Re: First time to group...

[Guest guest]

Oh my gosh, I feel for you, and I think it's terrible that the

doctors are making you feel like it's your fault. I know how you

feel, I feel like it's my fault too, but it's one thing to put that

on yourself, and worse to have it put on you by a doctor! My son is

also in the 98%ile for his head (and weight...and height...). His

tort was diagnosed early, thankfully, and resolved, but his plagio

was not taken seriously. He was just casted today and will get his

band in 2 weeks, but it took over a year to get to this point. As

hard as it is to believe, you're on top of the situation and you're

already doing the right things by pushing and pushing until you were

heard. And now you've already got the ball rolling and your son will

have his helmet soon and everything will be just fine. It will

consume your life for the next few months, but you'll have to do

those tort exercises however many times a day they tell you, and

deal with the band at the same time. But you can do it! And in the

end, it will be worth it.

Good Luck!

in Raleigh

Jake-16.5m (tort resolved, future DocBand) and Jordan-4

>

> Hello all! I am new to the group and feeling the " guilt " over my

6

> month old son being diagosed with torticollis and positional

> plagiocephaly. We knew right away that my son definitely favored

one

> side of his head but being a first time mom, I didn't really think

it

> was a problem. I asked the pediatrican about it at our 4 week

> checkup and told us to try to use wedges and sleep positioners to

> help position his head. However, it didn't seem to work. It

seemed

> that every time we went to the doctor, he told us to just

encourage a

> lot of tummy time and keep using the wedges and that my son would

> eventually grow out of this problem. After several other problems

> with our pediatrican, we decided to switch pediatrican groups. At

> our first appointment with the new doctor, they immediately

referred

> us to the plastic surgery dept. at Cincinnati Children's Hospital

> Medical Center. We had to wait 2 months for the first appointment!

> After seeing the doctors and physical therapists at CCHMC, they

told

> us that my son should have been seeing a physical therapist for

his

> torticollis since we first saw the problem. Because of his

> torticollis, it prevented him from turning his head fully and thus

> caused positional plagiocephaly. On top of this, my son is in the

> 98% for his head circumference. The doctors said that this also

can

> contribute to plagiocephaly since his head weighs so darn much

that

> it is hard for him to hold up.

> I feel like our first pediatrican " dropped the ball " --especially

> since they said that we should have been doing therapy for his

neck

> for a couple of months now. I also feel like the doctors at CCHMC

> think that my son's plagiocephaly/torticollis was my fault. They

> told me that if my husband and I decide to have another child, we

> need to make sure that we give the baby a lot more tummy time.

> My son has been fitted for his helmet and will be getting it in

the

> next week or two. Althought I hate the fact that he'll have to

wear

> it and have people stare at him, I know that this is the best

thing

> for him.

>

[Guest guest]

Welcome! I HATE when doctors/nurses make parents feel like they

didn't do enough to prevent the plagio and/or torticolis because in

reality some babies will develop those NO MATTER what we as parents

do. Please do not feel guilty...you will see great correction. We

banded at 7.5 months and my son had some great growth spurts that he

was out of the band at 9.5 months. He is now 19 months and his head

looks great. We did lots of tummy time and tried repositioning and

he still ended up wearing a helmet. I do think that his head shape

didn't get worse because of our repoing efforts but his head shape

certainly didn't get better either. Anyways, it will all work out.

>

> Hello all! I am new to the group and feeling the " guilt " over my

6

> month old son being diagosed with torticollis and positional

> plagiocephaly. We knew right away that my son definitely favored

one

> side of his head but being a first time mom, I didn't really think

it

> was a problem. I asked the pediatrican about it at our 4 week

> checkup and told us to try to use wedges and sleep positioners to

> help position his head. However, it didn't seem to work. It

seemed

> that every time we went to the doctor, he told us to just

encourage a

> lot of tummy time and keep using the wedges and that my son would

> eventually grow out of this problem. After several other problems

> with our pediatrican, we decided to switch pediatrican groups. At

> our first appointment with the new doctor, they immediately

referred

> us to the plastic surgery dept. at Cincinnati Children's Hospital

> Medical Center. We had to wait 2 months for the first appointment!

> After seeing the doctors and physical therapists at CCHMC, they

told

> us that my son should have been seeing a physical therapist for

his

> torticollis since we first saw the problem. Because of his

> torticollis, it prevented him from turning his head fully and thus

> caused positional plagiocephaly. On top of this, my son is in the

> 98% for his head circumference. The doctors said that this also

can

> contribute to plagiocephaly since his head weighs so darn much

that

> it is hard for him to hold up.

> I feel like our first pediatrican " dropped the ball " --especially

> since they said that we should have been doing therapy for his

neck

> for a couple of months now. I also feel like the doctors at CCHMC

> think that my son's plagiocephaly/torticollis was my fault. They

> told me that if my husband and I decide to have another child, we

> need to make sure that we give the baby a lot more tummy time.

> My son has been fitted for his helmet and will be getting it in

the

> next week or two. Althought I hate the fact that he'll have to

wear

> it and have people stare at him, I know that this is the best

thing

> for him.

