Day one: To get adjusted to wearing the helmet you are suppose to only have it on for one hour and then take it off for an hour. He also cannot wear it to sleep, nap, eat, or in the car seat. He may have worn it for a total of five hours this day because drove up to his Grandma's farm.
Day two: Today we wore the helmet for two hours at a time and then took it off for an hour. Again to get adjusted to the weight and the temperature it causes for Porter. We were outside for Drew's softball game and he only had it on for about thirty minutes outside. (If he had it on for longer than that he could've over heated.)
Day two: Today we wore the helmet for two hours at a time and then took it off for an hour. Again to get adjusted to the weight and the temperature it causes for Porter. We were outside for Drew's softball game and he only had it on for about thirty minutes outside. (If he had it on for longer than that he could've over heated.)
Day three: Continuing the pattern today Porter wore the helmet for three hours on and one hour off. He has to take it off for meals because he could shove food up there and for bath time. By the way he now has to have a bath every night to make sure his head gets clean. Went to worlds of fun, this was our first time out in public. Got plenty of stares mainly of people who probably thought my baby was the cutest baby ever!
Day four: Today the helmet was on for 6 hours and we take it off for one hour. He took a nap in the helmet for the first time today. It did not seem to phase him a bit.
Day five: Today the helmet was on all day except for meal times and bath times. He slept both at nap time and through the night in his helmet. He did well in it through the night. He was a little more fussy than usual but I think it was because he is cutting four teeth on the top of his mouth.
Now that Porter wears the helmet all of the time it has been quite interesting to talk to so many people who have children who wore the helmet too. The painting that we had painted on the helmet looks great! We need to find something that can seal it better. We used acrylic sealant but I have read modge lodge works well too.
Cleaning: the helmet must be cleaned every day. We do this while he is bathing. It is cleaned with bath soap and then with rubbing alcohol. We actually have been cleaning Porters helmet in the morning and at night because he is a very sweaty boy and it had kind of a funk to it. That definitely helped once we did that. Any time you go swimming it must be cleaned immediately after. I did not know this and it started to cause a rash that luckily we caught soon after it started.
Drew has access to the calibers and we have our personal orthotists so we can measure whenever. This has pros and cons...we get to check the progress more frequently but when there is no progress it is discouraging.
Drew has measured Porters head twice in 6 weeks. Both times he has not had any growth in the circumference of his head. (Although we do believe it is rounder in some areas.) We need a growth spurt to occur so the flat part of the head can fill in. Although, Porter is growing he has a large head for his body which could cause his head to stay the same while his body is catching up.
So for now we will continue to wear the helmet and pray that the backs of his head will become more symmetrical.
A Cranial Remolding Orthosis is a helmet that babies can wear to help correct an asymmetrical head shape. Porter has a flat spot or "asymmetry" on the back part of his head and to try to make it as symmetrical as possible he will be wearing this helmet for two-three months.
We started to notice the flatness on one side of his head at about three months old. This could have been caused by sleeping on his back. Helmets have become more common now that babies spend most of the time on their backs. There are many factors that could have played a part in causing this, but what we believed caused it is something to consider since I think it could happen to anyone. Every night we would complete our nightly routine: Drew would read from our baby Bible and I would breast feed on the left side and then the right. I would carry Porter into his crib and lay him down the exact same way every time. (Porter slept in his crib at three weeks and slept through the night at about nine weeks, so we did not want to change this routine since it worked!) Laying him down with his head facing the same way every night caused one side of his neck to have more range of flexibility than the other. This is known as torticollis in the medical world. So not only was Porter favoring one side at night in his crib but he was also doing this in his car seat, swing, high chair, etc... This lead to a flatness on one side.
Our pediatrician was not worried at all. She suggested some positioning to try in the crib using a wedge to allow Porter to lean to the other side. Drew is a newly certified orthotist and actually works in the office that fits children for helmets. We decided to take him to the lady in his office who specializes in this area and get her opinion. They measure the distance diagonally across the head on both sides, and compare the difference between the two. This measurement is called the cranial vault asymmetry. Porters asymmetry was 9mm of difference from one side to the other.
This is what it looks like while scanning the head with the "wand." It's actually kind of cool. They scan to get the exact shape and measurements of the head to make a helmet that would perfectly fit the head. (Drew says this is how they make masks for movies and such.) After scanning, this brought up the conversation that his head is still not symmetrical. As parents who want to do what is best for their child we discussed again doing the helmet for Porter. Our deciding factors were it could only benefit Porter in the long run, and since Drew works for the company it would be at no cost to us. We felt this was an opportunity we would regret not taking. Not to mention the timing is good since I am home for the summer and we will not have to put this off on our baby sitter.
We have been given this opportunity to make Porter's head more symmetrical. I know Porter will struggle a little with the change and extra head gear that has to be worn at least 23 hours a day. Please keep Porter in your prayers and I hope this can help other parents prevent this from happening to their baby. Look for more post to come or follow my blog.
We started to notice the flatness on one side of his head at about three months old. This could have been caused by sleeping on his back. Helmets have become more common now that babies spend most of the time on their backs. There are many factors that could have played a part in causing this, but what we believed caused it is something to consider since I think it could happen to anyone. Every night we would complete our nightly routine: Drew would read from our baby Bible and I would breast feed on the left side and then the right. I would carry Porter into his crib and lay him down the exact same way every time. (Porter slept in his crib at three weeks and slept through the night at about nine weeks, so we did not want to change this routine since it worked!) Laying him down with his head facing the same way every night caused one side of his neck to have more range of flexibility than the other. This is known as torticollis in the medical world. So not only was Porter favoring one side at night in his crib but he was also doing this in his car seat, swing, high chair, etc... This lead to a flatness on one side.
Our pediatrician was not worried at all. She suggested some positioning to try in the crib using a wedge to allow Porter to lean to the other side. Drew is a newly certified orthotist and actually works in the office that fits children for helmets. We decided to take him to the lady in his office who specializes in this area and get her opinion. They measure the distance diagonally across the head on both sides, and compare the difference between the two. This measurement is called the cranial vault asymmetry. Porters asymmetry was 9mm of difference from one side to the other.
We were shown stretches to be done at each diaper change to help with the torticollis. These stretches were miserable for our little one and it made your heart break every time we did them. But if we could get his neck more flexible then he would not always favor one side and it would allow the flat side to fill in. We were also told to remove the head support in our car seat that was causing Porters head to be stable in one position, and to move his toys hanging on the car seat to the other side so he would be forced off his flat spot. Porters asymmetry went from a 9mm difference to a 7mm difference. This was only after a few weeks of stretches and small changes in his routine. We were told this is a common measurement for Porter's generation of babies because of the "back to sleep" program. Meaning his head flatness would not be much different than many babies his age, so this may not be something to really worry about.
Around this time Porter started to roll over. He would roll himself over in the middle of the night to sleep on his stomach. We assumed this would help with the flatness...
As Drew became more proficient at his job he was asked to assist in the specialty of cranial remolding or helmets. He was trained on how to evaluate, scan, and fit cranial helmets. Drew wanted to use Porter as a guinea pig to scan like he would any other child being fitted for a helmet.
