AIBU to get a helmet fitted for my six month old

[WWYD00]

My beautiful baby boy has positional plagiocephaly. He is six months old. He is just coming to the end of the "perfect" age to get a helmet fitted. His flat spot has been assessed and it is Severe 1. So bad but not horrific.

Treatment is for six months roughly and he will need to wear a helmet for 22/23 hours a day for that period of time. It is a lot of work and a lot of money (£2.5k) but I have the finances to do this for him and the time to dedicate to it. He only has until he is 16 months to have it treated. It will not go away on it's own it will just be less noticeable with his hair and as his head gets bigger. His face shouldn't get any more deformed. It is marginally deformed now but without looking for it you probably wouldn't notice it.

As the back to sleep campaign is only from the 1990s it is hard to find adults with positional plagiocephaly but research seems to suggest whilst there is no brain growth issues there could be developmental issues. This concerns me as I worry he is a late developer anyway. I also worry about the mental aspect of looking different. I was bullied in school, I wouldn't say I am attractive and I would hate my little boy to be on the receiving end of this. Children and adults can be very cruel. Whilst I will get looks and questions about his helmet for six months I would hope my family will understand and most of my friends most likely will. Also during a pandemic who is he likely to see anyway there are no groups etc to go to so no one (strangers I mean) to question me.

So AIBU to get one? Would you/have you done the same. Or have you left it and regret it. To me the money and the timeframe is nothing to a lifetime of people being arseholes towards him.

My husband had a very flat head (huge and wide compared to other people), but it hasn't affected his life in any way! That's why when my dd had an issue, I assumed it was genetic.

I do keep him off his back for everything bar sleeping. He has a pillow for his pram and day naps. I carry him correctly and upright. He only lies down when I have a shower as he is by himself and it is the safest way for him. His safety is paramount.

I have older kids. When they were babies, I was aware of lots of babies who had this condition. As tweens and teens, none of their friends or classmates that I have seen obviously have this condition. I am not sure if this is because the condition resolves itself or because hair hides the problem. I think it is very, very unlikely that your DC will be bullied because of it.

dc had a severe flat head and we decided against the helmet.

• it's not as effective as it's made out to be by the sellers
• other, less invasive, measures seem just as good (physio therapy)
• the cost

we went for one session of private physio. who showed us some exercises to strengthen the back and neck, which we continued at home.
dc is now a teenager and you would never know they ever had a weird shaped head.

Hi
No she never noticed it but was too young to. Think we started at 4 months. And there is evidence it works to the poster who said there isn’t, my daughters head is to start with. We have all the checks we could before we went with it, but we moved really quickly as the younger they start the less time they usually need to w ear it for. My daughters wasn’t caused by lying on her back, was pressure against my pelvis in the womb the midwives and dr said. It is an emotional journey, won’t lie. But it’s easier the moment you get used to the helmet. We still have ours and talk about it with our daughter. She’s fascinated by it. Not going to lie when you start to notice your own child’s head shape you start to notice other children’s and flat heads are really common, so if you don’t go for it don’t worry too much. Good luck x

I was going to post the study published in the BMJ but I see someone already has.

To clarify it showed that at two years of age, there was no difference in the head shape between those who had worn a helmet and those who hadn’t.

Companies who charge such an exorbitant fee take advantage of parents’ anxiety in not wanting to wait and see and tell people it will be “too late by then”.

And positional plagiocephaly may be a marker for developmental delay, not a cause. Babies who have muscle weakness and can’t turn their heads etc. With diligent parents and physio, this can be assessed and treated.

Save your money, wait it out.

My son had one just before 6 months. We went to a place in Leeds.
By 12 months his head was beautifully shaped.
Would it have corrected without a helmet? Maybe.
Could I have forgiven myself if it didn’t and I didn’t try? No
I could afford it, he wasn’t bothered by it at all, there was no question for me really.

It definitely doesn't always correct itself, I know adults with noticeably flat heads. If you have the chance to correct it then you should imo.

We have just shaved our disabled boys hair in a number 4 due to lockdown ......totally regretted it as we'd forgotten how badly shaped his head was !!! Unfortunately he had so many other problems ...a misshapen head was the least of them !!
He is still very disabled..... but I do now look at the poor head and think ....if only we had!!!

Go for it .... people may look but ....for 6 months out of his life ..its nothing

I have sent you a PM *@WWYD00 as I fully expect there are people on here with it no experience and are thinking you are gullible and I don't wish to share our story with them.

One quick thing that many people miss is if it doesn't sort itself out then it isn't just normal flat head babyness and if your child needs glasses it makes it very difficult to have them fit correctly.

