Flat Head - - Helmet Therapy

Mama Bear

Mon, Feb 20 2006, 2:37 pm

amother wrote:

me again

mindy:

Quote:

It's not covered by insurance; I spent so mjuch money on infertility treament I just don't have where to turn to for the $3000 this costs.

after all that stress you really don't need an extra unneccesary stress on your plate.
let it go, its not worth it. Don't even go join a group because then you are making it into an "issue" and its totally NOT one.

just by the way, my kid didn't just have a flat head but the whole head was skewed to one side. Looking front on you could see the back sneaking to the side

Good looking kid now, socially doing very well B"H

that's what Shimon Moshe has - a flat spot on one side of the head. But I'm hoping it'lle ventually straighten out, even if it takesa few years.

happyone wrote:

http://www.cranialtech.com/clinic_svc/ps.pdf
interesting before and after pics!

see, some of those pics arent even as bad as Shiimon Moshe's head is. Actually the bottom pic is how his head looks. But waht those women DONT tell you is how horrible their babies looked and how much they cried when they had the helmet on. I dont think the payoff is worth it. I would not do it for cosmtic reasons, only if it's a health risk.

MinnieMa

Mon, Feb 20 2006, 5:22 pm

I went throught he same thing with my daughter last year. I ended up having her head fitted for the helmet which was tramatic in itself. The insurance didn't come through till 2 months later and then she had to be re-fitted- becasue her head size changed. I decided not to do it- and I am so happy I didn't. My daughters head is just fine, no ones head is perfect. IT's all for cosmetic reasons- and I think if your docotrs felt your son had a really bad flat head they would all tell you to go for it. My daughters head looked like your son till around 8-9 months and then she started turning herself over at night and during the day and the pressure wasn't ont he back of her head so her head evened out. Also I was told the summer is very hard for the child wiht the helmet-- very sweaty.... I can't tell you what you should do=-- all I'm saying is I didn't do it and my daughters head is just fine!!

chen

Mon, Feb 20 2006, 5:47 pm

SaraG wrote:

People are so religious about a baby only sleeping on his stomach,

Ha! SaraG, we are from the same generation--the put-your-baby-to-sleep-on-his-front-or-he-may-vomit-and-aspirate-Ch"V generation. somewhere between when our children were born and when my niece was born 8 years ago, the rule changed to put-your-baby-to-sleep-on-his-back-or-he-may-die-of-SIDS-Ch"V. which I have no argument with; the trouble is ppl got so indoctrinated with putting baby on his back, they forgot that the key word was "to sleep". they forget it's perfectly ok, indeed desirable, for a wide awake baby to be on his belly, so they keep infants in carseats all day lest they roll over. the flat-head phenomenon, which was almost unheard-of back in the day, has become quite common.

The safest postion for a baby to sleep is supposedly on his side. when I was still getting those infant must-have catalogs, there was actually a device for keeping an infant on his side. It consisted of a wedge-shaped pillow to prop against his back, and a sort of strap with weighted ends to anchor him there. considering how mobile most infants are in their sleep, I doubt that it worked, and the weighted strap was probably a strangulation hazard. needless to say we didn't buy one!

Itta

Sun, Feb 26 2006, 8:46 pm

Mindy wrote:

....Here are 3 pics of his head, is it really THAT bad???

NO!! I've seen worse. Anyhow, it seems like you're trying not to let him put too much pressure on that spot when he's awake. I think that as his head grows, it'll even out (and the yamulka, and eventually hat will cover it too... LOL

)

think of that exact size "flatenning" on an adult sized head.... prob'ly insignificant. correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe the "flattening" grows with the child.

(not exacly to compare, but like a brother of mine who was born with a dark birthmark that practically covered his entire palm. now at age 10, it just looks like a tiny smudge)

I hope I helped you feel better....

PS he's K"AY adoreable!! asach nachas!!

amother

Mon, Feb 27 2006, 2:59 am

amother (oh please)

I'm the amohter with the 17 months old with the flat head (for convenience, let's call me dena). How bad was your kids at 17 months? Did it gradually keep getting better? Did you do anything to help it?

Mama Bear

Mon, Feb 27 2006, 5:46 am

Thanks all. B"H it seems to be improving as he spends more time in his bumbo chair and high chair. HOpefully as he's starting OT this month I'll get the go ahead to put him in an exersaucer and he won't spend much time on the back of his head. My father saw him yesterda yand said the flattening is not so noticeable anymore. BH Smile

rosehill

Mon, Feb 27 2006, 2:04 pm

hi mindy-
your friend the ot here, please do not keep him in the exercauser for longer than about 15 minutes at a time, and not more than once or twice a day. And NEVER in a "walker". Parents enjoy these pieces of equioment because they like to see the baby upright, but in reality, they don't encourage the baby to use his own muscles to work against gravity.

