Helmet

Due to her new accessory we've started to call Suzie our SUPER BABY!  

Here is the low down on her helmet.  As I've mentioned in previous posts she was diagnosed at 3 months with torticollis which is a tightening of the neck muscles that results in the baby looking to one side more than the other (super common in twins, especially with baby A).  Her pediatrician told me she had a minor case, but should still receive physical therapy to help correct it.  So we hired a private PT until we could get a free one through the county's Infants and Toddlers program.  The physical therapy has helped her a great deal with the torticollis and she is doing very well with looking to both sides now.  BUT, as a result of her sleeping on mainly one side of her head plagiocephaly (the flattening of the head) set in.  This is a very common side effect of torticollis.  As a result of her head flattening on one side it shifted her jaw forward and cause some asymmetrical facial features.  

At her 6 month well child visit her doctor said it was so minor and with her being a girl once she had longer hair it'd be hardly noticeable.  Since Dave and I were seeing improvement with her range of neck motion and other gross motor skills from the physical therapy we decided not to pursue a helmet.  And then we went on vacation.  We spent that week together and really noticed more asymmetrical features than we had before and knew that if we were going to take the plunge and get the helmet for her it had to be now while she was still growing so it could make enough of a difference to make her wearing it and our paying for it worth while (hows that for a run-on sentence?!).  By the way, helmets cost thousands of dollars that 99% of the time is NOT covered by insurance since it is not deemed medically necessary.  We knew that from the start and that probably did play into our decision a bit not to get it for her at the 6 month mark as well as having a medical professional say it wasn't necessary.

But alas, we didn't want our girl to deal with uneven ears every time she wanted to wear a pair of sunglasses so we set up a consultation, got her fitted and had a cranial shaping helmet made just for her.

First a stocking cap is placed over her head covering her ears

Then reflective dots are strategically placed on

Next the certified orthotist scans her head from every direction to get measurements

Which then show up on the computer to create a model of Suzie's head

 There are different types of helmets our there and I did a bit of research before deciding this one would be best - the Kid Cap.  The helmet is made of hypoallergenic thermoplastic called Durr Plex which is made into the ideal perfect round circle for Suzie's head.  The way it works is to restrict the sides of her head that are already round from growing out any further and allow space for the sides that are flat to grow into the shape of the helmet.  Once she is done wearing it her head will have taken on the perfectly round shape of the helmet.  In order to do that she has to wear it a lot.  We only take it off of her for three 1/2 hour breaks a day and the other 22 1/2 hours it stays on her noggin.  She has had it for a little over 3 weeks now and has not only adjusted well to wearing it, but already shown improvement on the round growth on the back of her head!  The estimated time frame is 3-5 months for her to be in it.  I anticipate she'll still be wearing it when her baby sibling arrives in November.  Once her head has grown into the shape of the helmet she's got a round head for life!  We think it's a pretty good deal.

The white part of the helmet is padding and the holes that are drilled into the helmet are for air flow over the sides of her head that are flatter (which are the front left and back right sides).  The helmet is two pieces fit together by the plastic on the top and a velcro strap that goes around back to secure it in place.

Dave and I are thinking if Halloween comes around and Suzie has her SUPER BABY helmet still on we may just rock this idea - 

Pretty awesome, right?!