The Buchanans: April 2012

You might be thinking what about helmets? Well David and I have decided to get helmets for the boys to help with their flat spots. It's called Plagioscephaly but I will call it flat head. Aiden's head is a little flatter in back then Olivers so we were originally going to just get one for him, but then we changed our minds. Olivers head is mostly flat on one side so we figured we better just do it. The doctor doing the helmet therapy told us that kids don't need any more ammunition when they get older and we agreed. Their heads haven't always been flat, but they haven't been super coney either. I think it might have to do with not delivering naturally and having a C-section, their head didn't have to get squished.

The helmet will not cause any problems with the brain because it is all cosmetic. They will have to wear these helmets 23/7. It will be an adjustment for sure but worth it in the end. The helmet will put a tiny bit of pressure where the skull should stay but will leave space for the skull to fill in while their heads keep growing. We should have done this when they were younger when the process and results would be quicker. We don't know how long they will have to have them we just have to wait and see. We did try rotating their heads when they slept but it was not an easy task. They naturally would put their head to one side on their own but we did try. :)

Sometimes I feel as if it wouldn't be as bad if I held them more. I did hold them don't you worry but I never carried them in a sling or anything like that. I always felt bad holding one and not the other so I mostly just played with both of them on the floor so their poor heads didn't get much of a break until they started rolling over. And tummy time was not their favorite activity :)

Last Tuesday we had to go get their heads casted. They have to do this so that the helmet fit and works properly, kind of a no brainer. Our doctor did it two casts so that he could easily remove it. The boys actually did really well. Oliver really didn't like having his arms being held down, he cried quite a bit at the end. It didn't take long so it was quick and painless and David and I rewarded ourselves with an ice cream cone at McDonalds. :)