Re: Repositioning Time Frame

[Guest guest]

Hi ...My turned a year old on Friday and I have been

repositioning her since she was about 3 1/2 months old. Babies

heads are shapeable until probably close to 2 years. If you

consider some children get banded at to 18 months of age and get

good correction, then it pretty much follows that if you are

repo'ing, you will have to be careful for quite a while. I still

look in on every night before I go to bed to make sure she is

not sleeping on her flat spot. More often than not, she is not

sleeping on it, but I don't want to miss the one time she does. You

didn't put all that time and spend all that energy repo'ing only to

let it go too soon and have a regression, however small the

chances. On the bright side,repo'ing becomes a habit, a natural

part of your daily life that it isn't really like work anymore at

this age. Keep up the good work repo'ing Garrett. Do you have any

pictures in our photo's section? I would love to see the progress

you and Garrett have made. BTW, way to go, achieving good repo

results while dealing with tort as well. In many cases, tort makes

effective repositioning nearly impossible. It really says something

about your dedication that you were able to do that. Keep us

updated on how things are going!

Becky ('s mom) in Pgh, PA

--- In Plagiocephaly , " Pike " <jackalope@p...>

wrote:

> Hi All,

> I am mom to 9 1/2 month old Garrett who has tort and plagio.

> We've been going to physical therapy since 3 months and I've been

> doing repositioning as well as home therapy. Just curious how

long

> you all keep repositioning. At what age does his skull harden

> enough that my repositioning is having no effect?

> The back of his head has rounded out nicely with time. Only

> thing that I notice with his new head shape is it is a little tall

> towards the back. He never had facial assymetry that I noticed.

I

> lay him on his side when he goes to bed and no longer has any

sleep

> positioners. Because we've been sleeping him on his side so long,

> that is his natural position though he does shift onto his flat

side

> from time to time.

> & Garrett TX

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Welcome to the group. I commend you for repoing for so long.

Usually the AAP recommends repo up until 5 months and then says go

with helmet therapy. However, if the case is mild and responding to

repo then that timeline can be modified. What have you discussed

with your ped? Have you set any timelines for correction, i.e. if

Garrett's headshape is not what you want it to be forever by XX

months then you will look into alternatives? Have you been referred

to a specialist? You said you were doing at home therapy - is that

for Garrett's neck? We have some great stretching and strengthening

tips for neck muscles in the files section under torticollis help.

I see you are in TX. Cranial Technologies has a clinic in Dallas

where they will do a free evaluation. Here is the contact info ...

Cranial Technologies, Inc.

Concorde on the Creek

6750 Hillcrest Plaza Dr. #200A

Dallas, TX 75230

Phone: 972-239-3555

Toll Free: 866-239-0626

Fax: 972-239-4011

Clinician: Todd, OTR

Clinician: Amy Gallagher, OTR

Clinician: Mosher, MSPT

Clinician: Mendy Newton, OTR

Clinician: Stooksberry, OTR

They will tell you he is too mild if needed. To access his severity

on your own you can use the CT worksheets ...

http://www.cranialtech.com/medicalinfo/identifyplagio.html

I really don't want to sound like a band is the only way to go. As

Becky stated she is having great success with . Christie one of

our other moderators had great repo success with her dd, Remy.

I just know that some parents wish they had acted sooner. If you are

happy with his head shape and if it didn't get any better all would

be OK then I say continue repo. If you would like to see a lot of

improvement or are very concerned I would bring it up with his dr

(you may need to make a special appointment since I imagine you have

already had the 9 month check-up). Have the ped refer you to a

specialist or directly to CT. Cranial Technologies also has a

licensed clinic in Houston but I don't believe they do free

evaluations.

Orthotic & Prosthetic Associates

25325 Borough Park Dr., #210

The Woodlands, TX 77380 (Houston)

Phone: 281-296-8448

Fax: 281-296-8858

Clinician: Bob Cook, LO, BOC

Clinician: Barbara Farley, LO, BOC

If you would like to post some pics for us to help you access the

severity please feel free. Take pics from top view, sides, front and

back. The DOC Band B & A pics give good examples of the angles.

Please let us know if you have anymore questions.

mom to na

DOC Grad

SC

--- In Plagiocephaly , " Pike " <jackalope@p...>

wrote:

> Hi All,

> I am mom to 9 1/2 month old Garrett who has tort and plagio.

> We've been going to physical therapy since 3 months and I've been

> doing repositioning as well as home therapy. Just curious how long

> you all keep repositioning. At what age does his skull harden

> enough that my repositioning is having no effect?

> The back of his head has rounded out nicely with time. Only

> thing that I notice with his new head shape is it is a little tall

> towards the back. He never had facial assymetry that I noticed. I

> lay him on his side when he goes to bed and no longer has any sleep

> positioners. Because we've been sleeping him on his side so long,

> that is his natural position though he does shift onto his flat

side

> from time to time.

