update about almost 2 year old

[Guest guest]

I am long overdue for updating any of you who are interested and

chiming in about banding an older baby.

My daughter, who is turning 2 a week from today, has been in her

STARband since 9/16 (when she was just a few days shy of 21 months).

We have been fortunate that she has tolerated the band very well at

night; however, as I have noticed others posting about, keeping it on

her head during the day has been a real challenge. She figured out

how to un-do the velcro pretty early on, and liked to do so " just

because she could. " Additionally, she likes to dress and un-dress

herself, which was very much complicated by the helmet, so she would

insist that it come off then just because of the activity that she

wanted to engage in (which we wanted to support as an important life

skill ;-)).

Therefore, she has also been wearing the helmet less than 23 hours

per day. However, at the first visit to the orthotist at CIRS in

Oakland, the orthotist was able to add an additional band of velcro,

that wrapped almost all the way around her head. This has entirely

prevented her from being able to take it off herself. In fact, it is

quite hard for us adults to get it off ;-). So . . . that is

something to know about and perhaps request. We continue to respond

to her requests/demands to take it off, so as not to make it a symbol

of a major power struggle. At this point, I feel like that is working

for us, even though she is probably only wearing it 15 - 20 hours per

day.

In terms of her improvement: The " numbers " aren't yet indicating the

change that is happening since her growth is so slow at this point.

However, my eyes, as well as the 3D image, are seeing it. Her head

shape, which we have been imaging for more than a year, essentially

hadn't changed in that time (other than overall size). However, in

just the two months from when she started wearing the band until the

last adjustment (11/24), her head shape changed noticeably (even my

husband, who has been very opposed/reluctant about treatment,

acknowledges the change, though he believes that it is perhaps " her

head shape shifting from baby to little girl " ): the bossing of the

forehead became less pronounced and it filled out a bit in the back

(she has very mild plagio and moderate brachy). So . . . I am finding

fewer angles form which the shape of her head bothers/concerns me,

and overall I am very pleased with how things are going.

However, I imagine she will be wearing the helmet, at least to sleep

in, for quite awhile (until she outgrows it, which might be another

year?). Since we live ~3 hours drive away from CIRS, it is turning

out to be a good thing, as we only need to go for adjustments every 6

weeks or so, though will obviously need to do so for longer.

If I ever get around to scanning in the 3D images, I will post them

on group. I'll let you know if/when I do.

If anyone has any questions, I'll do my best to answer. Best of luck

to everyone!

Amy

Zia, almost 2, STARband since 9/16

Chico, CA

On Dec 13, 2010, at 7:29 PM, christineashok wrote:

> I've heard if you put a barrette on the velcro they won't be able

> to open it (unless they can pull it off with the velcro closed).

> Are you seeing any improvement in their heads?

> -christine

> sydney, almost 5 yrs, starband grad

>

>

>>

>>

>> My boys have been wearing the helmets for 2 months now. They love

>> taking off the helmets on their own and chewing the gap stoppers.

>> I'm still not sure about how long the grandparents have the

>> helmets taken off during the day while they watch the children.

>> Also when I put them to sleep at night, I have to take the helmets

>> off otherwise they refuse to sleep. When they fall into sound

>> sleep, I'll put them back on. On some bad days when my husband

>> watches them, he takes off the helmets for many many hours... I

>> just don't have control of how my other families do it.

>>

>> So my boys only wear the helmets max 20 hours a day. I kind of

>> start to realize that it's not doing what it's supposed to do with

>> not wearing full time, but it could be just my boys old ages. They

>> are over 16 months now.

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> Plagiocephaly

>> From: annekbui@...

>> Date: Thu, 9 Dec 2010 19:31:42 +0000

>> Subject: Less Than 23 hrs/Day?

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>>

>> Hi,

>>

>> Anyone keep the band (Star band on our case) on their kids for

>> less than 23hrs/day and still have a successful outcome? I'm not

>> talking about an extreme deviation, but keeping it on for

>> something like maybe 20 hrs/day? I realize that this may prolong

>> the treatment, but can it potentially derail it?

>>

>> Our caregiver reports that our son gets extremely fussy in the

>> early afternoon, and I wonder if it would be OK for him to get an

>> extended break (4 hrs) on a daily basis. Less fussiness would

>> enable our caregiver to devote more time to our older child, whom

>> she also takes care of. I realize that she could take off his

>> helmet, wipe his head and allow him to have a good scratch, and

>> then put the helmet back on, but our son hates having his helmet

>> put back on multiple times. He gets his bath, and the helmet is

>> cleaned when my husband and I get home from work (7pm-ish).

>>

>> Thanks,

>> Anne

>> (7-month old son wearing Starband for almost 4 weeks now)

>>

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

> For more plagio info