Re: Updates on Older Baby with Helmet and question

[Guest guest]

Estrella,

Congratulations on the results! I've heard that you can complicate

the strap with a barrette to break that habit of removing the helmet.

24 months is the bitter end of treatment generally, but nobody's kid

is a statistic. As long as it's working, is the parent's rule.

*How* it works is not entirely understood, so the question that

arises is, could a helmet be having a positive effect without it

being appreciable through anthropometry? Is there a " retainer " effect?

I personally concluded that there is not; circumferential growth,

rather than length of treatment, is the key to predicting

regression. Although a helmet can (and probably should) get ahead of

growth, and torque the skull plates into more favorable angular

relationships, the configuration only " sticks " to the degree that the

individual bones subsequently grow and change shape. When Clara

ended treatment, the shape of her head seemed to stabilize within ten

days, and most of it was done by day 4.

So I advise holding onto one's helmet for at least four days,

especially when improvements in asymmetry aren't " backed up " by

increased head circumference. Then decide if you're really done.

Thad Launderville

town, VT

Clara age 2 1/2, STARband '10

On Dec 2, 2010, at 2:59 PM, estrellavila1 wrote:

[snip]

> My question now is, how long do people generally keep their kids in

> helmets? I was originally thinking my poor son would be in his

> starband until he was three because we would probably not get any

> results at all but now that we are seeing some changes I am

> thinking about stopping it at 26 months (adj age would be 24 months).

>

> The fact that he can easily pull off the strap and take his helmet

> off whenever he wants is making it hard for me to force it on him.

> I am pretty much happy if he wears it when he is sleeping, in the

> car seat, and as much as he can during the day. I suppose we are

> probably getting him a total of about 20 hours a day instead of the

> 23.

[Guest guest]

This is very interesting information Thad.

I would think that even sleeping in the helmet at night would help someone, like a retainer does for your teeth, but interesting it does not seem to.

Estrella Moeller

From: Thad Launderville <p38thadl@...>Plagiocephaly Sent: Fri, December 3, 2010 12:18:57 AMSubject: Re: Updates on Older Baby with Helmet and question

Estrella,Congratulations on the results! I've heard that you can complicate the strap with a barrette to break that habit of removing the helmet.24 months is the bitter end of treatment generally, but nobody's kid is a statistic. As long as it's working, is the parent's rule. *How* it works is not entirely understood, so the question that arises is, could a helmet be having a positive effect without it being appreciable through anthropometry? Is there a "retainer" effect?I personally concluded that there is not; circumferential growth, rather than length of treatment, is the key to predicting regression. Although a helmet can (and probably should) get ahead of growth, and torque the skull plates into more favorable angular relationships, the configuration only "sticks" to the degree that the individual bones subsequently grow and change shape. When Clara ended treatment, the shape of

her head seemed to stabilize within ten days, and most of it was done by day 4.So I advise holding onto one's helmet for at least four days, especially when improvements in asymmetry aren't "backed up" by increased head circumference. Then decide if you're really done.Thad Laundervilletown, VTClara age 2 1/2, STARband '10On Dec 2, 2010, at 2:59 PM, estrellavila1 wrote:[snip]> My question now is, how long do people generally keep their kids in > helmets? I was originally thinking my poor son would be in his > starband until he was three because we would probably not get any > results at all but now that we are seeing some changes I am > thinking about stopping it at 26 months (adj age would be 24 months).>> The fact that he can easily pull off the strap and take his helmet > off whenever he wants is making it hard for me to force it on him.

> I am pretty much happy if he wears it when he is sleeping, in the > car seat, and as much as he can during the day. I suppose we are > probably getting him a total of about 20 hours a day instead of the > 23.

[Guest guest]

Progress is great! You must be excited! I would say, since the helmet directs

any skull growth into the " right " directions, the more time per day you can keep

your child in the helmet, the larger percentage of growth will go in the right

places. Definitely aim for the 23 hours if you can. Congrats on the good results

so far!

> [snip]

> > My question now is, how long do people generally keep their kids in

> > helmets? I was originally thinking my poor son would be in his

> > starband until he was three because we would probably not get any

> > results at all but now that we are seeing some changes I am

> > thinking about stopping it at 26 months (adj age would be 24 months).

> >

> > The fact that he can easily pull off the strap and take his helmet

> > off whenever he wants is making it hard for me to force it on him.

> > I am pretty much happy if he wears it when he is sleeping, in the

> > car seat, and as much as he can during the day. I suppose we are

> > probably getting him a total of about 20 hours a day instead of the

> > 23.

>