Helmet/band | Imamother

amother

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 5:23 am

My baby has been in PT for a while but it’s not helping enough and needs a helmet. I am so worried about how it will be in the summer months and how she will sleep with it. She is generally an uncomfortable baby (torticollis, reflux)
Any insight?

amother

Stone

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 5:25 am

I think most babies adjust very quickly. Please get a couple of opinions though.

amother

Mint

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 5:45 am

Try CFT/CST

amother

Carnation

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 5:50 am

My baby had no problem adjusting to sleep with it but when she had it in the summer I had to be very on top of cleaning the inside or the stench could kill you

amother

Geranium

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 8:03 am

My daughter got hers in July. She seemed uncomfortable and hot for a day or two and then acclimated. We just kept her inside for the first couple of days, but after that, we didn't do anything special. She was fine.

amother

Antiquewhite

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 8:20 am

Please please try an alternative first. The amount of babies lately being diagnosed and prescribed with a helmet is rising so quickly. Why???

amother

Leaf

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 10:20 am

amother Antiquewhite wrote:

Please please try an alternative first. The amount of babies lately being diagnosed and prescribed with a helmet is rising so quickly. Why???

Babies spending to much time on their back and in containers especially the doona are more prone to plagiocephaly. Parents are also more aware of it and on top of addressing it

amother

Crystal

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 11:09 am

Make sure its really necessary. Get a second opinion. Its really uncomfortable for the baby and I would only do it if truly necessary. Good luck.

amother

Antiquewhite

Fri, Mar 08 2024, 12:56 pm

amother Crystal wrote:

Make sure its really necessary. Get a second opinion. Its really uncomfortable for the baby and I would only do it if truly necessary. Good luck.

This… way too many babies are being “diagnosed” with needing a helmet when some therapy would be enough

amother

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 9:38 am

Baby does not spend much time in the Doona or other “containers”. I am well aware what causes the need for a helmet. Baby was born with severe torticollis which caused the problem. Despite therapy, her head is still not round. I am taking her for a second opinion but we will probably need to proceed with it.
How uncomfortable does it make the babies?

amother

DarkKhaki

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 9:42 am

The babies are far less bothered than the parents.
The one thing to look out for after is that the babies get used to being able to bump their heads against furniture without pain and after they take it off there is a little bit of an adjustment period.

amother

Brunette

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 9:45 am

2 of my kids had misshapen heads and a nice size flat spot. I took them for a few sessions of craniosacral therapy and it's all resolved bh. They're 3 and 5 yrs old now and doing great!
They both had reflux and torticollis too. The craniosacral therapy helped everything and they became happy thriving babies. I highly recommend that you try two or three sessions before doing a helmet. It will be enough to see if you're making any progress with it and then you can decide which way to proceed.

amother

Steel

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 9:46 am

I had two kids with helmets, close to 13 and 16 years ago so this is not a new thing. Didn’t bother them at all but there are some things you as the parent need to be on top of.
Therapy helps the muscles but very often will not change the shape of the head. I had so many people come over to me and say they wished they did for their children so I think it had just become more accepted.
Also when we did our Dr did not realize insurance would cover. Therefore he didn’t really push it because he felt it wasn’t work the money. We did it anyways and made sure to tell him it’s covered so he could encourage others. That may have been a factor in the past as well.
But the earlier you do the helmet the shorter it is on for so please do not wait.

amother

Stone

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 10:33 am

amother OP wrote:

Keep in mind that if the torticollis has not resolved yet, you will need to continue doing PT. The helmet will not help with that, only with the head shape/ facial asymmetry.

t12345678

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 10:49 am

Hi! My baby is currently in the doc band and so far I’m so happy we did it… I think there is just much more awareness on it nowadays and more babies with flat heads due to doonas back sleeping ect that you see it around more. Anyone who tells me they didn’t do it I see how their child’s head looks a little funny and many people regret not doing it. It also very often impacts the symmetry of their eye and ears which can really impact glasses ect. It’s non invasive and it’s such a short period in their lives… my daughter was not a severe case at all and I’m still so happy I’m doing it. Once they reach a certain age it won’t resolve on its own and you only have a small window of time to do it. Regarding the comfort my baby doesn’t mind it at all! As long as the fit is good and they teach you what to look for it really doesn’t bother them. As the weather is warming up I do see her getting hotter in it but we’ve learnt to just decrease her layers to keep her comfortable. Bh we will be done ours before the summer but there are things to do (fan on them, in bedroom…) to keep them cool. Good luck!

Gee

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 11:40 am

Please be cautious before listening to people telling you not to do it or to try more therapy first etc...

Definitely go for a second opinion if that will make you feel better but sounded like already been doing therapy ...you dont want to waste more time of that precious window of time where the helmet is able to effect more change in less time. The younger the baby is, the more head growth takes place and the more effectual the helmet can be in less time.

We ended up having helmet through the heat of the summer but it was really not bad like I was afraid of !!

Some tips ideas from my experience:
Take a spray bottle to have on hand easy and fill with rubbing alcohol and water (I don't know that you neeed the water just I didn't want so much alcohol) and you can use that to easily spray yhen wipe down the inside of the helmet least 1x a day...

When give baby a bath, take off the helmet and you can use same baby shampoo to lather up and wash out the inside foam. It generally dries pretty quickly so by the time baby is done with bath, changed, and spends a little head break it's ready to go back on smelling nice and fresh. Personally I preferred to bathe my baby and the helmet in the mornings rather than by bedtime bc overnight it can get hot, sweaty and this way baby started day off nice and fresh. I would use the alcohol spray usually when changing for bed...

If your baby is eating jar baby food or other messy mushy food, you may want to take off for short time when feeding (but put right back on:)) so you avoid dealing with pea or carrot mush colored foam on the helmet edges.

Please listen to the guidelines and keep your baby in the helmet for all the recommended time. I have a few friends who told me not to bother with the helmet bc didn't really help and was such a hassle etc..and their baby's heads didn't even fully reshape....but after speaking with them found out they didn't actually keep their babies in the helmets for all the recommended times. They took it off when they played outside, went to a simcha etc. ..once anyways dealing with it in terms of the cleaning and all the appointments, please do yourself a favor and give it the best chances of being able to work the best.

If you're the type, get some stickers or paint markers and decorate away. My kids had such fun with all the personalizations and baby looked so cute.

Baby literally could have CARED LESS!! Did not seem to bother AT ALL!! And this baby was in general my fussiest...if anything could bother, it did. But did not seem to mind at all getting helmet put on or off etc... a few times maybe got some redness that bothered me more than baby but helmet tech can shave/modify the helmet as needed so that wouldnt happen.

Just to keep in mind that least as far as I know the helmet helps with the plagiocephaly but may likely still need to continue PT to help with the actual tortacollis if that is still an issue.

Hatzlocha!

amother

Cornsilk

Sun, Mar 10 2024, 8:06 pm

Cst for the torticollis but also check for oral ties!! Oral restrictions can pull on neck muscles and cause tightness. My baby's torticollis resolved with tongue tie release and a few sessions of cst.

4sunshine

Tue, Mar 12 2024, 12:02 pm

My baby wore a helmet for 8 months. He adjusted very quickly and was never bothered by it.

amother

Lightpink

Tue, Mar 12 2024, 12:02 pm

My baby wore a helmet for 8 months. He adjusted very quickly and was never bothered by it.

HappyMom5

Tue, Mar 12 2024, 1:05 pm

One of my kids had a helmet and needed it over the summer months. I purchased a fan that went on the handle bar of the carriage. Over time , he got so used to it that when I stopped, he seemed to feel like he was not fully dressed...