With my first baby, I shared many of the similar challenges as the different frightened, overtired and overwhelmed new mothers in our playgroup—breastfeeding struggles, sleep regressions and battles with diaper rash. But there was at all times one factor none of the different parents might relate to: my son’s plagiocephaly, a.ok.a. flat head syndrome.
At my son’s two-month appointment, the paediatrician discovered a flat spot on the left facet of his cranium. There wasn’t something improper along with his mind, fortunately, however his head was misshapen. She advisable that we roll up a receiving blanket and place it on the left facet of his head whereas he was awake in the automobile seat or stroller so he can be compelled to look proper, letting the left facet “pop out.”
I was assured we might repair the flat spot by the subsequent appointment. My husband and I have been vigilant about ensuring the receiving blanket was in place always, however the spot on his head grew to become flatter. At our three-month appointment, the physician started discussing helmet therapy—known as cranial orthosis—with us. Our son had a cranial deformity. I was shocked—actually in disbelief—as a result of all I might see was a phenomenal baby who was excellent in each method.
Our paediatrician’s son wore a helmet as a baby, so she didn’t sugar-coat the course of. “It’s going to be tough,” she stated. “But your son might thank you for his round head later in life.”
Except I was against placing a helmet on my son and instantly stated no to the thought. It appeared pointless and merciless—we might be confining our baby’s head, and it appeared uncomfortable.
I sat awake that evening with ideas of the helmet swimming by means of my head. Would my son really feel insecure about the flat spot when he was older? Was the flat spot my fault? Why can’t my son speak so he might let me know what he prefers? Helmet or no helmet?
I made a decision to undergo with helmet therapy as a result of I feared my son would maintain the flat spot towards me when he was older.
Per week later, we have been sitting in a room at the Children’s Hospital in Oakland with the prosthetics specialist. He measured our baby’s head with a scanner and confirmed us how helmet therapy labored. The baby’s head is confined to the helmet, and in areas the place it’s flat, the helmet permits house for it to develop.
We have been handed a sheet of helmet themes and hues and inspired to choose one. Was our four-month-old son a zoo animals variety of baby, a princess fan or a San Francisco Giants lover? The selections swirled chaotically by means of my mind. It felt like I was selecting an id for my son, and he couldn’t even sit up but! Overwhelmed, I handed the choices to my husband. He selected the galaxy theme.
Ten days later we returned to the hospital to choose up the helmet and have it sized to my son’s head. My son squirmed as the specialist positioned the helmet on him. I started to tear up as my baby started to whimper, whereas the specialist made changes, shaving the foam inside of the helmet. Afterwards, I was despatched dwelling with a fussy baby who clumsily touched his new headgear.
I adopted the directions, making my son put on the helmet for 23 hours a day with a measly one-hour break. When I took it off for the first time, his head was sweaty, his peach-fuzz hair matted to his head. More than something in the world, I wished my son to inform me how he felt in the helmet. Was he uncomfortable? In ache? Every time he cried or was unable to sleep, I blamed the helmet.
We had a standing appointment each two weeks to regulate the inside of the helmet. However, my son’s head was rising at a speedy tempo. After every week, he started to have abrasions on elements of his head the place the helmet rubbed towards the pores and skin. One evening, my husband got here dwelling and our son was mendacity on the play mat—with out the helmet.
“Where’s the helmet?” he requested.
“In the closet. I’m done,” I cried. “Look at the marks on his head!”
We had the first of many prolonged fights about the helmet. I at all times wished to cease helmet therapy. My husband wished to proceed.
The helmet was additionally a continuous dialogue with my therapist. “Why don’t you just put your foot down and stop helmet therapy?” she frequently inquired. I might cry, shaking my head. I didn’t have a solution.
It felt like everybody was telling me that helmet therapy can be useful for my son in the future, and since of my postpartum melancholy, I didn’t belief myself or my logic. I felt like I was strolling in a fog with a damaged compass. I relied on my husband’s steerage by means of these early phases of motherhood as a result of I believed he had a greater deal with on actuality than I did. So my son continued to put on the helmet.
At the time, we lived in a studio residence in downtown Berkeley, and we not often used our automobile. I walked all over the place with my son in a baby provider, his helmet on full show. Some folks pointed and stared whereas others laughed at my son, which, as you may think about, made my blood boil. After a very unhealthy sleepless evening, I deliriously screamed at a gaggle of highschool college students to cease gawking at my son. Not one of my best second as a mom—however I was actually struggling.
I’ve to confess that whereas some gestures from strangers made me livid, others made me chortle. A gaggle of older males who frolicked in the park subsequent to our residence constructing would say issues like “He’s ready to be drafted into the NFL,” or “Astronaut baby is ready to board the spaceship.”
The most surprising factor about the helmet, apart from the curler coaster of feelings, was the assumptions folks made about the causes my son wore it. Some thought it was for seizures, whereas others thought it was as a result of my son preferred to bang his head.
The most comforting factor was when moms would come as much as me and inform me that their baby wore a helmet and the way tough the course of was.
One mother in Trader Joe’s informed me her daughter wore a helmet for eight months and that she felt my ache. I immediately broke down crying, holding a sack of Granny Smith apples with my son strapped to my chest. It was at that second that I felt that my feelings tied to the helmet have been justified. I was not alone.
After 4 emotional months, I ended my son’s helmet therapy. We might have continued, however I lastly put my foot down. I was achieved with the adjustment appointments, the marks on his head and always questioning whether or not he was uncomfortable.
Helmet therapy didn’t make my son’s head completely spherical, but it surely helped an awesome deal. Last month, I noticed a baby in a helmet and informed my now five-year-old son that at one level, he too wore a helmet. Almost instinctively, I touched the facet of his head and tried to really feel for what remained of the flat spot.
This story was initially revealed in September 2018.
