Today's post is one of a more serious nature. A helmet to shape Carter's head. So for those of you who don't know, I'll try and catch you up quickly. As a baby Carter always favored the left side of his head when he slept. It didn't matter what we did he slept on that side of his head and of course a flat spot formed. Our pediatrician whom I really like and still do, told us not to worry it. That it would get better by the time he was a year, so now here we are over a year and it has not improved at all. That will likely be the last time that I take a doctors word, as is for our children, without doing additional research. This flat spot on the left side of his head is not of medical concern however it is very noticeable. It has bothered me for quite sometime and I finally this week decided that I wanted to do something about it. This was not a easy decision and I've thought long and hard about it.
Now there were several things that pushed me over the edge, but the biggest is the fear that someday Carter will come home crying that someone commented on his head shape. And at that point if it were to happen I would feel like a horrible parent knowing I could have done something for him a baby but choose not to. Beyond 24 months children's heads cannot be shaped without surgery. However if you choose to use a helmet it should be done way in advance of 24 months because this process takes time.
So that brings me to my (and I say my because Tom doesn't share all of my concerns, but is supportive because he knows how strongly I feel about this) decision to at the very least have a specialist look at his head and tell me if it is too late to have him fitted for a helmet.
Yesterday I took Carter up to Indianapolis and we met with a doctor who indicated that Carter was not to old to have a helmet for head shaping. However we would have had better success if he had been fitted for a helmet around 8 months of age. After talking over the process, cost, and time frame and after much debate with Tom, my Mom, and sister. Tom and I decided that it was something that I felt strongly enough and we are going to try it.
His head when measured at a diagonal is 1.4 cm's shorter on the flat side than the normal shaped side. The doctor indicated that if he could reduce the difference to 0.6 cm's he would be happy. This will take roughly 5 months. During those 5 months Carter will have to wear the helmet for 23 out of 24 hrs each day. Now you can see why this was such a difficult decision to make and some of you may judge me, even strongly disagree with me but the only thing I can say is don't judge unless you have been in this situation. I have to also say that my heart goes out to any parent who has a child with medical problems of any sort. I can't imagine how hard that must be, as this decision was hard enough for us to make and it is only cosmetic.
Tom and I are concerned that he will go from being a happy baby to an upset one all of the time because he has to wear the helmet. I pray not, but we'll cross the bridge when we get there. I have read (I have been doing lots of research and reading documentaries on the process) and been told that kids forget they even have the helmet on and all parents say it was one of the best decisions they made and don't regret it, however most children are fitted and start the process much younger than Carter.
So this is my heads up to everyone that in the near future you'll start seeing pictures of Carter in a helmet and I will keep everyone posted on his progress and his demeanor. Hopefully this can help other parents make a decision if their children experience the same thing.
I'll leave you with a few pictures from the last few weeks.
