Can't decide cranio sacral massages or helmet...pls help!

[Guest guest]

Hi all, my baby boy is 5 months old and has a very flat head on his

back. I noticed this when he was 3 months old and tried

repositioning. Always tried to let him sleep on his left or right but

didn't work too well since he moved and slept on his back again. Just

bought him a SleepCurve mattress two weeks ago and think it helps to

pop out the head a tiny bit. Just started the cranio sacral massages

last week, don't see any results yet.

My question is I can't decide I should continue the cranio massages or

should I go straight to the helmet. My understanding is the helmet

works best if starting treatment before 6 months old. So I'm afraid if

I try the cranio massages for a couple sessions and doesn't work out,

I'm delaying treatment for my baby and ended up with less satisfied

results. Also I live in Norway, all the doctors and specialists I

talked to are againist helmet. This is very frustrated for me as I

don't have too many sources to find out what are the best options for

my boy here. Pls help!

Yee

[Guest guest]

Hi Yee,

Cranial sacral is an alternative treatment, and although some say it

works it doesn't have recognized clinical studies to back it up.

Therefore I would opt for a helmet. Treating by 6 mo is great, but not

necessary. Many babies start later and still have great results. So

you can wait a little longer if you like. However if your babies head

is moderate to severe, you may end up banding/helmeting anyway, so

starting now is a good idea. If the plagio is mild you have more time

to wait and see. You should also take photos to see if he's making

progress and how much. The top view often shows the problem the best,

but try to get several angles so you can monitor the changes.

Do you know of band/helmet providers that you can use? I know of some

starband and docband facilities in Europe, but none in Norway. Maybe

you should start looking into this to see what your options are.

-christine

sydney, almost 3 yrs, starband grad

>

> Hi all, my baby boy is 5 months old and has a very flat head on his

> back. I noticed this when he was 3 months old and tried

> repositioning. Always tried to let him sleep on his left or right but

> didn't work too well since he moved and slept on his back again. Just

> bought him a SleepCurve mattress two weeks ago and think it helps to

> pop out the head a tiny bit. Just started the cranio sacral massages

> last week, don't see any results yet.

>

> My question is I can't decide I should continue the cranio massages or

> should I go straight to the helmet. My understanding is the helmet

> works best if starting treatment before 6 months old. So I'm afraid if

> I try the cranio massages for a couple sessions and doesn't work out,

> I'm delaying treatment for my baby and ended up with less satisfied

> results. Also I live in Norway, all the doctors and specialists I

> talked to are againist helmet. This is very frustrated for me as I

> don't have too many sources to find out what are the best options for

> my boy here. Pls help!

>

> Yee

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Yee--

I'm the type of person that likes to gather as much information as

possible before making decisions and knowing all options. So I

basically started all paths almost about the same time when we found

out about the plagio and tort--Cranial Sacral Therapy, banding, and

physical therapy/stretching. I know that at first it can feel like

you have to decide on one option or another, but that doesn't have to

be the case at all. Any good CST therapist should be willing to work

with you even if you do the band. Also, getting assessments and

having first appointments with providers of any of the three doesn't

mean you are stuck to it as your only option, you are only gathering

the information needed to make the best decision. We were also doing

repo during the process of seeking options, and we made some

improvements just by doing that. Ultimately we did band, since our LO

is 4-months old, and we really liked the idea of getting him into the

band at a point where it is likely he would grow quickly and get back

out of the helmet in 6-8 weeks. So I guess I recommend gathering as

much information about the severity of your little one and see what

is recommended. During our decision-making time we went to a CST

appointment. I can see that there would be some benefits there,

although ultimatly I felt that I needed some strong data about what

can be accomplished--and the studies just aren't out there like they

are with banding.

Merrick, 4-months, 11mm asymetry, 3 days DOC band

>

> Hi all, my baby boy is 5 months old and has a very flat head on his

> back. I noticed this when he was 3 months old and tried

> repositioning. Always tried to let him sleep on his left or right

but

> didn't work too well since he moved and slept on his back again.

Just

> bought him a SleepCurve mattress two weeks ago and think it helps

to

> pop out the head a tiny bit. Just started the cranio sacral

massages

> last week, don't see any results yet.

>

> My question is I can't decide I should continue the cranio massages

or

> should I go straight to the helmet. My understanding is the helmet

> works best if starting treatment before 6 months old. So I'm

afraid if

> I try the cranio massages for a couple sessions and doesn't work

out,

> I'm delaying treatment for my baby and ended up with less satisfied

> results. Also I live in Norway, all the doctors and specialists I

> talked to are againist helmet. This is very frustrated for me as I

> don't have too many sources to find out what are the best options

for

> my boy here. Pls help!

>

> Yee

>