A while ago I posted a question about my daughter wearing a helmet to help her flat head. I got a lot of comments saying 'don't do it', 'waste of money', 'they are useless', etc.
Well, I just wanted to let everyone know that at least in my daughter's case it is REALLY helping!
A normal baby is supposed to be at 81 or 82 symmatry wise. Lizzie was at 91. After ONLY 6 WEEKS, she is down to 84! Her dr can't believe it. We are so proud with how much she has improved! Most baby's have to wear them until they are about a year old. Her dr said that we can reevaluate her at 9mo to see if we can possibly start weaning her off.
Just thought I'd share :)
Mandatory Question - Did your baby need to wear a helmet and did it help?
Having always remembered my cousin's freakishly flat head when he was a baby from lying on his back all the time (his mother was sweet but a little dim), I have seen how malleable a baby's skull is.
Glad it worked out!
We don't see lots of adults running around with flat heads, because we all grew up before the back to sleep campaign and were placed on our tummies. So happy the helmet is working for your child.
Our son never needed a helmet.
I wore him in a sling a lot of the time so he wasn't laying on a flat surface so much that his head flattened.
Babies heads are very flexible until the bones grow together at about 1 yr old.
Some South American natives use to bind babies heads to produce elongated skulls with flattened foreheads.
I think a lot of hair styles hides lop sided heads.
You don't notice adults with it because they've learned to disguise it.
If it's helping and you and the doctor are happy, then it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.
My daughter needed a helmet. She broke her collarbone during delivery and wasn't able to have ant tummy time/ lay on her side/ etc. for the first 3 weeks of her life. Then she had pretty severe reflux, and was only comfortable laying on her back in her bouncy seat or being held. I gave her as much tummy time as she could handle and held her a lot, buuut she still developed a pretty flat spot. Around 6 months I started looking into the helmet, and the pediatrician helped me get started on it... But then we wound up moving several states away before we could follow through and get the actual helmet and had to start over. The new pediatrician recommended waiting, and doing "positional therapy" to help her head round out which helped a little but her head still wasn't shaped right. Around a year I started pushing for it again, and the doctor wasn't for it... He did order an x-ray to make sure her bones weren't fusing wrong, but everything was fine there so he stuck to waiting. Around 18 months I got a second opinion who also advised me to wait.
I really wish I would have gotten it now. My DD is 4, and still has that flat spot. When you look at her, you can't really tell because her hair hides it... But I have a REALLY hard time finding her bike helmets to fit- her head is wider than it should be right behind her ears, then flattened out... So the only helmets that fit the width of her head are waaay too big in length and around the forehead area. I also have a hard time finding sunglasses that she can wear, because the ones that fit her face are too tight at the ear area. Headbands are a joke- they either slide forward onto her forehead, or they arch up over her head because they don't fit. And it sucks, because after 2 years their heads aren't soft/grow infant enough for the helmets to be any good, and can only be fixed by surgery. Luckily, it is purely cosmetic. :)
I think it is largely situational- some people need the helmet, others are corrected on their own. I do remember when talking to the pediatrician that flat heads are a lot more common in recent generations (those just now becoming adults) because of the change in sleeping position. Our parents were told to put us to sleep on our sides/stomach, where we are told to put our babies to sleep on their backs. She told me that when she first started practicing, if a baby had a flat head then it was a flag to watch for signs of neglect. The increase in flat-headed babies is kind of a trade-off for the reduction of SIDS. Plus, adults typically have enough hair that you can't really tell what the shape of their head is... And yes, MOST people's heads will correct themselves. But not all. So you do what works for your situation. :)
My babies never laid down long enough to flatten their heads!
V.,
Congrats!
Most people answered they are a waste of money because how many ADULTS do you see walking around with flat heads? Not many - I can't think of any that I've seen - because our bodies do a great job of fixing stuff on its own.
No. None of my kids needed helmets. They got a lot of tummy time and preferred sleeping on their sides or bellies. They also spent a lot of time in boppy chairs or the Johnny Jumper.
Our baby only wants to lay on one side of his head, he has a hemangioma on the other side, so we thought maybe that was it. When he falls asleep, we sneak in and move his head so he's laying on the other side. We've been doing that for a couple of months and already you can tell that the one side is rounding back out. And i dont know if it's the extra blood from his hemangioma or what, but that side isn't getting flat, thank goodness!
We didn't deal with the flat-head situation; I just want to say I'm glad that your baby is progressing well :)
Um, people say they are a waste of money because in most cases it corrects on its own. Do you see a bunch of flat headed people running around that are more than 25 years old? Nope, because it corrects itself.
My friend's son needed one. It helped him quite a bit and you'd never know he had a problem now. I think people confuse slightly flat heads with the flatness that is treated with helmets. Slightly flat heads wouldn't be a concern.
Good for you! Our Dr. kept telling us don't bother it will fix itself as she grows. Pffft! Wrong and now it's too late to fix. It's not terrible, but I still can see it. Glad it's working for your daughter!
People weren't saying helmets don't work at all, they were saying that they work as well as not treating at all. (Here's an article about the recent study: http://www.webmd.com/children/news/20140502/helmets-not-h... )
That's neither here nor there; you are doing what your doctor recommends, and it is helping your baby, so that's what matters. I'm glad things are working out so well!
my son wore one. i'm a BIG advocate for them. they made a big difference in my son's headshape. anyone who says it's a waste or just cosmestic is very misinformed and should stop talking. glad it worked for your daughter :)
Yay, that's great news. Glad to hear it.
I think most people weren't saying they don't work. They were saying you
don't NEED to put one on.
Doctors recommended we use one, didn't, everything worked out totally
fine!
