Yesterday I took Cody to get a head mold for his new helmet he will be getting on the 28th of this month. It was probably the longest 15 minutes of his life... and mine too, but I’m just happy to know that we can finally do something about his misshapen head and it won’t be something he has to deal with in the future (fitting glasses, wearing sports helmets).
Cody has plagiocephaly I’ll let you look up the term on your own rather than write it all out. Pretty much he was in my birth canal for a while and born with a misshapen head and despite actions to try and make his head more symmetrical with repositioning it never seemed to round out. The fact that Cody is a little slow at developing his gross motor skills in combination probably didn’t help much. Anyway, our first 2 doctors told us that Cody’s head was a mild case and that he’d grow out of it and not to worry about it other than doing the regular exercises to get him to look the other way. I really started to be concerned about it around 9 months when it was not going away and seemed to be more pronounced. We were in the middle of a move and when we came to New York I set up an appointment only again to have the doctor say he didn’t need a helmet and that it was not a serious case. Our coordinator for Cody’s physical therapy is the one who made me aware of the term plagiocephaly and after talking to Jared’s 2nd cousin, a pediatrician who worked in a helmet clinic, I realized that the clock was ticking and if we didn’t do something now we would miss the major time of head growth and not be able to change it’s shape. Most children get helmets around 6 months. I switched to another doctor who agreed that Cody now (13 months) indeed needs a helmet and referred me to an orthotist here in Ithaca. Hopefully we will see results.
Cody will probably need to wear it for 5 or 6 months. Not only will it help reshape his head but it will also help keep him warm for the coming winter months… how convenient! I’ll update periodically about how he is doing. Here are some photos so you can see what I’m talking about and hopefully be more educated so you can prevent your own children from having this, or get them a helmet sooner so that they won’t have to wear the helmet as long.
Cody has plagiocephaly I’ll let you look up the term on your own rather than write it all out. Pretty much he was in my birth canal for a while and born with a misshapen head and despite actions to try and make his head more symmetrical with repositioning it never seemed to round out. The fact that Cody is a little slow at developing his gross motor skills in combination probably didn’t help much. Anyway, our first 2 doctors told us that Cody’s head was a mild case and that he’d grow out of it and not to worry about it other than doing the regular exercises to get him to look the other way. I really started to be concerned about it around 9 months when it was not going away and seemed to be more pronounced. We were in the middle of a move and when we came to New York I set up an appointment only again to have the doctor say he didn’t need a helmet and that it was not a serious case. Our coordinator for Cody’s physical therapy is the one who made me aware of the term plagiocephaly and after talking to Jared’s 2nd cousin, a pediatrician who worked in a helmet clinic, I realized that the clock was ticking and if we didn’t do something now we would miss the major time of head growth and not be able to change it’s shape. Most children get helmets around 6 months. I switched to another doctor who agreed that Cody now (13 months) indeed needs a helmet and referred me to an orthotist here in Ithaca. Hopefully we will see results.
Cody will probably need to wear it for 5 or 6 months. Not only will it help reshape his head but it will also help keep him warm for the coming winter months… how convenient! I’ll update periodically about how he is doing. Here are some photos so you can see what I’m talking about and hopefully be more educated so you can prevent your own children from having this, or get them a helmet sooner so that they won’t have to wear the helmet as long.
Cody right before they began the mold. His sucker didn't help much. 
During the mold, he was so tired from crying that he sort of started to fall asleep. It was warm and cosy under that mold. He had it on a total of about 15 minutes.
Cody after the drama. He was just happy to be out of there. 
4 comments:
I'm so glad you got that over with. I'm going to ask about it here. Were you able to get it covered? I remember you saying that b/c the previous doctors said it was cosmetic, you would have to pay for it. I hope you got it covered - why do we pay insurance anyway?!
When I finally get around to taking Seth into see a doctor (he's overdue for his 4 mo. and 6 mo. stuff) I will ask about the head issue and probably seek a helmet fitting.
Way to go with getting it taken care of. I took Salem in for CTscans when she was about 5 months old b/c they thought her head was growing too rapidly, all for nothing, but still having to hold her head still like that was soooo traumatic!!!
Our insurance does cover it.
What sport Cody is. It is so hard sometimes to force our kids to do what is best for them. I am glad you are getting him a helmet. He will look so cute in it. Good luck with everything- Love you tons and Happy Thanksgiving next week.
What a good boy...and he is so dang cute! Good luck with everything. How does he do with physical therapy? Does he like it... Your mom said they do a lot of masages..that is what they do for Elsie too...it has seems to loosen her back and neck quite a bit...good luck with everything and happy thanksgiving.
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