Royal Childrens Hosp visit tomorrow.. wish me luck!
We finally have our appointment at RCH tomorrow at the Deformational Plagiocephaly Clinic tomorrow. I am beside myself.. some times I feel ok others (like now) I feel stressed...
I dont want my beautiful babies face hidden behind a helmet... I know it for the best but it breaks my heart..worst case senario and may not happen..
I met a gorgeous little boy on Friday who has to wear one of these helmets (he also went to RCH), and his Mum told me that they normally aren't worn past twelve months of age. I know that is nearly seven months of possible helmet (if that's how it goes), but take comfort in knowing its not permanent, but the help it gives is. Bella really is a beautiful little girl, and she won't be hiding under there for long.
Thanks Netix - I know that its not a permanet thing and if thats what she needs then so be it and I know that of she does then its for the best. I guess that I just dont want it to happen to my little girl as does no parent.
Thanks everyone and I will know that you are all thinking of me tomorrow.
So we had our appointment yesterday with the most lovely paed. She looked at Bella and put her dteails onto a chart and she has a score of 5 which is bellow the level of needing a helmet. She did say that a helmet would definatly help her head shape but it was a line ball - it was up to us to committe to a helmet or not.
My husband and I talked about it (well my husband talked I just cried) and we are going to wait another 2 months and see if her headshape improves by itself, as she will be sitting and maybe crawling thus not spending as much time lying.
The Paed was happy for us to wait another 2 months because we go in to see them very early and most bubs dont get into see them will 8 months of age - so we have the time.
The good news is she is very bright and hitting most of her milestones so that shows that her head is purely comsmetic and definaly NOT physical or mental - that was a HUGE sigh of relife!
I feel good about waiting the 2 months - a helmet is a very big thing - MUST be worn for 23 hrs of the day. They are horrible looking and I was just in shock.
But saying that I feel bad - was I just doing it for me?? Am I being SO SELFISH? The paed said that 2 months is not going to waste time and her head shape will not get worse they only ever get better.
I am inclined to not go with the helmet at all - and so is my familiy and when she gets hair will it even be noticable??
BUT
What if I do that for me and then down the track she gets teased?? What if she then hates me?? What if... I doing my head in with all the what if's...
Anyway we will see in 2 months time and if the paed says she would recomend a helmet then we will do it..
Thanks for reading and thanks for all your support!
My DD1 had quite severe plagiocephaly. I apologise in advance if I am repeating advice you have already received as I am not aware of your daughter's circumstances.
We too were given the option of waiting to fit the helmet (at ~5 months old)- and I had the same feelings as you about doing it if it was necessary.
Just a question - Have you noticed any issues with the range of motion of her neck? DD1 was unable to move her head to the left - so she was forced to sleep on the R side of her head thus the flat section. We only noticed this as we were trying to encourage her to look to the L - but she simply couldn't.
We visited a chiro and after 2 weeks (3 visits a week) she had the full range of motion back (apparently this kind of injury can be quite common after birth - I was induced and had a fast and full on delivery and this increases the chance also).
We also encouraged her to look towards the L - using mobiles/pics and rotating her head in her sleep (I did get very stressed/obsessed about it).
The skull started to round out after 2 weeks and honestly 8 weeks later their was a marked difference. 4 months later it was normal - and now you would never know.
I hope things go so well for you - I had previously been a bit of a sceptic as far as alternative therapies go but I am so grateful to the wonderful chiro for helping us with this issue. May be worth investigating some other avenues to assist you.
That is great you have a bit of time up your sleeve to decide. Fingers crossed it straightens up and you don't have to worry about it anymore.
You obviously find the idea of the helmet pretty upsetting, but thinking about the future, surely short term pain is worth the long term gain? How long would she need to wear the helmet for? Sure, they are not pretty, but if it will fix your beautiful little girls skull shape for the rest of her life then perhaps it is worth it......
I dont know if I told you this or not...so forgive me if I have!
Olivia had hip dysplasia and was in a harness from 5 weeks til 8 months. During this time she spent most of the time on her back and her head becam very flat at the back, to the point you could put your han on the back of her head and your flat hand was the shape and she had corners (sounds bad!). We were seeing physio for her harness and we looked at her head movement and she had issues with looking to one side, so we corrected that with approaching her from that side til she could freely look both ways. The other thing was when she started sitting(7months and harness was off during the day) and being on her tummy more, her head slowly. We discussed helmet too and decided to wait and see how it went. It certainly had improved over time and at 2 years old, she still has a little flat spot BUT, being a girl you cant notice it with all her hair. The only time its noticable to us is when we put a beenie on her and it looks a little flat.
So dont be too hard on yourslef that you opted to wait. Things will change, if ever slightly, in 2 months. She will be sitting (even if aided by pillows) she'll probably be on all fours or at least enjoying tummy time. Youre doing a fine job so dont beat yourself up about it. And if she has to go in a helmet, I reckon they are pretty funky and its NOT forever.
Hi Kate, sorry I haven't been on for a few days. I'm really thrilled that Bella's apt went so well, especially that the helmet isn't a 'must-do', and that the paed you had is good.
Like Falguni said, you now have a bit of extra time up your sleeve, which you can use to help decide in which direction you would go with the helmet. I imagine it is a very hard decision to make, and I think that I would be feeling much the same as you, in terms of how much of the decision would be for me and how much for bubs. I honestly couldn't tell you how I'd go.
We're all here for you to bounce ideas off, anytime. Take care. x
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Royal Childrens Hosp visit tomorrow.. wish me luck!
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