questions about banding an older baby

May 30, 2008

My son is 12 months old. He was born with torticollis, and plagio.

The plagio worsened a bit in the first few months of his life,

because we didn't have a diagnosis and didn't know about

repostioning, etc. The plagio was " mild to moderate " , and the

craniofacial specialist did not think a helmet was necessary. This

was at around 5 months old. Although he did offer to write the rx

for the band (if we insisted)...but he said my son's head shape would

round out on it's own just fine, as we were also doing PT for his

torticollis. We didn't do the band. Well, at 12 months, I'm not

seeing a huge improvement. I don't see that his head shape is

growing evenly. His torticollis is not completely resolved either,

but it has improved. I could kick myself for not banding him early

on. I'm just sick about it. Now I'm wondering...if we do it now,

what's it like banding an older baby? Will we get good results? Is

it more difficult for the kids to adapt to it? I'm worried because

my son hates it when anyone touches his face (ie brushing teeth,

wiping face off, etc. and he won't keep any type of hat on his head

either. He always pull it off, even if it has a strap). Will he be

able to keep the band on and sleep with it on without pulling it

off?

I should add that we did have a consult at CT when my son was around

4-5 months old. They said he was " borderline " for a helmet. I want

to say he measured 6mm of difference at the time. From eyeballing

him, I don't think this measurement has increased, but I do notice

more of a bulging area above his ear that is not symmetrical with the

other side, plus he has some facial asymmetry that has not really

improved (one cheek/jaw slightly larger and I notice one ear slightly

lower). I will try to post some picture later on today.

Thanks,

Tamra

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