The Helmet

I have dreaded having to do this post but the time has come. At six weeks old we noticed Eli's head starting to get flat on he back left side. We talked to the Doctor and learned that one side of his neck was stronger than the other causing him to favor the one side when he slept, laid down, turned his head, etc. We worked with him but the flatness did not get better. Because the back portion is flat it is causing the front opposite side to also flatten out which changes the whole shape of the skull which can result in the ear/eye asemitry, etc. We were refereed to a craniologist Dr. who diagnosed Eli with a moderate combination of brachycephaly (where the head is wider than tall) and plagiocephaly (where the head has asymmetrical distortion (flattening of one side) of the skull) and recommended Eli get a helmet to correct the shape of his head. We knew this was something we needed to do, especially if Eli was going to wind up with Luke's hairdo someday! :)

Eli has had his helmet for one week now. The first week was the "transition" period where they get used to and work up to wearing it 23 hours a day. Since Saturday he has been wearing it all day and all night. Eli is such a happy baby and is doing really well with the helmet and really does not mind it at all. The worst part about it is that his head sweats SO much! They asid after the first two weeks the head will adjust and not sweat as much, which is something I am looking forward to! That has got to be so hot for the little guy! I am thankful he is so young and doesn't know any better to mind that he is wearing a helmet. He has to wear the helmet for 4-6 months. There is space in the helmet where his head is mis-shape/flat so that as it grows it will fill in in those areas.

When I walked into Eli's initial appointment, 4-6 weeks ago, and saw all the babies with helmets in the waiting room I wanted to start crying. I thought, "this isn't my baby needing this." From our initial appointment it took about 4-6 weeks for Eli to get his helmet. Ever since then I have been stressed about it. I didn't want people to think I had dropped him on his head or there was something really wrong with him. I was worried too much what people would think or that they would just ignore Eli. After the first day of going out with him in public I quickly got over those feelings. Although we do get quite a few looks people are still very kind. I have been able to develop a better perspective on the whole situation and know that it is the best thing for Eli and as long as we are comfortable with it it doesn't matter what other people think about it.

Emma thinks the helmet is the coolest thing ever and wants one herself! Luke has an old bike helmet in the attic he has been promising to get down for her so she can have a helmet too!

Since the 1990's parents have been urged to lay their children on their backs to sleep to reduce the risk of SIDS. The rate of SIDS deaths has decreased by 40% (which is GREAT) but the number of babies with plagiosephaly has skyrocketed from 1 in 300 to 1 in 60 babies. For more information you can visit: http://www.cranialtech.com/