> & Garrett TX

[Guest guest]

Hi , welcome to our group. Good job on your repo'ing efforts!

We would all love to see Garrett! Please let us know if you have any

other questions. There is a great amount of info. on our website and

the nicest people you will find....

Sue

Colin F., 1

STARband grad 9/15/04

Buffalo, NY

--- In Plagiocephaly , " Pike " <jackalope@p...>

wrote:

> Hi All,

> I am mom to 9 1/2 month old Garrett who has tort and plagio.

> We've been going to physical therapy since 3 months and I've been

> doing repositioning as well as home therapy. Just curious how long

> you all keep repositioning. At what age does his skull harden

> enough that my repositioning is having no effect?

> The back of his head has rounded out nicely with time. Only

> thing that I notice with his new head shape is it is a little tall

> towards the back. He never had facial assymetry that I noticed. I

> lay him on his side when he goes to bed and no longer has any sleep

> positioners. Because we've been sleeping him on his side so long,

> that is his natural position though he does shift onto his flat

side

> from time to time.

> & Garrett TX

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

It's very nice to hear that Garrett is seeing such good success with

repo! Are you satisfied with the results if you weren't to see any

more rounding? At over 9 months, you are basically at the

crossroads where it would be best to pull the trigger on banding if

you really desire significant correction over what you have

already. It sounds like from your post, however, that you are

pleased and would like to continue repo efforts for as long as

results are feasible. I can share that in my own daughter's case,

Remy did receive a teeny bit more rounding from 9 to 11 months

during our continued aggressive repo efforts. After 11 months,

improvement was very difficult to detect, but we continued all repo

efforts until she was about 13 months of age for good measure. Even

after we officially stopped all repo, we made a sleep surface change

when Remy was 14 months which I feel continued to help... she would

not stay in her crib anymore, so we moved her to a soft futon - a

much softer sleep surface overall than the hard crib mattress. Like

your son, Remy adopted side and then stomach sleeping after we

started our repo efforts as her preferred sleep position.

I did want to point out that even though we saw no further rounding

out of her formerly flat area after 11 months, or so, Remy did

receive additional overall correction. Her head elongated even more

from front to back, making for a more aesthetically pleasing

appearance (she was a brachy/plagio combo), and some bulges over her

ears got smaller. It's important to notice that correction can take

place in other areas besides the perceived problem areas - we were

ecstatic to notice this additional improvement at 18 months of age

when I took some additional progress photos.

Sometime repositioning of a plagio baby constantly off of the flat

side and onto the same point of the bulging side can result in

increased head height. By " holding " the bulging side, you will

succeed in making the back of the head more even in appearance, but

may inadverdently increase the head height. I'm not sure if that is

what is happening to Garrett, or if he has always has had that bit

of head height. The way to avoid increasing head height during repo

is to rotate the point of contact on the bulging side that you are

repo'ing on.

Do you have any updated progress photos you could share in the

photos/before and after/repositioned folder? We could use some more

company in there!

Take care,

Christie (Mom to Repo'd Remy)

--- In Plagiocephaly , " Pike " <jackalope@p...>

wrote:

> Hi All,

> I am mom to 9 1/2 month old Garrett who has tort and plagio.

> We've been going to physical therapy since 3 months and I've been

> doing repositioning as well as home therapy. Just curious how

long

> you all keep repositioning. At what age does his skull harden

> enough that my repositioning is having no effect?

> The back of his head has rounded out nicely with time. Only

> thing that I notice with his new head shape is it is a little tall

> towards the back. He never had facial assymetry that I noticed.

I

> lay him on his side when he goes to bed and no longer has any

sleep

> positioners. Because we've been sleeping him on his side so long,

> that is his natural position though he does shift onto his flat

side

> from time to time.

> & Garrett TX

[Guest guest]

,

I'm glad to hear that Garrett's head has rounded out nicely. I see

you've received some good advice, especially from our two moderators

that have had success with repositioning. Are you happy with his

current headshape? If you are, I would continue to repo to avoid

regression. If you have any concerns about his increased head

height you may want to discuss them with a specialist and see what

they say.

Take Care,

Dianna

Mom to

DOC Band 9/13

plagio/brachy

In Plagiocephaly , " Pike " <jackalope@p...>

wrote:

> Hi All,

> I am mom to 9 1/2 month old Garrett who has tort and plagio.

> We've been going to physical therapy since 3 months and I've been

> doing repositioning as well as home therapy. Just curious how

long

> you all keep repositioning. At what age does his skull harden

> enough that my repositioning is having no effect?

> The back of his head has rounded out nicely with time. Only

> thing that I notice with his new head shape is it is a little tall

> towards the back. He never had facial assymetry that I noticed.

I

> lay him on his side when he goes to bed and no longer has any

sleep

> positioners. Because we've been sleeping him on his side so long,

> that is his natural position though he does shift onto his flat

side

> from time to time.

> & Garrett TX