Re: Got our helmet today-on our way to correcting brachycephaly

[Guest guest]

Hi Janna!

Congrats; he is on his way! How old is Kellan again? I think the

earlier you start the better and more complete the correction can

be. My ds was 9 mos. old when he started wearing it for severe

brachy and we started to see improvement within 4 wks time. I found

it really helpful to me to take my own digital pics every 4 wks. I

put his before & afters in Before & After/STARband/Colin F. His head

seemed to grow out from the bottom up. He still has some flattening

in the middle section. He wore it for 11 wks. Could he have gone

longer in it? Probably yes. However, we were satisfied with the

correction he acheived and chose to end treatment in about 3 mos.,

time just short of his 1 yr. birthday.

Th helmet wiggles more than you would expect becasue they don't have

alot for it to " grab " onto near the nape of their neck. That should

improve in a few wks.

Have fun decorating!

Sue

Colin F., 1 yr. old

brachy, STARband grad

--- In Plagiocephaly , " babykellan " <babykellan@y...>

wrote:

>

> Our son Kellan was fitted with his helmet this afternoon. It went

> well, with a few adjustments needed. There is more wiggle room in

> the helmet than I would have expected but I guess that is room to

> grow. We want to do everything right of course, to get the best

> outcome. First follow up is in one week. Tonight, while he

adjusts

> we decorate!

>

> If anyone else has any info on their helmet experience and the

> outcome with brachycelphaly....I would love to hear about it! I

have

> heard this is harder to correct. He has moderate flattening across

> the back and a prominent, sloping brow. I get the idea that they

> focus primary on getting the back to round out.

>

> I hope it doesn't take us too long to get used to this and that we

> put in on right every time!

>

> Janna

[Guest guest]

Kellan was 5 months old on the 10th. He is a big boy though, 25

pounds etc. and I hope he keeps on growing so that we can get good,

fast correction.

I will definitely be taking lots of photos....it's the only way to

really see the actual progess I suppose.

Thanks again for all of the support and I will definitely go look for

your son's pictures...sounds like a similar situation. I will try to

post some photos tomorrow.

Janna

> >

> > Our son Kellan was fitted with his helmet this afternoon. It

went

> > well, with a few adjustments needed. There is more wiggle room

in

> > the helmet than I would have expected but I guess that is room to

> > grow. We want to do everything right of course, to get the best

> > outcome. First follow up is in one week. Tonight, while he

> adjusts

> > we decorate!

> >

> > If anyone else has any info on their helmet experience and the

> > outcome with brachycelphaly....I would love to hear about it! I

> have

> > heard this is harder to correct. He has moderate flattening

across

> > the back and a prominent, sloping brow. I get the idea that they

> > focus primary on getting the back to round out.

> >

> > I hope it doesn't take us too long to get used to this and that

we

> > put in on right every time!

> >

> > Janna

[Guest guest]

Hi Janna,

My son was diagnosed with severe brachycephaly. His head was

so flat in the back, it was very wide on the sides, and the top

sloped down a lot. His head was/is actually wider from side to side

than it is from back to front. His cephalic ratio (length to width)

has gotten better. A normal baby is about 78%. He started at 101%. He

is now at 97%. He has been in the band for about 2 months now. He has

outgrown this one, and is getting his 2nd one in a few weeks. We

noticed the back filling out a little within the first week or two.

We were so excited. He has had great progress, but we still have a

way to go. There is a nice fullness in the back where the flat spot

was, but the area of where the soft spot was is still pretty flat.

The clinician said that that area will probably stay a little flat

since it was flattended during the closing. I am ok with that. The

wideness has gotten better too. Not perfect, but better. As far as

the sloping that has gotten better, but not enough to make me feel

content with not getting another band. Hopefully with the 2nd band

we will see even more progress. How old is Kellan, and what state do

you live in?

Marcy & (6 1/2 months)

DOC Band baby in NJ

Brachycephaly

--- In Plagiocephaly , " babykellan " <babykellan@y...>

wrote:

>

> Our son Kellan was fitted with his helmet this afternoon. It went

> well, with a few adjustments needed. There is more wiggle room in

> the helmet than I would have expected but I guess that is room to

> grow. We want to do everything right of course, to get the best

> outcome. First follow up is in one week. Tonight, while he

adjusts

> we decorate!

>

> If anyone else has any info on their helmet experience and the

> outcome with brachycelphaly....I would love to hear about it! I

have

> heard this is harder to correct. He has moderate flattening across

> the back and a prominent, sloping brow. I get the idea that they

> focus primary on getting the back to round out.

>

> I hope it doesn't take us too long to get used to this and that we

> put in on right every time!

>

> Janna

[Guest guest]

Hi Marcy. Kellan is 5 months old. His cephalic ratio is 92% which

they said was moderate. The sloping wasn't such a big deal to our

orthotist. It really bothers me though. I can see in photos of him

with our friends baby, that they look so different, but he had a lot

of sloping at birth, probably from uterine constraint. I am really

encouraged that you saw some progress within a few weeks. He wore the

helmet well yesterday for three hours. By next week he will be

wearing it all day and I am so excited to see positive changes. They

didn't mention a second band to us, and Kellan is big, so I know he

is going to keep growing fast. They said that they would like his

cephalic ration to be at least down to 85%. They said 80% was ideal,

someone else said 78% so that makes sense. I guess going from 92% to

85% will be pretty noticeable.

Does anybody else have a baby with a very prominent brow? Does it

really flatten out as they grow? Our son was born with this as well

as the sloping and the Pediatric neurosurgeon said that this all

contributed to him ending up with the brachy.

We live in St. Louis so we are going to Prescision Prosthetics and

Orthotics. http://www.ppoinc.com/press.htm

They have been really good to us and our insurance is supposed to pay

80% so I am really thankful.

Janna

> >

> > Our son Kellan was fitted with his helmet this afternoon. It

went

> > well, with a few adjustments needed. There is more wiggle room

in

> > the helmet than I would have expected but I guess that is room to

> > grow. We want to do everything right of course, to get the best

> > outcome. First follow up is in one week. Tonight, while he

> adjusts

> > we decorate!

> >

> > If anyone else has any info on their helmet experience and the

> > outcome with brachycelphaly....I would love to hear about it! I

> have

> > heard this is harder to correct. He has moderate flattening

across

> > the back and a prominent, sloping brow. I get the idea that they

> > focus primary on getting the back to round out.

> >

> > I hope it doesn't take us too long to get used to this and that

we

> > put in on right every time!

> >

> > Janna