They decided the helmet couldn't hurt him and could only help. John Teichgraeber, a plastic surgeon who is co-director of the University of Texas Cleft-Craniofacial Team. The doctor suggested more supervised "tummy time." When things did not change by the time Mason turned six months, the doctor recommended a helmet. Mason's pediatrician told them Mason would probably grow out of it. "I had to have his doctor put my hands on Mason's ears and show me how his head was uneven."īecause Mason's head was flat on the right side, it caused the left side of his forehead above his eye, to protrude, she discovered. "We didn't see anything wrong with him at all we thought he was perfect, which he is," Laura Byrd said. The Byrds didn't notice Mason's flat spot until family members pointed it out. "I want to tell parents that the helmet does work," said Jodi Vogan, whose daughter Lauren, now 22 months, wore her helmet, decorated with flowers and butterflies, for four months. To the Byrds and other parents, they are. It added that more studies are needed to see if the helmets are worth the cost. They have two choices: do nothing and hope their babies' heads round out naturally, or buy a $3,000 helmet that often is not covered by insurance.Īdding to their confusion, a 2003 AAP clinical report said the helmets are "beneficial primarily when there has been a lack of response" to exercises and repositioning the baby. And parents don't know what to do about it. Since then, SIDS deaths have been cut nearly in half, but babies have a new problem - flat and sometimes asymetrically shaped heads. In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics urged parents to lay newborns on their backs instead of their stomachs to prevent sudden infant death syndrome. See our link here.Mason is one of an increasing number of babies who have what doctors describe as "positional plagiocephaly" - a flat spot on the back or side of a baby's head.Īll Laura and Darin Byrd did was follow the doctor's orders - have their baby sleep on his back. Helmet therapy is another treatment option for some babies. Teach them to correct their head or orient to midline against gravity.Teach them to use both hands equally and take weight through their arms when on their tummy.Improve your child’s ability to lift their head up when on their tummy.Improve your child’s ability to turn their head side to side.This treatment will help remold your baby’s head shape and is most effective if done when your baby is still very young, as the plates in their skull start to fuse from around 9 months of age. We will show and guide you with specific positioning exercises and if there is tightness in your baby’s neck, we will teach you neck stretches. Developmentally, we find they develop a hand preference, prefer to roll over one side and find pushing up into crawling on both arms more challenging. In severe cases of plagiocephaly, it may affect the child’s ability to perceive depth correctly, due to one eye being positioned more forward than the other. If it is severe it can cause issues with fitting reading glasses or sunglasses, bike helmets, and hats. What are the effects of a baby having a misshapen head? This is called Craniosynostosis which is estimated to occur in 1 in 2000 births and will require medical intervention. This is the result of early joining (fusing) of two of the skull plates. Very occasionally a baby’s head shape does not fit into one of these three categories. Scaphocephaly is the flattening of both sides of the baby’s head making it look long and narrow.Brachiocephaly is the flattening across the back of the baby’s head and this often causes the head to look wider.This is the most common type and is often associated with your baby having a torticollis. forehead and ear is pushed forward compared to the other side. You may notice that one side of your baby’s face is slightly more forward than the other e.g. Plagiocephaly is the flattening of one side of the baby’s head.
Sometimes babies go on to develop ‘flat spots’ which if not identified and managed early can be difficult to correct. This normally corrects within the first six weeks after birth.
Babies are often born with a misshaped head from being in your womb (uterus) or from moving through the birth canal during delivery.
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