After 14 weeks in the helmet I am so excited to share that Reese has officially graduated! It took a little longer than we were expecting with her head growing slowly but seeing her head look so much better makes it all worth it! Ultimately I am so happy that we decided to get a helmet.
The best part of sharing about our experience at the end of this journey is that I can confidently say it was soooo much easier than I expected. If you go back and read Part 1, you can tell I was pretty anxious about it all and I worried it would almost ruin my time with her since she would look different and be uncomfortable/unhappy, and I didn’t know what type of comments people might make. All my worries still make sense to me but now that we’ve been through it all I wish I could go back and tell myself it was going to be okay.
Reese seemed to barely even notice the helmet most of the time and after a few days of adjusting to nighttime sleep she was sleeping just as well as before. People were also so kind in public and I had so many moms stop me that had also had children wear helmets that encouraged me and shared about their experience. I even had a teenage girl come up to me in a store that told me that she wore a helmet as a baby. She said they were very uncommon at that time but she was so glad her mom pushed to fix her head. I thought it was so sweet of her to share that with me and it was kind of cool to hear about it from the child vs. the parent. I’ve found it’s kind of like joining a club and only helmet moms really understand this experience and there is a comradery to it that feels special. I joined a helmet moms Facebook group that was also incredibly helpful and supportive to me and I learned so much from seeing all the posts in that group. I’ve also recently had several friends get evaluated for helmets or begin this process and it’s not only been nice to know others that understand it but I also hope I’ve been able to become a support system for them.
It’s funny how going through this experience makes you hyper focused and aware of peoples head shape when it wasn’t anything I really thought about before. It’s really hard not to become obsessed with head shape and want to strive for getting the perfect head. But even with our time in the helmet Reese’s head isn’t “perfect” but I’ve learned that every single head is shaped uniquely and there really isn’t a “perfect” in the head shape world. She started pretty flat so it’s not perfectly round now but it looks so much better!
These numbers won’t mean much if you aren’t familiar with head shape measurements but she has gone from a CV of 6 mm to 4 mm (basically measuring the flat spot on one side) and a CI of 96 mm to 91 mm (ratio of the difference between length and width of head to describe overall flatness) that we achieved from both re-positioning and the helmet. We caught two growth spurts at 6 months and 8 months which made the biggest differences in the helmet. I am truly amazed at how different her head looks now.
Here are some before and after pics (before on the left):
The most challenging parts of this experience was missing some nighttime snuggles while I nursed and a few inconveniences that the helmet brings. For the snuggles I definitely got tired of the helmet hurting my arms while I fed her and just wanted to kiss and rub her head. Also, having the helmet in the summer was difficult with the heat since it does make them run a lot hotter and Cooper really enjoys being outside. This caused me to take it off probably more than I should have but I just couldn’t stand the thought of her being super hot and uncomfortable. Even with these challenges though as I said above it was a lot easier than I expected and really just wasn’t a big deal.
We had appointments with our specialist about every three weeks to check that the helmet was still fitting properly, check on progress, and they also included some PT for her neck. Thankfully her Torticollis (neck tightness) seems to have resolved completely and I’ve noticed such a difference with her mobility and progression since then. We have continued to be so happy with our experience at Carolina Kinder Development and working with Elizabeth and I am kind of sad to not get to visit them anymore. If you are considering a consult, I highly recommend their practice.
Before I wrap up I wanted to share some tips if you are going to be getting helmet to hopefully help as you begin this journey:
- It will be a lot easier than you expect (assuming you are worrying like me) and probably a lot harder on you than your baby. Try not to stress and think of the negative – keep your eye on the prize of fixing their head.
- Sleep may be difficult for 1-3 nights but it should get a lot better once your little one adjusts and gets used to the helmet. Reese woke a ton the first night but was almost completely back to normal by night two.
- I bathed and washed Reese’s hair every single night and I think that helped a lot with odor. I also cleaned her helmet with a mild baby soap every night or every other night.
- If you need snuggles or want photos of them not in the helmet just TAKE IT OFF. It’s no big deal!
- Dress your baby down during the day and at night so they don’t overheat and avoid staying outside in the heat for long periods of time unless you plan to take it off. At night Reese slept in a long sleeve snap onesie and a cotton sleep sack. She didn’t wear any socks since heat can escape through their feet and that can help them stay cool.
- Have an answer prepared for when you get the question “what is the helmet for?” I found that being prepared made the interaction less awkward and stressful for me. I typically just stated the facts that Reese developed a flat spot from having a tight neck and the helmet was reshaping her head. I also always threw out how common the helmets are these days. In general people were so kind about the helmet and I had lots of moms stop and tell me about their experience with the helmet with their babies.
- Join this Facebook support group as I’ve found it to be so helpful and informative!
I wanted to thank everyone that has encouraged us along the way or reached out to ask about the helmet. We’ve felt so supported and it’s meant so much. If you are going through this experience or just curious about the process please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.