Helmets... the new fad

I had mentioned in a previous post about the potential of Cooper getting a helmet due to his head being flat.... we have decided to go forward with it.

I am going to give a little background and explanation on the whole process. Honestly I am only explaining this to the whole blog world because a) it gives all the detail to my family and b) it will explain all the questions that people are bound to have when they see the inevitable pictures on here of our sweet little boy. (If you aren't interested in the details and prefer the "picture book" edition, go to the bottom :))

First off, Cooper was breech at 28 weeks and never changed position. My water broke at almost 31 weeks and he was left inside without much fluid for swimming for 3 weeks :)

Cooper was diagnosed with torticollis at 2 months and has been seeing a PT weekly for this.

“Torticollis, which means the neck muscles are too tight, have inadequate tone, or are shorter on one side than the other, causing the head to tilt one way while the chin points in the opposite direction.”

The causes of congenital torticollis…
- If there's too much or too little amniotic fluid…. CHECK
-Intrauterine malposition is considered to cause damage … a breech baby whose head gets wedged under the mother's ribs…. CHECK

Plagiocephaly (the assymetical shaping of a childs head) is reported as a coexisting impairment in 80% to 90.1% of children with congenital torticollis. The flattening (plagiocephaly and/or brachycepahly) of the head can be caused due to different reasons, here is a list from some literature we have received…

-Infants with torticollis have a higher risk for plagiocephaly ... CHECK
-Premature babies are more prone to positional plagiocephaly… their skulls are softer than those of full-term babies, and they spend a great deal of time on their backs… Cooper was 6 weeks early … CHECK
- The most common cause of a flattened head is a baby's sleep position. Because an infant sleeps so many hours on the back of his or her head, the head sometimes assumes a flat shape. Cooper has been an AMAZING sleeper since early on… CHECK
-“When not in the car it is imperative that you keep your baby out of the car seat whenever possible. Car carriers and car seats have one of the most dramatic impacts on your baby’s head shape.” (GREAT! Wish someone would have told me this, I bragged on how great of a sleeper Cooper was and how until 6 months old when we had something planned, I would just put him awake in his carrier and sit it by the back door and he would fall asleep without a peep and then I could just pick him up and put him in the car when Will and I were going somewhere!) … CHECK

(Let’s hope he passes tests this well in school one day!)

The number of positional plagiocephaly cases increased sixfold from 1992 to 1994, occurring in approximately 33 out of every 10,000 births. This dramatic increase started when the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) began its "Back to Sleep" campaign, which continues to recommend that babies sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of SIDS.

They measured Coopers head and there is a scale placing the symmetry as mild, moderate, and severe. He measured on the upper end of moderate. “A cranial remolding orthosis or helmet is a device that will help to reshape a baby’s head… by guiding the growth of the head. The cranial remolding helmet does not actually remold the head as the name implies, but rather, it will make contact with the “higher spots” of the head and leave relief in the lower areas so that the head will “fill in” these areas. This technique will, with growth, guide the shape of the head into improved symmetry.” An infant's skull is made up of six separate cranial bones. These bones are held together by strong, fibrous, elastic tissues called cranial sutures. The spaces between the bones where the sutures are (sometimes known as "soft spots") are called fontanelles. They are a part of normal development. The cranial bones remain separate for about 12-18 months. They then grow together (fuse) as part of normal growth. They stay fused throughout adulthood. Head growth occurs at its most rapid rate during the first year of life. The head grows to almost 80 per cent of the adult size during the first year, then grows at a slower pace.

Cooper will have the helmet for around 6 months. As any parent knows kids hit growth spurts at all different times and then will go for some time without much growth. The same is true with the head. We will just wait and see how quickly his head grows, reshapes and fuses. We obviously had to make the decision to do this now since there is a short window for us to reshape his head. I did not want to think a year or ten years from now “man I wish we would have done something for him, his head looks strange.” Especially being a boy who will have short hair it would have been more obvious. He will wear the helmet 23 hours a day.

But, GOD IS GOOD. He never gives us more than we can handle and always helps us stand up underneath life’s situations when we rely on him. Last year I babysat two children from church every other week while their mother worked. And the little boy had to have a helmet from 6-12months. So, I have seen and dealt with it first hand. I guess God was preparing me for this! They tell you that the babies really adapt to it and it is the parents who have more of an issue with them wearing it. I think I would be concerned about how Cooper would adapt to it had I not had the opportunity to see this little boy rarely be phased by wearing it.

A funny/ironic thing… The little boy I watched was named Adam, and Will just LOVED him and still does when we see him at church. The whole time I was pregnant Will said he wanted to name the baby Adam. After Cooper was born and we told Will his name was “Cooper,” he said “No, it is Adam.” When we brought Cooper home from the NICU Will asked when and if Cooper would get a helmet. It was pretty cute and funny to us at the time that he thought all babies got helmets. Well, here we are and Cooper IS getting a helmet! And so, God prepared our sweet Will for this too! He does not think it odd and is ready to explain to people that his “head is flat.”

Today when I picked up Will from a friends while we had the appointment to get the helmet his first response was "that's pretty cool... can we decorate it with markers?" :) Wills bike helmet is made my crayola and has special markers that you can decorate and redecorate it with. When we get home he wanted to put his helmet on and take a picture with Cooper.

I admit that my mothers heart is hurting today as we start this process. I KNOW he won't remember it. I KNOW that it is good for him in the long run. I KNOW that people will stare but at least he is so young that he won't understand the stares. But it still breaks my heart. I LOVE LOVE LOVE kissing and smelling my kiddos heads (weird I know but I honestly do it MANY times a day to both of them). And now, I can't get to his little head AND it is going to stink :(. We will clean it daily, but as you can imagine 23 hours a day for about 6 months in the heat of the summer is going to get pretty nasty. The man today said that if I come in and it doesnt' stink then he knows we haven't been having him wear it. We break him into wearing it full time over 5 days. So, today when I took it off after 1 hour his head was DRENCHED! And those who know me well know that I have a crazy strong sniffer!! ohhh goodness! :) I ordered some rosemary mint antibacterial wipes from Bath and Body Works that I am hoping will help.

Thank you for your love, prayers, and concern for our sweet little Cooper. He is quite the Trooper!

Wheeew! How many of you actually read all of that?

Now, any smart remarks I can use for people who ask and look in public?! :) My sister said to just tell them I am overprotective and don't want to hurt his head. Maybe I can just have Will wear his bike helmet every time we go out so that we look really good :)

And now, you don’t think I am actually going to post without pictures huh! …

Two pictures showing his torticollis, he leaned to his right and back.

A few shots showing how flat it is

And then from the top, I think it looks like a trapezoid :)

He wore little sensors all over his head and face.

They performed a scan that then fed to some computer program making a replica of his head... it was pretty amazing to see it on the computer screen. It is like motion capture... how they filmed Polar Express and (via Pat) how they make video games. With the scan they make a mold of his head (the cream color) and then fill in the gaps making a "perfect" head (white) and that is what the helmet is made from. Thus he helmet sits where the cream color is and there is growth room where the white is.

Our sweet boy

Velcro strap to close it.

I think he looks like a football player.

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