My LO has had a helmet for about 2 months now and it has made a world of difference. It is incredible how quickly we saw improvement. Like a previous poster said make sure your LO wears it the full time. Surprisingly the smell has not been bad, and we're past the hottest of summer. I was it nightly with J&J baby shampoo then rubbing alcohol. We say the helmet has saved us a lot of tears now that LO is crawling.

robynlesley

I think that FloraK8 gave great advice.

I'll just say that the PT for the Torticollis and and the helmet (my son wore 2 DOC Bands) made a world of a difference.  His neck muscles are fine and has no lasting effects from the Tort and his head looks great.

I'm told that 90% rubbing alcohol works better than 70% (which I used) to help with the helmet stink. And if you want more support, there are great groups on Babycenter and Yahoo.

emberlee3

DS wore a helmet from 5.5 to 11.5 months.  Never seemed to bother him.  Good luck!