Luci's Helmet Hat

Eli and I were worried about Luci's head. She had a lot of hair, but we still thought it was a little flat in the back. We brought it up with the doctor at each of her appointments. He assured us that most kids grow out of it, but to be sure to give her lots of tummy time. By the time she was 9 months, it was time to take some action. 

We took Luci to a prosthetic doctor who specializes in head molding. He put this cool sock on her head and covered it with imaging dots. She looked kind of like batbaby. Dang cute!

He then used a camera to scan her head and came up with the image of her head. As you can see, it was a little flater than normal. I don't remember the exact ratio that put it in the non-normal range, but we were hoping for a big change.

He then completed the image. When we weren't there, he rounded out the back to what Luci's head should look like and sent it to some company. That company created a thick, clear plastic helmet. The helmet prevented her head from growing out to the sides and pushed her growth to the back to round it out.

We're not exactly sure what caused her head to be flat. Obviously baby skulls aren't totally fused together or hardened after their birth. She could have spent a lot of time on her back the first few months after her birth. The doctor also said it could have been her position in the womb.

 It took Luci a little while to get used to it. Her head was always sweaty! She had to wear the helmet during the hottest parts of the summer. She had to wear it 23 hours a day - even to bed! She was able to take it off for bathing, swimming lessons, and for a head breather.

Most of the time, she was reasonably happy. She didn't really like putting the helmet on and off. We had to wash the helmet all the time though because it got so sweaty and stinky! Luci had so much hair! The doctor was worried about her overheating because of her hair. He said most kids he dealt with had less hair, so we had to put her hair up in a fountain through the top of the helmet. Her hair took awhile to retrain after the helmet came off.

 

Sometimes she wasn't very happy. Isn't her dress that her aunt made her super cute? Her baby doll has a matching dress too.

In the end, she only had to wear the helmet for 3 months. Her head shape changed so much faster than expected. It's still on the lower range of the "normal" range, but it worked! It's amazing what doctors can do these days. We still think she's perfect!