Again, it’s been a while, and there is a lot to catch up on. First, and biggest though, is Charlotte’s new “hat.”
At Charlotte’s four month appointment, her pediatrician expressed concern over the shape of her head. She encouraged us to work on lots of tummy time as well as other activities that would keep Charlotte off of her back. Though we made great strides in doing so, we found out at her six month appointment that her head shape had only gotten worse.
We were referred to a craniofacial surgeon who would better be able to identify whether or not Charlotte’s head needed treatment. After a round of scans, we learned that Charlotte had brachycephaly, which is basically a fancy word for misshapen head.
Charlotte’s forehead to back of head is too short, and as a result, her head has begun to widen as it has grown. To correct that, she now has to wear a helmet, which will help force the head to grow front to back and not side to side. Now, the helmet does not apply any pressure. It simply acts as a wall to prevent side to side growth.
There is a weaning schedule for getting your baby comfortable with the helmet. The doctors recommend implementing it over the course of five days, but Charlotte was wearing it full time within three days. She just didn’t have a problem at all adjusting to playing, eating and sleeping with the helmet on. Thank goodness.
Charlotte wears the helmet for 23 hours a day, and as of now, we don’t know how long she’ll have it. The average time that babies wear the helmet is four months — so we are hoping she is out of this by October. Like I said, she has wasted no time adjusting. It’s been harder for me — but I’m finally over it. Like all things with babies, it’s always harder on the Mom.