>

[Guest guest]

That is terrible that they make you feel like it is your fault. Torticollis can begin inutero, or due to trauma during birth. There is really nothing you could do about either of those situations. My son had both, a restricted uterine environment and the cord was around his neck. I guess I have been lucky that none of the doc. or pts I have seen make me feel any other way than it can be fixed. Kami Keenan 5.5 months Doc band 3.5 weeks lka_236 <lka_236@...> wrote: Welcome! I HATE when doctors/nurses

make parents feel like they didn't do enough to prevent the plagio and/or torticolis because in reality some babies will develop those NO MATTER what we as parents do. Please do not feel guilty...you will see great correction. We banded at 7.5 months and my son had some great growth spurts that he was out of the band at 9.5 months. He is now 19 months and his head looks great. We did lots of tummy time and tried repositioning and he still ended up wearing a helmet. I do think that his head shape didn't get worse because of our repoing efforts but his head shape certainly didn't get better either. Anyways, it will all work out.>> Hello all! I am new to the group and feeling the "guilt" over my 6 > month old son being diagosed with torticollis and

positional > plagiocephaly. We knew right away that my son definitely favored one > side of his head but being a first time mom, I didn't really think it > was a problem. I asked the pediatrican about it at our 4 week > checkup and told us to try to use wedges and sleep positioners to > help position his head. However, it didn't seem to work. It seemed > that every time we went to the doctor, he told us to just encourage a > lot of tummy time and keep using the wedges and that my son would > eventually grow out of this problem. After several other problems > with our pediatrican, we decided to switch pediatrican groups. At > our first appointment with the new doctor, they immediately referred > us to the plastic surgery dept. at Cincinnati Children's Hospital > Medical Center. We had to wait 2 months for the first appointment!> After seeing the doctors and

physical therapists at CCHMC, they told > us that my son should have been seeing a physical therapist for his > torticollis since we first saw the problem. Because of his > torticollis, it prevented him from turning his head fully and thus > caused positional plagiocephaly. On top of this, my son is in the > 98% for his head circumference. The doctors said that this also can > contribute to plagiocephaly since his head weighs so darn much that > it is hard for him to hold up.> I feel like our first pediatrican "dropped the ball"--especially > since they said that we should have been doing therapy for his neck > for a couple of months now. I also feel like the doctors at CCHMC > think that my son's plagiocephaly/torticollis was my fault. They > told me that if my husband and I decide to have another child, we > need to make sure that we give the baby a lot

more tummy time. > My son has been fitted for his helmet and will be getting it in the > next week or two. Althought I hate the fact that he'll have to wear > it and have people stare at him, I know that this is the best thing > for him.>

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[Guest guest]

I cannot believe the doctor's are making you feel that way. You

really should not feel guilty, you might have had to get the helmet

even if you did the physical therapy for the Tort. right away. My

son had Tort and Plagio, so when my daughter was born with Tort. 5

mo ago, I noticed right away. Took me until her 2 mo. appt. to

convince the pediatrician and we began PT right away. Well here we

are at 3 mo. later and she was casted yesterday. I was probably one

of the most diligent repositioners and religiously did the PT 5

times a day but it just wasn't enough to make up for the amount of

time she slept on just the one side of her head. Also just as an

FYI, I put her on her tummy so much that she was holding her head up

by herself before she was even two mo. old. So much for the you're

not giving enough tummy time theory. From what I've been told they

will not even band a baby for Plagio until they are at least 4 mo.

anyway so you've still caught it pretty early.

> >

> > Hello all! I am new to the group and feeling the " guilt " over

my

> 6

> > month old son being diagosed with torticollis and positional

> > plagiocephaly. We knew right away that my son definitely

favored

> one

> > side of his head but being a first time mom, I didn't really

think

> it

> > was a problem. I asked the pediatrican about it at our 4 week

> > checkup and told us to try to use wedges and sleep positioners

to

> > help position his head. However, it didn't seem to work. It

> seemed

> > that every time we went to the doctor, he told us to just

> encourage a

> > lot of tummy time and keep using the wedges and that my son

would

> > eventually grow out of this problem. After several other

problems

> > with our pediatrican, we decided to switch pediatrican groups.

At

> > our first appointment with the new doctor, they immediately

> referred

> > us to the plastic surgery dept. at Cincinnati Children's

Hospital

> > Medical Center. We had to wait 2 months for the first

appointment!

> > After seeing the doctors and physical therapists at CCHMC, they

> told

> > us that my son should have been seeing a physical therapist for

> his

> > torticollis since we first saw the problem. Because of his

> > torticollis, it prevented him from turning his head fully and

thus

> > caused positional plagiocephaly. On top of this, my son is in

the

> > 98% for his head circumference. The doctors said that this also

> can

> > contribute to plagiocephaly since his head weighs so darn much

> that

> > it is hard for him to hold up.

> > I feel like our first pediatrican " dropped the ball " --especially

> > since they said that we should have been doing therapy for his

> neck

> > for a couple of months now. I also feel like the doctors at

CCHMC

> > think that my son's plagiocephaly/torticollis was my fault.

They

> > told me that if my husband and I decide to have another child,

we

> > need to make sure that we give the baby a lot more tummy time.

> > My son has been fitted for his helmet and will be getting it in

> the

> > next week or two. Althought I hate the fact that he'll have to

> wear

> > it and have people stare at him, I know that this is the best

> thing

> > for him.

> >

>