anyone with experience of older child with band?

[Guest guest]

Hi! I am wondering if anyone is out there who has an older child (12

months and up) who has to wear a cranial band for positional

plagiocephaly treatment? Our son, Zachary, wasn't diagnosed with

plagiocephaly until he was 10 months old and by the time we got in to

see a neurosurgeon and got his band he was a year-old. I am

wondering what kind of experiences people have had with older

children wearing these bands? Zach will most likely have to wear his

band longer because of his age and due to the fact he has to wear

glasses and the glasses won't fit under the helmet so he is wearing

the helmet at night (12 hours straight). His doctor wants him to

wear it for 20 hours/day but his Opthamologist won't let him go for 3

months without glasses because he is very far sighted and it will

affect his eye development.

It has been very frustrating for us; it will be so nice to hear from

someone else who has gone through something similar with an older

child or one with glasses.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Sincerely,

Lou

Zach's mom

[Guest guest]

Hi Lou,

My son started band treatment at 13months. He's been in the band for 2 months now. At first, he was wearing it 22 hours a day. For about the last month, I have had to take it off during the night. The reason is because his molars are comming in, plus some of the other teeth all at the same time, and specially at night time he gets very cranky. I found out that if I took the helmet off at night he would sleep thru most of the night, opposed to leaving it on where he would wake up every hour. He's been wearing it an average of 12 to 14 hours per day. Even so, we have seen slight improvement. Being an older child, seeing improvement will take a lot longer, and it's only been 2 months.

My husband and I both work, so we need to rest, plus I'm 5 months pregnant. This is the reason why we prefer for him to sleep thru most of the night. Also, the helmet applys a little pressure to his head, that combined with the pain of teething must be really bad for him. I want to correct his condition, but I don't want to torture him.

My orthotist also wants him to wear his band 22 hours a day. But, we as mothers know our children better than anyone else. In your case I feel you are doing the right thing. Correcting your childs eyesight is far more important than his plagio, plus I'm sure if you stick to having him wearing his band as much as he can, you will receive some correction. He will have to wear it longer, but it's worth it. I know it's a very hard dilema, but God willing everything will work out fine. I wish you the best of luck and have patience. Remember that you're not alone in this. Yani, mom of Yancarlos

number1basket <twoihs@...> wrote: Hi! I am wondering if anyone is out there who has an older child (12 months and up) who has to wear a cranial band for positional plagiocephaly treatment? Our son, Zachary, wasn't diagnosed with plagiocephaly until he was 10 months old and by the time we got in to see a neurosurgeon and got his band he was a year-old. I am wondering what kind of experiences people have had with older children wearing these bands? Zach will most likely have to wear his band longer because of his age and due to the fact he has to wear glasses and the glasses won't fit under the helmet so he is wearing the helmet at night (12 hours straight). His doctor wants him to wear it for 20 hours/day but his Opthamologist won't let him go for 3 months without glasses because he is very far sighted and it will affect his eye development. It has been very frustrating for us; it will be so nice to hear from someone else who has gone through something similar with an older child or one with glasses.Thanks in advance for your response.Sincerely, LouZach's momFor more plagio info

[Guest guest]

Lou-see if they can get the ortho to shave a little out of the band

where the glasses go. Seems to me that would be an easier solution than not

wearing it and I cant imagine that 2 glasses lines would make that much of an

impact in the overall effectiveness of the helmet. Good luck to you./

Beck