Helmets Help Reshape Little Heads
November 18, 2006 | Bones and Muscles
Sleeping on the backs has dramatically reduced the number of babies who die of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome. But it has also flattened some heads. Now there’s a way to reshape them.
It’s more common today than ever before to see babies wearing helmets to reshape their heads.
Little Spencer Roane is showing off his custom therapeutic helmet. For three months, day and night, it has painlessly let his skull reshape itself as he grows.
He didn’t need it on day one.
“His head was perfectly round when he was born,” said his mother, Carole Roane “And all of our friends commented on how round of a head he had.”
Darcy King of the Cranial Facial Center at Seattle Children’s Hospital has seen a steady stream of young patients.
“It can be very, very severe… where people are looking across a mall and saying: ‘What’s wrong with that child?’” she said.
Though it looks startling, the deformity doesn’t seem to harm a baby’s brain.
“There’s no clear research that indicates that there’s any problems with brain development, causing any learning disabilities or mental retardation,” King said.
Helmet therapy to reshape tiny heads has become increasingly common at Children’s Hospital.
In 1992, experts began advising that babies sleep on their backs. The sleep position has dramatically reduced the number of babies who die of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome. But it has also flattened some heads.
Spencer’s older brother Connor also experienced a flattened head. But the risk of SIDS convinced Carole to keep her second son sleeping on his back.
“I had an acquaintance that lost her to baby to SIDS earlier this year,” she said. “Her baby was only a day older than Spencer. And when I found that out I decided this is it. He’s going to sleep on his back.”
A head shape is something that can be changed. It has happened for Spencer, in just three months.
“It’s kind of hidden because of his hair, but if you feel it, it’s totally round,” Roane said.
Once a baby’s skull stops growing it’s too late for helmet therapy. Between five and seven months is the best time to start.
Helmet therapy can cost more than $2,000 and only some insurers cover it. But for a child it can mean fitting into sports and bike helmets, and not getting teased.