Any Suggestions? Son Gets Helmet Next Week

[Guest guest]

My son has been scanned and measured for his helmet that he will

receive on Monday, May 19th. He is 5 and a half months old and was

diagnosed with Positional Plagiocephaly when he was 9 weeks old.

Then, we followed up with the same specialist when Gavin was 4 and a

half months old and were told to go to the Cranial Center in Columbia

(luckily, only 55 miles from our house). This is where he will

receive his treatment for the next 12 weeks with visits every 2 weeks

to check his helmet and progression.

I am new to all of the postings and message boards because my other

son who will be 6 in June does not have plagio. We were told that

Gavin's plagio isn't very severe, but moderate (CVA is 9.4mm, PSR is

89.5%, ASR is 74.4% and his Cephalic Index is 76.7%). I am not so

sure what these statistics mean, but am learning about all of them

slowly.

My question is what should I be prepared for during his first week of

wearing the helmet? I was told that he has several days to work up

to wearing his helmet for 23 hours a day. He isn't a great crib

sleeper to begin with so any suggestions about what to expect and

what we can do to ease his transition would be greatly appreciated.

I am such a planner and this diagnosis has rattled me somewhat so any

comments would be a help.

These message boards have really been helpful and I just hope I can

find my way back to read any posts that are made on Gavin's behalf.

LOL I plan on taking him out right away with his helmet and

continuing him in the tumbling class as well. It's funny that I have

never seen another child with a helmet before (is it 1 in 60 with

plagio?). Someone on the message boards posted that they bring

pamphlets with them about plagio so when someone asks (or stares), we

can educate them as well. Anyone else do this?

Thanks in advance!

G.

[Guest guest]

Welcome to the group. Plagio is supposedly around 1/60 kids now, but

the number in helmets/bands is far lower. When I was living in CA I

never saw another kid in a band (except at the ortho). Now I'm in

India, so forget it :-)

As for the numbers 9.4 is the main one. That is the difference in mm

of measuring one diagonal of his head compared with the other.

Basically think of drawing two diagonal lines on his head at a 30

degree angle (kind of like a big X). One of the lines is 9.4mm longer

than the other. I think that is considered mild/moderate. Our doctor

recommended banding at 10mm or above, but I've seen people band at 7

or 8.

I havent' seen people use the PSR and ASR numbers much. The Cephalic

Index looks good. I think " normal " is around 78%. That is the width of

the head compared with the length (front to back). Kids that have

brachy have a high cephalic index (my daughter was around 97% with

very little asymmetry).

5.5 mo is a good age to start, and since he isn't severe,the time

should go pretty quickly. Most kids adjust well, but you have to dress

them lighter. At first there is usually a lot of sweating,but that

gets better in a week or two. Some kids also take a week or two to

sleep normally in their new hat. My daughter never liked her crib much

anyway, so we ended up cosleeping. She also got her first cold the

same time as her band, so that didn't help.

Let us know how he does with it.

-christine

sydney 2 yrs starband grad

>

> My son has been scanned and measured for his helmet that he will

> receive on Monday, May 19th. He is 5 and a half months old and was

> diagnosed with Positional Plagiocephaly when he was 9 weeks old.

> Then, we followed up with the same specialist when Gavin was 4 and a

> half months old and were told to go to the Cranial Center in Columbia

> (luckily, only 55 miles from our house). This is where he will

> receive his treatment for the next 12 weeks with visits every 2 weeks

> to check his helmet and progression.

>

> I am new to all of the postings and message boards because my other

> son who will be 6 in June does not have plagio. We were told that

> Gavin's plagio isn't very severe, but moderate (CVA is 9.4mm, PSR is

> 89.5%, ASR is 74.4% and his Cephalic Index is 76.7%). I am not so

> sure what these statistics mean, but am learning about all of them

> slowly.

>

> My question is what should I be prepared for during his first week of

> wearing the helmet? I was told that he has several days to work up

> to wearing his helmet for 23 hours a day. He isn't a great crib

> sleeper to begin with so any suggestions about what to expect and

> what we can do to ease his transition would be greatly appreciated.

> I am such a planner and this diagnosis has rattled me somewhat so any

> comments would be a help.

>

> These message boards have really been helpful and I just hope I can

> find my way back to read any posts that are made on Gavin's behalf.

> LOL I plan on taking him out right away with his helmet and

> continuing him in the tumbling class as well. It's funny that I have

> never seen another child with a helmet before (is it 1 in 60 with

> plagio?). Someone on the message boards posted that they bring

> pamphlets with them about plagio so when someone asks (or stares), we

> can educate them as well. Anyone else do this?

>

> Thanks in advance!

> G.

>