Reese got her helmet last week and I wanted to share some information and background in case you are either just curious about it or are going through this yourself. To be honest, I considered not discussing this or posting any photos of Reese due to my insecurities about the helmet but then I thought about how sharing our story and experience might help others out there since as moms we often just want to feel like we aren’t alone in dealing with things like this. I also know many people aren’t familiar with why some babies have to wear these helmets and there are some misconceptions out there so I wanted to shed some light on that.
How we got here:
If you haven’t followed along before, we noticed shortly after Reese was born that she strongly favored turning her head to the right. During our first lactation appointment the consultant mentioned her having Torticollis which is very tight neck muscles caused by positioning in the womb. Essentially they are crammed in there in a way that turns their head and causes it to kind of stay that way after they are born.
The lactation consultant said that it should work itself out since I was breastfeeding and she’s be forced to look in both directions regularly. Over the next few weeks I noticed that anytime we would lay her down she would immediately turn her head to the right and always slept with it tilted that way. I actually remembered Cooper being similar and that he had developed a small flat spot but once we noticed it and started turning his head the other way, it quickly corrected so I was hopeful she’d be the same.
Even with those efforts, the preference didn’t go away and we started to notice a flat spot developing on the right side of her head. I brought it up at her two month check up and the doctor did notice the spot and said we should try our best to keep her off that side and that we’d follow up on it at her four month check up to see if it was getting better.
This is when I went home and got to work because she scared me a little when she said it was moderate (flatness is normally categorized as mild, moderate, and severe). I did tons of research online and tried my hardest to do every single thing in the book to help her head (pillows, tons of tummy time, rarely laying her down in seats/loungers (which is sooo hard with a toddler) and prayed we could avoid the helmet. I won’t lie this period was really stressful because I was constantly focused on her head and whether it was getting better or worse. When I wasn’t noticing much of a change it was hard not to feel defeated and that I was failing Reese in some way.
Fast forward to her four month check up and despite my best efforts, her head had gotten a little worse and we were referred to a specialist to get her checked out and to start physical therapy. We went to Carolina Kinder Development here in Charlotte and have had the absolute best experience with them. Their goal is always to avoid the helmet and they spent so much time educating me on her issues and gave me tons of new stretches and best practices to help with her neck and head. They also helped me understand exactly where her head fell on the spectrum and said Reese was in the low moderate category which meant there was a chance we’d see good results from bi-weekly PT sessions and our work from home.
Long story short, after six weeks time we still weren’t getting the results we’d hoped for. She would improve a little and then end up regressing a bit and eventually we had to make a tough call on whether we would do the helmet since she was kind of on the border with whether they would recommend one or not.
Deciding whether to do it was very difficult for us since the ultimate call was left up to us. I hated the idea of her having to deal with it, missing snuggles and rubbing her head, and they are very expensive since our insurance wouldn’t cover any of the cost (depending on your plan some insurances will cover a portion of the cost). Well obviously we ultimately decided to do it since we didn’t want to have any regrets and feel she deserves a good looking head :). I’ve heard it compared to braces which aren’t the most attractive thing but parents typically don’t think twice about doing that. A flat head can also cause some medical concerns later on and we didn’t want to risk that at all.
How often does skull flattening occur in babies?
It affects nearly one in two infants today (47%), with experts recommending that one in every ten babies be evaluated for treatment. Isn’t that crazy? Since the “Back to Sleep” campaign in the 90’s where parents were urged to put babies to sleep on their backs, skull flattening has become fairly common because infants now have more constant pressure on the back of their super soft heads while sleeping.
How long will Reese wear her helmet?
Because her case in on the lower end of the spectrum we think she will only need it for about 7 weeks. We really won’t know for sure though until we check her measurements to see how she is progressing. The average time is about 12 weeks but some babies end up going 4-5 months if their case is more severe.
How is she handling the helmet so far?
So far so good! The first night was a little rough as she woke every 30 minutes for the first few hours of sleep but after that she seems to have gotten used to it and doesn’t even know it’s there! Fortunately she doesn’t seem to be that hot natured so hasn’t been sweating that much. The helmets can cause babies to overheat so you have to be super careful of them getting too hot and being outside in the heat too long. We’ve turned our AC down in the house and dress her more lightly for sleep at night.
Overall it’s been so much easier than I expected and I actually don’t mind the helmet that much. We haven’t received many comments or questions while out in public either which has been a blessing. A few kids have asked about it and I can understand why they’d be curious.
How often does she wear the helmet each day?
The goal is for her to wear the helmet for at least 21 hours a day which means three hours a day without the helmet for breaks. We can also take it off if she’s going to be outside for longer periods on a hot day or if I just need some snuggles or photo shoots 🙂
Are parents ever to blame for a flat head?
This is probably the biggest misconception and honestly before this experience it’s something I wondered about. I was curious if kids with helmets were just laid down too much and that caused their flat head. Well, I can now confidently say that it’s NOT the parents fault and some babies are just way more susceptible to skull flattening especially if they have Torticollis. For example, Cooper was actually laid down way more than Reese and while he did get a small flat spot due to mild Torticollis, his fixed easily and was never really a big concern. Like almost everything in parenting, a lot of moms still feel guilty and wonder if they could have done more to help, so if you ever see a baby in a helmet please be kind and encouraging to the momma!
Advice for moms who notice a flat spot on their babies head:
If you notice a flat spot and there is a preference for one side, try to move their head the opposite way every single time you put them down. You can also try to stretch their neck by pulling it the other way while holding the baby. Just google Torticollis stretches. Bring up your concerns with your Pediatrician as many peds aren’t looking for flatness during check ups. If they don’t recommend seeing a specialist and your gut tells you it’s more than mild- push for it because early PT is so important in avoiding the helmet. Also, do as much tummy time as possible and avoid laying your baby in carriers with an angle for longer period like the rock and play, car seats, or bouncy seats as angles can make flatness worse.
I’ll plan to post another update once we are finished with the helmet as a part 2 to this and share before and after pics and more about the experience as a whole. I also hope to share some tips for other moms who may be going through this too. I can’t thank everyone enough for their kind words and encouragement when I initially posted about Reese’s helmet!
Thank you for your kind words about Carolina Kinder Development on your blog post.