A New "Hat"

The newest addition to Colby's wardrobe is this navy blue helmet that he gets to wear as much as 23 hours a day. At his four month appointment his pediatrician mentioned that he had a small flat spot on the back of his head, most likely from sleeping on his back. She suggested keeping him off of the back of his head as much as we could, with the exception of sleeping. We did exactly that. I held him nearly every waking moment during the day since he could not yet sit up. We practiced tummy time as much as possible but soon after that appointment, Colby learned how to roll from his tummy to his back. After a few days of rolling over, we could not get him to stay on his tummy. At. All. The second you put him down, he rolled right over. So he was pretty much held for those two months until his sixth month appointment. We headed back into the doctor and I knew that his head had only gotten worse.... HOW?! I couldn't understand it. I had held him as much as I could (except during sleeping hours), and yet his flat spot grew to a flat head. The weird part was that she didn't even mention it during the appointment. At the end of the visit, I asked what she thought and if we should be referred to Hanger for a helmet. She agreed and sent us on our way with a referral in hand.

The office closest to our house was booked for at least one month for any initial visit, so I knew that I needed to look elsewhere if I wanted him to have his helmet anytime soon. I was able to find an opening at an office in Sun City West, about 30 minutes away from our home. I was bummed that it was so far away because I knew we would be visiting often, but I really wanted to start the process. It felt like braces again - I wanted the helmet on so that it could be off sooner than later. Doctor Tate was awesome with Colby - he agreed that it was needed and walked me through the process.

1. Clearance from the insurance

2. Initial measurements via scan

3. Helmet fitting

4. 1 - week follow-up

5. Follow-up measurements every 3 weeks after that

It took their office four weeks to get clearance from our insurance - which by the way is unheard of. It really was a miracle. Once it was cleared, we had the helmet fit to his head and started the process of breaking it in without traumatizing Colby.

He really hated it at first but after about a week he was wearing it for up to 23 hours a day. For the first two weeks he sweat like a maniac in that thing, but as time went on his body adjusted. What a champion!

After a week and a half we went back into the doctor's office and we were both surprised that his head shape had already changed a lot. Doctor Tate thought that he would for sure be finished with his helmet before his first birthday.

We're crossing our fingers!

This was the day he discovered the coolest fort ever... the table. He was happy as a clam!