Flat head???

Question

Ok my daughter had a pretty harsh birth. She had to be vacuumed out due to her heart rate dropping and my doctor thinking she would be small when she was actually 8 pound 7 ounces he had to hurry and rip her out. It resulted in her having a cone head and she also favored her right side and from sleeping on her back resulted in her head falling down more to one side. Now my question is for anyone who has experience with this, how long do they have to wear the helmets? My ped didn’t mention a helmet at our last Visit but I’m wondering if I should just ask for one. She is 5 months old. I do plenty of

time but she just roles over. She sits up on her own now so she’s been sitting up for most of the day. Any insight would be nice. Thank you! Her head looks similar to this, slightly worse

Answer

I would ask your pediatrician.  At our little girls 2 month appt our ped noticed she was getting a flat head and immediately put us into physical therapy to strengthen her neck muscles and even them out so at night she doesn’t favor one side.  We did that for 2 months and at her 4 month check up the doctor said her head looks great and for now we don’t need a helmet.  I would definitely trust your gut and have your doctor take a look.

Answer

You should definitely ask for one ASAP. The ideal time to get them is when your LO is about 6-7 months. And it take some time, so you'll want to get the ball rolling. My son will be getting fitted for his soon, waiting on an open appointment.
My bestfriends son had a helmet for about 4 months and it helped immensely. His ears were off by over an inch when he started it. It fixed it almost completely as well as his flatness. He was mad about it for 3 or 4 days then was over it. 
Good luck! 
PS: there are some amazing decals for the helmets online and a woman in california that does epic hand paintings!

Answer

Favoring one side could be torticollis (essentially a tightening of the muscles on one side of the neck, causing baby to favor one side); my son was diagnosed with that at a month old and we started physical therapy shortly after. It helped immensely with his range of motion. Because of the torticollis, my son developed a flat spot on the opposite side from your little one. We got a helmet at 5 months and we wore it for a little over 4 months. They say the ideal starting time is 4-6 months, after that growth slows down a lot. Progress can still be achieved, but it takes longer. 
I will say that if your ped tells you “it will get better on its own,” that typically doesn’t happen. What I’ve heard is that people who try to wait and see still end up helmetting, and then it takes much longer because the growth is much slower. 
Check out the Facebook group “Plagiocephaly and Torticollis Support for babies in Cranial Helmets.” A very helpful and informative group!!

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Flat head???

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