This is the last helmet update because it came off for the last time today. It was a bit scary tonight and there were a few gasps as Ben had some close calls near the corners of the furniture in the family room. His grandma and great grandma in heaven had their hands full watching him tonight; we made it all the way to bed unscathed. It is so much nicer snuggling with him before bed without it on. Although now it is really obvious he needs a haircut!
I think that Ben had the fastest doctor’s appointment in all time today. He had an appointment with his neurologist today to look at his progress and decide how much longer he needed to wear the helmet. We arrived about 20 minutes early because I didn’t know how traffic would be and we were out the door 15 minutes later (5 minutes before we were even supposed to be there)! I could hardly believe it. Ben was a little annoyed with the hour long car ride to the doctor’s office, so I was expecting at least an hour of waiting to add to the fun!
So anyway, the net of it is that the doctor wants Ben to wear the helmet for one more month and then he is done! We aren’t sure that this is a good thing. You should see all the scratches on his helmet. It is done a good job of protecting him during his super-hero training. We’re not looking forward to the first few hundred bumps without his force field!
So we had a visit with the helmet technician today. It couldn’t have been better news. So they measure diagonally across his head in both directions. At the beginning, he had a 1/2 inch difference in the measurements. Now the difference is only 1/4 inch. So the tech said that we only have a month or so to go before we can be done with the helmet! Believe it or not, that is going to be good and bad. Good for all the obvious reasons, but bad for Ben because he has become a little too accustom to the protection. Now when he has the helmet off, something just grazes near his head and he goes off the deep end. So being without it may be more of an adjustment then being with it.
So Ben is doing just fine adjusting to life with the helmet. He whined the first couple days when we put it on him, but he could care less now. You can see some pictures of him with it on here.
Although I have to warn you, watch out if you are holding him, he knows how to use that thing!!!
Hello all. It has been a very long time since I have posted, but we have been plenty busy taking care of our little guy. This is a long story, but I will try to make it short. Any recent parent (or grandparent) knows that we have been told to put our infants to sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS. The “Back to Sleep” campaign has been credited with decreasing the number of SIDS babies. However, it has also caused an eight-fold increase in the number of infants who develop flat spots on their heads. What made this even more likely that Ben would have problems is that he was born with a condition called Torticollis, which basically means that one of his neck muscles was shorter than it should have been causing him to tilt his head to one side. This stems from the cramped quarters the baby is in while in the womb. Since he favored one side, he spent most of his time lying on the same spot on his head, causing a flat spot, or Positional Deformational Plagiocephaly. There is lots of information about this condition online. We didn”t notice this until he was a couple months old, but looking back at the pictures, it is clear as day. So Ben has been seeing his pediatrician about this since he was two or three months old. We waited at first with the hope that as he became more mobile, he would not be on that spot as much and his head would round out. Unfortunately it never did, so about a month ago, we were referred to a Neurologist who recommended that we put Ben in a Cranial Helmet. This helmet applies pressure on the opposite corners of his head as the flat spot. It is not meant to squeeze the head to change its shape. I’ll quote the brochure for the helmet because I think they state it best.
It corrects an abnormal head shape through application of a mild dynamic force in the baby’s prominent areas. This mild force inhibits the growth of the already prominent areas and encourages growth in the flattened areas.
So the shape of the inside of the helmet itself is the goal, nice and round.
Ben received his helmet this past Thursday and this week, we are in the ramp-up period in which he wears it more each day. Starting this coming Thursday, he will be wearing it 23 hours a day for at least three months. We will be going in at least monthly for adjustments, and at the end of the three months we will make a decision if he is making progress and stands to make more progress by extending the treatment.
Anyway, we wanted everyone to know what was going on with Ben. You’ll be happy to know that he is adjusting very well to the helmet and is as happy and cute as ever. If there was ever a good time to be in a helmet, this would be it. He is all over the place and on the verge of standing up. We have already been saved from some tears when he took a dive and the helmet took the majority of the hit. So if you see any pictures posted with him in a helmet, it isn’t because he is trying out for the Red Wings (although they may need some new players next year!!!).
