Does my son REALLY need a helmet?

[Guest guest]

We are going to Cranial Tech in Charlotte on Wed. We have had several

" professional opinions " as well as observational opinions from friends and

family. The PT, and two pediatricians in his practice recommend a consult from

Cranial Tech. He is scoring a 5 according to the PT on the scale. Most people

(friends and family) don't really see the flatness being prevolent and to many,

we have to point it out. Is the DOC band really worth it for minor to moderate

cases? My son is 5 mo old and not sitting up yet. Won't this work it's way out

as he grows? We aren't convienced whatsoever this is necessary and worth the

time, money and the annoyance of the band for my son. We are aggressively

working with him on his sleep position, sitting up, and never having him on his

back. Any opinions and recommendations are welcome.

[Guest guest]

I felt EXACTLY the same as you are describing before we got a helmet for our son

(he's been in it 6 weeks now and started at 9 mo). His case is considered

" moderate " and friends and family didn't think it was a big deal. Although we

haven't finished the treatment yet, we have noticed small improvements.

Some things that convinced us: 1) our pediatrician and the referring plastic

surgeon strongly recommended it, 2) assymetries are more evident in the 2D plane

of a mirror, and we didn't want our son to wind up with any unnecessary

body-image issues, 3)while it may have resolved itself over time, there is just

no guarantee.

Although I was still hesitant even until the day he got his helmet, I feel 100%

positive that we made the correct decision. Although I envisioned a helmet as a

torture device, my son has never even noticed it (except for the occasional

complaint when we first learned to take it on and off). He even slept through

the night as usual on the first night. And now there is no more worrying about

what to do. We made our decision and did it, and now we know we are doing our

best to give him the most normal head possible!

The only " warning " I will provide is that the first week was a bit stressful (to

me, not my son). He has really sensitive skin, and the helmet didn't quite fit

right. He was getting really intense red spots and irritations. After two

additional trips to the helmet place, and learning how to help his skin to cope

(occasional 5-minute breaks throughout the day, and thoroughly cleaning and

drying his head and helmet each time) all was fine. During that week I thought,

" what are we doing? " . But again, my son didn't even notice, and after that week

it has been smooth sailing.

Best of luck with your decision.

>

> We are going to Cranial Tech in Charlotte on Wed. We have had several

" professional opinions " as well as observational opinions from friends and

family. The PT, and two pediatricians in his practice recommend a consult from

Cranial Tech. He is scoring a 5 according to the PT on the scale. Most people

(friends and family) don't really see the flatness being prevolent and to many,

we have to point it out. Is the DOC band really worth it for minor to moderate

cases? My son is 5 mo old and not sitting up yet. Won't this work it's way out

as he grows? We aren't convienced whatsoever this is necessary and worth the

time, money and the annoyance of the band for my son. We are aggressively

working with him on his sleep position, sitting up, and never having him on his

back. Any opinions and recommendations are welcome.

>

[Guest guest]

I felt EXACTLY the same way before we got a helmet for our son (at 9 mo, he's

been in it 6 weeks now). He was moderate, and friends and family didn't seem to

think it was a big deal.

The main reasons we decided to go for it: 1) our pediatrician, the referring

plastic surgeon, and a pediatrician friend strongly recommended it (turns out

the difference in the measurements between forehead temple and the opposite side

of the back of his head for the two sides was 15mm) , 2) facial asymmetries are

more evident in the 2D plane of a mirror, and eventhough we couldn't see an

obvious facial asymmetry, we didn't want our son to have unnecessary body image

issues, 3) although it may have resolved itself slowly over time, there is no

guarantee.

Now that we have the helmet, I feel 100% positive we made the right decision.

We have already noticed a small improvement. Although beforehand I envisioned

the helmet as a torture device, our son has NEVER minded it (aside from

occasionally disliking our attempts to take it on and off when we were first

learning). He even slept through the night, as usual, on the first night. And

the best part is no more worrying about whether or not to do it. We've made our

decision and now know we are doing our best to give him the most normal shaped

head possible.

