In a nutshell, baby A has had torticollis, probably from being head down in my pelvis for quite a while! We noticed that he always looked to the right, so we started physical therapy at 3.5 months and repositioning to try and help his head shape. He is six months old now and his head is still kind of deformed. We had his head scanned at the orthotist and on the severity scale it was a 2.7/5. The physical therapist said that the way his head now is pretty much the way it's going to stay--we won't really notice any changes from here on out. The pediatrician says she never recommends helmets and the kids turn out fine. She said his head will still improve some and with hair, no one will notice. Another ped was at our exam that day and said the same thing. Our ped doesn't think we should spend the $ on a helmet and was surprised at how expensive they are. Everyone has told us it's pretty much up to us if we want to get a helmet or not--it's not medically necessary and it's a personal decision. His face is only slightly affected--you have to look close and think about it to find the asymmetrical characteristics. My question is...for those of you who decided not to get a helmet, did your baby's head improve after 6 months? For now we have decided to just re-scan the measurements to see if there was any change after 4 wks.
My daughter's head was very deformed looking (so much so that they wouldn't even show her to me right away) Anyway, we went to a pediatric chiropractor who did cranial work on her and the improvement has been absolutely amazing. Within a few visits I could see a huge difference. Our Pedi was going to put her in a helmet by the age of 8 mo to a year if there was no change. I am so glad I took her there and she still goes once a month, but they rarely have to do cranial work. It is something to consider if you never have. It has to be a pediatric chiro as they are trained in cranial work unlike others.
Alice's head is still flat on one side. Sadly her hair is fine and thin, so I notice it and I can't put it up in ponytails without it being weird. But it's all cosmetic at this point, and my husband and I are the only ones that notice it. It has gotten better, but it's still there. If I could do it again, I would do a helmet.
One of my boys had this. We talked to the pediatrician at his 6 month visit about it, but he felt we should wait another few months to see if it improved with what we were doing. It didn't and at the 9 month visit he recommended we go get evaluated for a helmet. We actually ended up doing the helmet but since he didn't get it until he was 10 months, we saw very little improvement with the helmet. (I guess this is a late age to start). Anyway, he is almost three now and his head is still quite flat on one side, but it is actually getting a bit better. He got a very short haircut for the summer and I thought it would be very obvious, but it really isn't to anyone who wasn't aware of it. Our pediatrician told us it will continue to round out until between 3 and 4, so we will see what it does. It really isn't too bad, but if i could do it over, I would have done the helmet when he was 6 months. When he did wear it, he didn't even notice it or care it was on. The only downside was the cost. It was expensive. I also know my brother had a flat head as a child and back then they didn't have the helmet option. He is almost 30 now, and still complains that a hat doesn't fit right on his head! And I do notice little things on my son like sunglasses sit a little sideways on his face. Very subtle though. Good luck in your decision!
I second the pediatric chiropractor the boys have both been to the chiropractor twice this week b/c their head are extremely flat. I have seen a drastic change over the last week in the shape of their heads. If that does not help I would go to a specialist and see what they say. The longer you wait the less it will help and the longer they have to wear the helmet
Thanks everyone...so for those of you who go to a pediatric chiro...how old are/were your babies? Is it too late that mine is 6 mos now?
I did a bunch of research on this because we thought my daughter had plagiocephaly. If I were you I'd insist on a referral to a cranio-facial specialist and get an expert opinion. They can only do the helmet until a certain age. I would just want the peace of mind.
I can't edit because I'm on my phone, but what I meant is that the helmet is only an option till about a year old. After that the only option is surgery. I personally would want the peace of mind that I got the expert's opinion on what the outlook is for the baby's permanent structure.
The twins were 4.5 months when they started so not too much older but the closer to a year that you get the less it will help.
we did it-Milo was baby A, had torticollis and got flat on one side. we put milo in a doc band helmet at @ 4.5 months. its been 6 weeks so far, and the change is remarkable! we have about 3 weeks left, I am glad we did it and I'd do it again. Our insurance paid 100% of it though.