Distant relatives in California had this with their son, he had a very funky helmet and within months the issue was resolved. They are both doctors, so I presume it is best advice out there.

Wow, some really harsh comments on here. Unless you've lived it I think you should butt out tbh.

Some kids will have problems which result in a flat head and appear to have no adverse affects.

Hair cut, really?

There is a small window, there is strong cases for not wanting to live with a what if, it's not your money or your child, no one really knows. They don't do any harm, they do lots of good. Think about what you are saying.

My dd has a flat head.
She had a perfectly normal head until she was 6 months.
Then she began to get mobile.
With co-ordination issues.
She literally threw herself at things. Hard to explain, without it sounding awful!
She literally hammered the back of her head flat. We saw several doctors and consultants who said it wont be noticed when she gets hair.
Head measured to be within normal range
Physio for co-ordination.
By age 4, she was wearing a large adult helmet for the width. But we found the bmx style ones much better. She wears a youth size one of those now.
Nobody has ever mentioned her head shape, apart from When we were looking at helmets and they were trying to steer us in the direction of toddlers ones.
It does not bother her at all
Her classmates dont even notice.

So after that essay....
If the medical people think it will help, then try it.
If not, then dont worry and enjoy your beautiful baby.
To quote groove armarda
If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at each other.

I’m confused around why you wouldn’t?

If it were me I wouldn't hesitate. Worse case scenario it doesn't work.

An old friend was in massive denial about her son's head when he was a baby. GP recommend a helmet (they lived in another country) but she refused. He's 11 now and it's very obvious.

I’m a HCP specialising in this area. Helmets don’t work (see link to research by pp). Physio is helpful if torticolis is present. The NHS used to pay for them, until the evidence showed that they are ineffective (approx 20 years ago) so nothing to do with cost.
Beware of taking clinical advice from those with a financial interest. If you are concerned you could ask for a referral to your nearest craniofacial unit.

Also some of the cases described above that didn’t improve may not have been simple plagiocephaly, and may have been a craniosynostosis, which don’t improve untreated.

I know two children with very flat heads. One set of parents went for the helmet with great results. The others didn't. I notice the child with the flat head a lot. He's much older now and I doubt other children notice or say anything but he is yet to reach the teenage years. Sounds like you would regret it if you didn't go for it

My sons head was as flat as a ruler. I got one of those pillows with a gap to take pressure of it and his head was round within a couple of months! Have you tried the pillow? They are very thin and breathable. And if you're really worried you could try only using it during the day with supervision?

My son had a very flat side to his head. Due to reflux he couldn’t sleep on his back and would only settle on one particular side. He saw a craniosacral osteopath and we did exercise to strengthen his muscles so he could be as active as possible. 18 years later he has a beautifully shaped head. Find a good paediatric osteopath who specialises in cranial problems and also a physio before you put him in a helmet that probably won’t work. The osteopath he saw worked at the local GPs surgery

The Nhs just peddles a myth with "tummy time will sort it". It probably wont if it is severe. Nor will it grow out. We believed the paediatrician and eschewed the helmet option to our great regret. Our daughter has developmental delay too and i do wonder if it is connected.

Do it, we did it for our Son after speaking to Paediatricians and trying cranial osteopathy, to no effect. He had a helmet fitted at 6 months, removed at 13 months, he went from having a very flathead which was making his forehead protrude to a perfectly normal shape. He doesn’t remember anything about it, he’s 11 now and we’ve never regretted it for a moment. Good luck OP

My son is now 15 but we had him fitted for one at just over a year old. It is the best decision we made. It was confirmed by the hospital that he had plagiocephaly and the option given to us by them was wait and see if it corrects its self (never going to happen) and if it doesn’t we can operate when he is 18 months old. At that time they said there was no affects on his health despite the fact he had only learned to sit up a couple of months before. Within around a month of having the helmet fitted, he was able to crawl, then pull himself up and after around 2 months he was able to walk. That could all be a coincidence but I don’t believe It was. He still has a slight misalignment now but only I can see it and his glasses need to be adjusted as his ears are slightly out of line. Good luck whatever you decide. 😊

No. Go and see an osteopath instead who specialises in cranial osteopathy for babies.

My son was the worst level. He didn't get a helmet. I couldn't bare to think of anything worse. His head was awful - will have to see if I can find a picture.

Now, aged 6 there is no evidence at all as his hair is long enough to hide it. I probably wouldn't want him to have a shaved head as it still a lot flatter than it should be but as far as day to day goes, no one would know at all.