Carson's Head

Carson has plagiocephaly.  The definition of plagiocephally is "a malformation of the head marked by an oblique slant to the main axis of the skull.  However, more recently, the term has been applied to any condition characterized by a persistent flatten spot on the back or side of the head "

Here are the reasons why Carson's head is flat and lopsided.

He was born a month early and often preemies develop flat heads because their heads are so soft.

He had torticollis in the left side of his neck and favored laying to one side because of this. 

He had 2 months of physical therapy to fix the torticollis.

He had bad reflux and would turn grey from gagging.  It scared us so bad that we had him sleep in a fisher price rock n play for the first 3 months of his life.  Sleeping on an incline can cause a flat head.

His head is 9 millimeters difference from the right to the left side of his head.  So basically his head is lopsided or slanted.  It is also very flat and sort of cone headed.  After repositioning, keeping him off his back as much as possible and 2 months of physical therapy it was determined that Carson would need a helmet.  We debated and debated but decided it would be best.  If he was a girl, I probably would have opted out of the helmet but because he is a boy I want him to be able to wear any hairstyle that he wants and not be self conscious or funny looking.  His plagiocephaly is considered mild, I have seen and heard of much worse cases but there is only a small window of time that the head is even fixable so we decided to go ahead with it.  I wanted to take some pictures of his head before he got the helmet.  It's so hard to get good pictures from the right angle.

Carson got his helmet on November 23rd.  The orthotist predicts he will need to wear it for 8-12 weeks.  It's been 6 days and it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be.  I have read horror stories online about it rubbing the skin raw, making it so the baby can't sleep etc..etc..  but Carson has adjusted perfectly.  Their was a 4 day break in period, so he's only been in it 23 hrs. a day for the last 3 days and 3 nights.  He has slept 10 hrs. straight all 3 nights.  It doesn't seem to bother him.    He gets a 1 hour break each day for a bath and some major snuggle time.  The hardest part for me is that it's so hard to snuggle with him when he has a big old helmet on his head.  I have big plans for decorating it.  I've been having lots of fun buying stickers and cutting out vinyl.  He looks absolutely adorable in it!

This picture below was his 1st day wearing it which was Thanksgiving Day.  He fell asleep on Aunt Ronette.