The only small warning I would give you is that the first week was stressful for

us (not him, though). The helmet required two adjustments before it fit

properly. At first it rubbed his skin and even gave him some edema on his

forehead. That week I definitely thought, " What are we doing? " But now that it

fits properly and we are properly trained in its maintenance (since our son has

sensitive skin, we give him short 5-minute breaks throughout the day and

thoroughly wash and dry his head and helmet each time), we are happy with our

decision.

Best of luck with your decision.

>

> We are going to Cranial Tech in Charlotte on Wed. We have had several

" professional opinions " as well as observational opinions from friends and

family. The PT, and two pediatricians in his practice recommend a consult from

Cranial Tech. He is scoring a 5 according to the PT on the scale. Most people

(friends and family) don't really see the flatness being prevolent and to many,

we have to point it out. Is the DOC band really worth it for minor to moderate

cases? My son is 5 mo old and not sitting up yet. Won't this work it's way out

as he grows? We aren't convienced whatsoever this is necessary and worth the

time, money and the annoyance of the band for my son. We are aggressively

working with him on his sleep position, sitting up, and never having him on his

back. Any opinions and recommendations are welcome.

>

[Guest guest]

see, my sensitive skin, not very good sleeper son took about 15 mins to get used to it and a few minutes his first nap (which was in the car) but even despite the fact he wore it during a heat wave of 15+ days straight of 100+ degree temps he was fine, we had no fit issues, redness or adjustment problems so not every kid does.

 

Also, I think I was still some leary when I started and we started getting results on some areas right away which made me look at him and think he doesnt need it but when I would see his beginning cast to compare it to I still cant even imagine that he was that bad and am so glad I did it.  It is so much more evident on the cast b/c there is no hair or facial features for distraction

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 4:18 PM, debbie_ehrgott <debbie_eckert@...> wrote:

 

I felt EXACTLY the same as you are describing before we got a helmet for our son (he's been in it 6 weeks now and started at 9 mo). His case is considered " moderate " and friends and family didn't think it was a big deal. Although we haven't finished the treatment yet, we have noticed small improvements.

Some things that convinced us: 1) our pediatrician and the referring plastic surgeon strongly recommended it, 2) assymetries are more evident in the 2D plane of a mirror, and we didn't want our son to wind up with any unnecessary body-image issues, 3)while it may have resolved itself over time, there is just no guarantee.

Although I was still hesitant even until the day he got his helmet, I feel 100% positive that we made the correct decision. Although I envisioned a helmet as a torture device, my son has never even noticed it (except for the occasional complaint when we first learned to take it on and off). He even slept through the night as usual on the first night. And now there is no more worrying about what to do. We made our decision and did it, and now we know we are doing our best to give him the most normal head possible!

The only " warning " I will provide is that the first week was a bit stressful (to me, not my son). He has really sensitive skin, and the helmet didn't quite fit right. He was getting really intense red spots and irritations. After two additional trips to the helmet place, and learning how to help his skin to cope (occasional 5-minute breaks throughout the day, and thoroughly cleaning and drying his head and helmet each time) all was fine. During that week I thought, " what are we doing? " . But again, my son didn't even notice, and after that week it has been smooth sailing.

Best of luck with your decision. >> We are going to Cranial Tech in Charlotte on Wed. We have had several " professional opinions " as well as observational opinions from friends and family. The PT, and two pediatricians in his practice recommend a consult from Cranial Tech. He is scoring a 5 according to the PT on the scale. Most people (friends and family) don't really see the flatness being prevolent and to many, we have to point it out. Is the DOC band really worth it for minor to moderate cases? My son is 5 mo old and not sitting up yet. Won't this work it's way out as he grows? We aren't convienced whatsoever this is necessary and worth the time, money and the annoyance of the band for my son. We are aggressively working with him on his sleep position, sitting up, and never having him on his back. Any opinions and recommendations are welcome.

>

-- -mommy to Emma, Becca, , and A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.  ~Author Unknown