Mama Bear

Mon, Feb 27 2006, 2:08 pm

Thanks for the tip. I'm thinking of getting the Fisher PRice Hop N Pop but I wouldnt leave him in it for too long; I just need some kind of method of keeping him off th back of his head. Now that his head control is BH excellent I can put him in the bumbo chair more often and he seems to like it. I dont put him too much in it becaue I heard it's not so good for the hips.

rosehill

Mon, Feb 27 2006, 2:35 pm

My personal belief is that the absolutely best place to encourage gross motor development in most babies is.......on the floor. Make sure they have a safe place (obviously), and some stimulating objects within reach, and let them fight gravity themselves on the floor. Unfortunately, nobody makes too much money from such a suggestion, so they market a million different products that are supposed to encourage what muscles and gravity can do on their own, sometimes with a little push from a therapist.
FINE PRINT:
1.If your child has specific issues, consult the appropriate therapists. There is a small minority of children for whom the above is not appropriate
2.By "stimulating objects", I personally prefer objects that do not require batteries!!!

Mama Bear

Mon, Feb 27 2006, 3:00 pm

Oh, he gets plenty of floor time! that way he wiggles around and moves around and 'almost' turns over. But many times he wants to be eye level and upright, so I put him into a high chair or bumbo. and many of his toys do not have batteries such as teethers, stackable blocks and rattles, but he can't play with things that require him to sit, hence the high chair or hop n pop where he has trays full of toys, not all of them battery operated. thanks for the input! I love hearing from OTs!

amother

Mon, Feb 27 2006, 5:20 pm

I completly agree with rosehill. Tummy time with diff toys to stimulate.I have a jumper, excersuacer... But they are good really for variety & to keep the beby temporarily oocupied. My older kids were tummy sleepers,the next few were back sleeepers. They have had to change the milestones since the back sleeping.People forget to put baby on tummy.
Mindy, I know people who have used the helmet.One was not only for cosmetic.I worked beautifuly.Only you can decide if it's worth the effort.
I am trying Cranio-sachral(sic) therapy for my baby. It is done by a Physical therapist.Every other week she "massages" his head. People have had success withthis treatment. I am doing it for Down Syndrome to help give definition to his flatish forehead.It's hard to see if there any more shape yet but I can let you know.Btw my insurance pays for it , we are covered for PT.

granolamom

Wed, Mar 01 2006, 4:31 pm

sometimes they recommend helmets when the head asymmetry affects the eyes (they need to be level!) or the jaw. hard to tell from the photos. also, helmets are recommended when the baby has a prematurely fusing skull. In absence of those problems, I'd hold off on the helmet. I don't like the idea of restricting growth in one area of the skull to encourage growth in another, which is basically how it works.
I totally agree with rosehill about keeping the baby on the floor as much as possible, and to use the exersaucer in limited amounts. If the baby wants eye contact, the best place for him is in your arms...or in a sling type of carrier. this way he is up and about, no pressure on his head, and he is in a position to develop postural responses.

amother

Wed, Mar 01 2006, 11:27 pm

I'm the amother (oh please)
LOL

sorry amother, I wasn't on for a while so I didn't see ur question.
To be honest my kid is almost 5 so I dont really remember what it was like at 17 months but I do remember that it was a little scary looking. I was telling my sil about it and she mentioned another sil who put a helmet on one of her kids. that was the first I heard of the concept. anyway I went to my ped (coz my gp told me to) and spoke to him about it and he is very much the non invasive type of doctor. he doesn't like to unnecessarily bother the kids in any way, so he told me to relax and that it would straighten out, but that it would take along time to straighten out.
ok its still there a little. but as I said, I'm the only one who notices it
I suppose that if the case was really severe and if its a boy (as in no long hair to cover it) then maybe look into it but I personally would be reluctant. Mindy's pictures that she showed don't look any where as bad as my kid's head looked. I'll have to see if I can find some pics that show it and maybe I'll post, (so long as the face isn't recognisable Wink

)
as far as what I did, not much. I kept turning my baby to the other side that was not flat, while sleeping but then once my baby got bigger, there was not much I could do.

Mommy3.5

Fri, May 12 2006, 1:05 pm

I know this is old, but alot of you are just poo pooing the issue. Sometimes the heads flatness puts serious pressure on the brain, which can cause many problems. I know someone who unfortunately loss thier son from this affliction. Something that is easy to do and helps prevent it, is to constantly swich the baby between three of four positions (obviosly not while he is sleeping.) Sometimes put him in on his right, sometimes left,back or stomach. Too much time in any position is not good for the baby.