Preemies
Question about helmet posts
Hi ladies!
I had my twin boys recently and have been reading the boards a lot. I am wondering why so many babies on this board need helmets? Is it related to prematurity or does it just happen? Please clarify:)
Thank you!
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Re: Question about helmet posts
It does happen to preemies more than full termers but it can happen to ANY baby. They can develop torticollis.. and they'll prefer to have their heads in oen direction. They think it can happen from being in a weird position in the womb (for full termers) and for preemies, they spend so much time laying that they can get flat spots. If the NICUs aren't really careful about turning them different directions it can be really bad.
And it can do things like push their eyes out of alignment and such.
The best things you can do is be aware if your child has a preference.. do they only want to look left, for example? And do things to encourage them to then look right.. involve therapists for stretching exercises and such..
If your kids are still in the NICU, make sure the nurses turn them so that sometimes they're on left, sometimes right, sometimes back and belly..
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Hi!
Both my boys have the back left side flat, Gaven more than Chris. Gaven is the one on the pic from pp. Chris had torticollis, it was mild but it did affect his head shape. He is better now since we worked on it early (@ 3-4 months). Now Gaven is a different story. He was wedged between my placenta and pelvis. When he was born he had severe misshaped head. The NICU did not helped either of them, then again I had no idea that this will affect them. Only one nurse rotated his head but most didn't, and even the NICU Doc told me that they didn't do that great of a job at it. He has a moderate to mild case. This will not affect his brain development is only cosmetic, but its currently pushing his ears at different directions. Its very expensive, but from what I've heard and seen its worth every cent. Gaven is getting his next wednesday and I'm sure I'll be crying like a baby.
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Zeidy?
My DS has a helmet (just posted pictures in a new post). He was 4.5 weeks early, everything I read about plagiocephaly (which wasn't a lot) said that it's more common in preemies...though I didn't read 'why'.
The pediatric plastic surgeon we are working with said the plagio probably began in the womb (made me feel slightly less guilty). DS had slight torticollis, but the PT believes the plagio caused the tortilcollis (I assumed it would be the other way around).
I did not read this anywhere, BUT, I wonder if preemies aren't more prone because they sleep soooo much in the beginning of life. DS slept a lot his first 6-8 weeks, that's a lot of time on his back. In hindsight, he definitely favored one side, but I wasn't aware of torticollis or plagio - I am now!
While I was pregnant with Laura, I never had the kicking in the ribs that most moms describe. She was always low in my abdomen, this was the beginning of her torticollis.
She was a c-section baby at 35w5d because of my pre-eclampsia. I also had iugr, which didn't help the torticollis. She was actually the size of a 33 weeker.
The nicu nurses were great, they kept her on her belly and rotated her head. She came home with a perfect little head!
However, because she was a preemie, she had reflux. We had to keep her propped up after the ate or else it would all come out. We kept her in a bouncer or a boppy to keep her head elevated. From the very beginning Laura always favored her right side. She hated tummy time because her belly hurt from the gas and reflux.
So a combination of things - most of them due to her preemie status contributed to her needing a helmet.