Honey I helmeted the baby. (A long rant)

[tigerlily83]

I just need to vent.

Please if your little one has a slight plagio,brachy,dolicho -or a perfect head this rant is not really aimed at your advise sorry but I have heard the old it will correct itself one too many times.

Within the population of babies that develop an asymmetry of the head, a small number will not correct itself (this is the severely asymmetrical category) and this is what we have had to deal with.

Ok. The first time I saw a baby with severe flat head syndrome, it was in a supermarket and I was pregnant with my DS, the darling little boy was a big strong baby I estimate he must have been around 10 - 12 months of age, I remember telling my husband and even (oh god) being judgey about it. His head was truly flat as an ironing board, little did I know it would happen to us too.

My ds was born one day short of premature at 36 +1 day induced due to placental insufficiency (preeclamptic) luckily he was only underweight and no other serious issues so far. Being so little he slept 20hours a day and developed normally as far as I could, as a new parent see. -I had not noticed that he had a preference to lie to the right side and so at two weeks old, his head was dented. It wasn't a very noticeable dent. I have to say at this point look out because this problem starts small.

We repositioned as per the advise of our very competent GP, result? now the other side was starting to dent too! we overcame the aversion to tummy time by means of cushioning, flying baby and sideways tilting excursuses until ds finally enjoyed tummy time, meanwhile his head never improved for us the flatness expanded all across his head and became brachycephalic, the width of his head was greater than the length. At 3 months I had pretty much decided we would take action, our parents the older generation supported the view that it would get better on its own whilst our siblings and friends supported the decision of doing something about it (i.e. helmeting)

I tell you what if you are in that position of considering whether to do it or not, just sit you baby next to a child whose head shape is average, when you see the difference, see what your gut feeling tells you.

When helmeting day came, (bang on the 4th month) and his scan did place him in the severe asymmetrical category I felt relief that we were dealing with the issue, however I was very angry at the current disposition of the NHS, why oh why, in this country are we ok with medical devises being fitted outside the confidence of a hospital setting ?

It is true that the system is overstretched, but actually very few babies fall in the severe category and the helmet really isn't all that, at least it should be partly subsidised.

and it is true that some parents have had their helmet under the nhs, (Bristol) albeit the waiting lists are so long your little one will probably have to wear it for a year with little benefit.

I was very worried in the first few days as the helmet raises the body temperature and it must be worn overnight, we all know the SIDS advise... apparently the treatment is safe.

I just think its unacceptable that the nhs won't acknowledge the need for treatment of severe cases like the Americans, Germans, French and the Nordics do. I believe medical devises must be ultimately issued in a medical setting, like in the aforementioned countries.

Our DS has been in the helmet 6 weeks now, the change is huge, his head is no longer asymmetrical. A week in, made more difference than months of repositioning.

For the record, there are children (very very few) out there with severely misshapen heads which will cause quality of life issues, in 2012 there was a successful lawsuit for negligence in America (but then again its a sport to sue over there like its a sport to strike in France) for failure to refer to a helmet provider.


So how long till the NHS reviews their stance?!

-rant over-

Sorry, I went on and on!!!

[Sirzy]

In those other countries surely people pay for the care?

Personally I am of the view that the NHS has better things to be spending money on than something that in the vast majority of cases is simply cosmetic and will correct itself. My DN had a severe mishapen head but by the time he was about 18 months it was fine and now at the age of 5 you would never know.

Basically the NHS has neither the money or the resources to cope with it.

[KateMoose]

I agree that the NHSshould be concentrating on other things but in really severe cases they should help. I once saw a little boy about 6 with a really flat back of his head. There was literally a right angle at the top and a straight line down the back. I bet people thought it was fine as he had curly hair but when swimming it was really obvious and it would have been tha cause of real self esteem issues when he's older and there will be nothing that can be done. Like breast surgery or ear pinning, the NHS should do something if it's severe and likely to cause a psychological impact later on.

[DoYouThinkSheSawUs]

Did they say what causes it? Is it a softer skull or what? Neither of my babies spent any time on their tummies as they hated tummy time, but don't have flat heads - so it can't be lack of tummy time that causes it or they would be similarly affected?

[Funkytown]

My son has helmet therapy for brachycephaly, after being told by doctors a health visitors it would 'pop' out I was convinced it would but it didn't it looked worse we saw a clinic when he was 4months old and was told that his measurements were showing it was a severe case. Well he's now 7months and although you can still see it it looks so much better due to the helmet and I would do it again although the cost was high I felt that it was going to benefit him in the long run . The biggest factor in my sons case was the fact he was breech until 10days before birth and laying in the same position . And although my son has the helmet I do not agree that it should be available on the nhs money could be spent in better ways and of course brachycephaly and plagiocephaly is not a nice thing to experience as a parent but it is purely cosmetic