How long before he'll adjust to his helmet?

Today was the first day that Conor wore his helmet (3x's 1 hr on followed by 1 hr off). He absolutely hated it and cried for the full hour that he had it on. Tomorrow we're supposed to increase the time to 2 hrs on 1 hr off and I'm so nervous that he'll react the same way.

For those of you that dealt with helmets, how long before your little ones adjusted? He acts like he's in pain and I've noticed that the helmet is crooked on his head (not properly aligned with his eyebrows). I'm wondering if this is normal for him to cry during this adjustment period or if the helmet doesn't fit quite right on his noggin.

 

Sorry to hear about your tough day! The helmet does not have to be straight to be working, if his head needs some aligning then the helmet may appear crooked but that is why it will work (I hope I explained that better than I think I did). Kyle took a couple days to adjust and his fit fine. Keep an eye for any red spots, there should not be any!! I think Kyle fed off my difficulty adjusting, I had to get myself to relax about it then he in turn did the same. Unfortunately I think teething kicked in around the same time because his eating decreased significantly which made for a stressful couple of days.

Change can be scary so some adjustment is completely normal. Just keep your eye out for any tender spots and if you see any then take him in to have it adjusted.


This too shall pass!

 

This is a helmet to fix a mis-shapen head right? Did the Dr. Give it to you? I think my DS is going to need one..

 

I have no exerience with this or advice, but just wanted to send a :hug99: I'm sure you're in for a couple of tough days - just remember he needs this & you're doing what's best for him!!

 

QUOTE(AshleyLD @ Dec 5 2007, 02:27 AM) [snapback]521114[/snapback]
This is a helmet to fix a mis-shapen head right? Did the Dr. Give it to you? I think my DS is going to need one..


Yes, he has a mis-shapen head (plagio). Our ped referred us to a physical therapist who then referred us to a cranial specialist. It was quite an extensive process, but he's now in the helmet. Ask your ped what they recommend. They will most likely recommend PT first to see if there are any signs of torticollis and determine if it can be fixed without the helmet.

 

QUOTE(kj2racing @ Dec 5 2007, 01:55 AM) [snapback]521068[/snapback]
Keep an eye for any red spots, there should not be any!!


This has me curious because the cranial specialist said that there will be some red spots but that they should disappear within 10 mins of taking the helmet off. He has some red spots but they don't go away until at least an hour afterwards. Shouldn't there naturally be some red spots due to the contact of the helmet to the head?

How long did Kyle have to wear the helmet and at what age did he start to wear it?

 

I was never told the 10 minute rule but I guess it does make sense, Kyle never had any tender spots. If they are lasting an hour then I would definitely keep an eye on it. I remembered something that I should have in my initial post, we actually went straight for all day the second day rather than taking it on and off and on and off. I am not sure how his helmet secures but Kyle's had velcro on the side and I discovered that the noise of the velcro bothered him so I was making the situation worse by working up to the total time. The fussing over taking it off and putting it on bothered him the most so the second day leaving it on went much better than the first.

Kyle got his helmet at 4 1/2 months old and wore it for approx 3 1/2 months.

 

Hi there. Evan adjusted to his helmet within 2 days, which was very surprising, given we thought he was our fussier baby. James took 2 weeks or so and he's still not a big fan, but he wears it about 18 hours most days, sometimes more. He's a very active child and a poor sleeper, so the helmet gets in the way. I just try to work within his personality. One day he may only wear it 15 hours but the next day I aim for 20 or 22 to try to balance out the less-than-perfect days.

 

Oh wow, I have never heard of a helmet for a mishapen head..One of my boys, Cade, has a huge flat spot on the right side of his head, in the back...I asked the Pediatrician about it, and he told me he'll grow into it at around 4 months....Cade is now over 3 months, and it hasn't gotten any better..do you think he needs a helmet?

 

The answer really isn't as simple as saying yes or no..........if you are concerned about then you should probably look into potentially seeing a specialist. The way I see it is no matter what happens it is a win win..........if you see someone and you are told he is fine then you have peace of mind that you addressed it, if you see someone and you find out that treatment is the best option then can make arrangements to go forward in a timely manner.

Kyle's story of plagio is posted in the Twinfant essays section here on TS. You can find it here. If you have a few moments it might be helpful to read.

Hope Conor does well today!!!

 

Just wondering how you all are adjusting?

Thinking of you!

 

Thanks for asking!

I took him in yesterday because I just knew that he was super uncomfortable and the red spots weren't going away even after an hour without the helmet. They shaved down 3 problem spots and it seemed to fit better on his head. I put it on this morning (today was the 4 hr on 1 hr off day) and he did great! He didn't cry at all during his first 4 hours and he even napped with it on. The second round went well also and the 3rd was decent. He get's really cranky towards the end of the night, so that coupled with a helmet that he doesn't really like resulted in a lot of crying.

I have noticed, however, that his head is very tilted with the helmet on. We saw a physical therapist and she referred us to the cranial specialist but she said that she also wanted to see him back once a week because his development skills were low for his age. I opted to not go back because I work full time and take off a lot of time for ped appts and now seeing the cranial specialist. Now, I'm wondering if that was a bad decision because the tilt is very noticeable. It's almost like the helmet is heavier on one side. I suppose he could have had a tilt before but now it's just more pronounced.

Did Kyle have any tilting problems? Was his plagio a result of torticollis? Conor seemed to have torticollis when he was younger, but we've worked with him at home to strengthen his muscles and he can now freely turn his head in both directions, however, I'm wondering if these are lingering signs that it hasn't fully resolved itself.

Thanks for checking in on us!

 

Glad to hear it is fitting better and all in all he is adjusting (ughh night time fussiness!!! but it will pass really it will!!).


No, Kyle never had tort and did not have any issues with head tilting. His helmet was as light as a feather and didn't 'weigh' him down. My completely uneducated guess would be that you are right in that the helmet is probably making the tilting more pronounced. You might want to rethink going back at least once so they can evaluate then they could at least give you an idea on some exercises to help.

Just keep remembering that this is a very short time and while right now it is probably consuming your every thought it will not be long before you are coaching someone else here on TS who will go through a similar experience!!!