Surviving the Summer with your Baby in a Helmet
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If you’re here, I think it’s safe to assume that your little one, or a little one that you love, has been diagnosed with torticollis (aka tight neck muscles) and plagiocephaly (aka a flat spot on their head) and you’ve probably gotten a referral for a baby helmet for the flat spot or to help while strengthening those muscles. Let me start off by saying, everything is going to be okay! I can relate to the emotions that you’re probably experiencing right now and went down the same internet rabbit hole when I went through this experience. My son was diagnosed with moderate plagiocephaly in May of 2021 at six months old. We were given a referral to an orthotist to be fitted for a correctional baby helmet that he would wear 23 hours a day/7 days a week for a little over three months.
I went through an absolute rollercoaster of emotions when we first got the diagnosis. I felt guilt, anxiety, and fear. How could I “let” this happen? Is my baby going to be uncomfortable? Are people going to stare at him? How is he going to sleep with that thing on? How long is this going to take? As a pediatric PT, I knew deep down that this wasn’t my fault, but that didn’t make it any easier to process. Plagiocephaly is a common condition in babies under 1-year-old and most cases are unavoidable, caused by positioning in the womb, baby’s sleep preference, and a variety of other reasons. Many of the little ones I work with are being treated for plagiocephaly and need to wear corrective helmets, but when it was MY baby it hit differently. It’s important to remember that this is NOT your fault! This IS treatable! And while it may feel like this will last forever, THIS TOO WILL PASS!
After a few days of feeling emotional and snuggling E a little tighter, I knew it was time to buckle down and start getting things done. We got him scheduled with another physical therapist (it is VERY hard to treat your own child), and made the appointment for his helmet scans. After taking care of all of the practical details, I started doing research into how in the world we were going to keep this baby cool while wearing a helmet in the middle of the summer. We are a very active family - we camp, hike, and spend time at the lake - and I knew that staying inside in the air conditioning all summer wasn’t an option for us.
My biggest concern was making sure that E was as comfortable and cool as possible during this time. I know that there are a lot of tips and tricks on the internet but I wanted to share a few things that really helped us survive our helmet journey, in general, and during the height of the summer heat.
Keep in mind as you go through this process, little ones are resilient! I was so concerned about how my son would handle the helmet, how he would sleep with the helmet on, and if it would delay his other milestones. He was such a champ! He only wiggled a little bit during his fittings and his orthotist was absolutely amazing (shout out to Mary Free Bed!) He never seemed to mind wearing his helmet and it made him look even more adorable than he already was! He learned to crawl and pull to stand while wearing his helmet. The baby helmet actually made me feel a little better about the head bonks that come along with this learning phase. And it never affected his sleep cycle! He honestly adjusted to the helmet WAY more quickly than my husband and me. He proved to us, day in and day out, that this was no big deal!
Stroller Fan
Summertime in Michigan is absolutely beautiful - mostly mild temperatures, but July and August can get hot and muggy. To make sure we could help keep our little man cool and comfortable my husband ordered this portable fan. It worked perfectly for our camping trips, stroller walks, and any outdoor play. My favorite part of this fan is that it comes with a flexible tripod which allowed us to set the fan up on the stroller, the highchair, pack n play or hang it from his car seat. It was super easy to move the fan wherever we needed it quickly. The fan has three speeds to provide as much air as needed, and as an added bonus for our nighttime adventures, this fan has a light ring.
Lightweight Sleep Sack
I think that sleep is one of the biggest concerns for parents who are beginning their baby’s helmet journey. Is the helmet going to change baby’s sleep schedule? Is baby going to overheat at night? I can share from my personal experience and from the shared experience of other parents of helmeted babies, that the majority of these kiddos adjust very well to their helmets and have very little (if any) sleep routine disturbances. With that being said, when my son got his helmet he did transition from sleeping on his back to sleeping on his belly. This is incredibly common for helmet babies as the helmet puts their neck in a slightly more flexed position while they are sleeping and tummy sleeping seems to be a much more comfortable position. This can be stressful for parents who look at the monitor and see their baby laying face down in the crib, but as long as a baby is able to turn their head so their nose and mouth are free to breathe, they will be perfectly fine.
My son has a tendency to “run hot,” especially when he sleeps, so I knew that we would be changing what he slept in while he was sleeping while wearing his Torticollis helmet. My husband and I tried to find short sleeve/shorts pjs and found that most of the pjs for little ones are made with long sleeves and pants to keep babies warm at night. We tried Pjs without feet and he would wake up having sweated through his clothes. We also tried letting him sleep in just a short sleeve onesie but he always seemed to prefer feeling more “swaddled.” After searching the internet I found the perfect lightweight sleep sack made from muslin so that it was super breathable, comfortable, and still made him feel secure. E slept in this with nothing besides his diaper and would wake up cool and well-rested.
Cleaning Supplies
Let’s be honest, babies in helmets are adorable! I loved seeing my son’s chubby cheeks peek out from under his helmet, but one thing that no one prepared me for when having my son in a helmet during the summer was the SMELL. My son wore his helmet 23 hours a day, 7 days a week for three and half months. He was a very sweaty boy and each night when it was time to take our 1 hour of helmet rest, his head (and the helmet) were stinky! To ensure the integrity of the inside of the helmet and to prevent skin break down, there are very few products that are recommended for cleaning the helmet and the baby. For E’s hair I used the Honest Company lavender-scented body wash/shampoo. I tried a few other products and this shampoo seemed to do the best job of removing the sweaty smell while still being gentle on his skin.
Cleaning the helmet every day became a tedious process, but I was able to utilize a few tricks to make the process go slightly faster. Our orthotist suggested using only 70% rubbing alcohol to clean the inside of his baby helmet. The nice thing about rubbing alcohol is that it dries very quickly, so cleaning and drying the helmet during his 1-hour break was no problem. To wipe down the inside of the helmet I used LastRound Reusable Cotton Rounds which I found to be more durable than the disposable cotton rounds and much more environmentally conscious. Depending on how dirty the inside of the helmet became, I was able to use these two to three times before having to rinse them. These fit perfectly inside a Tupperware clamshell container that I already had. I would place the cotton rounds inside and completely fill the container with alcohol and they were set to go for the week. Having this container prepped and ready to go each night made the cleaning less of a hassle.
Decorate the Helmet
This is the first piece of advice I give any parent to a little one in a baby helmet for Torticollis is to let the helmet become an accessory! Let your little one choose their favorite pattern, paint it your little one’s favorite color, add bows or decals - make it unique to your baby!
Having your little be “different” in any way can cause anxiety for some parents, even if it is temporary. While helmets are becoming more popular there are still plenty of people who have never seen a child with one and while most people were incredibly kind and wanted to gush over how cute E was, there were still strangers who stared or asked rude questions. I found that decorating E’s helmet made the entire experience more fun for my husband and me, and became a talking point. E’s helmet was designed to look like an X-Wing Fighter Pilot Helmet (per my Star Wars loving husband’s request) and we had so many people comment on how cool it was! It led to much more pleasant interactions with strangers and we now have pictures of him in his Star Wars gear that we will treasure forever.
We were incredibly fortunate to have an amazing artist as a close family friend. Mark, the man behind the amazing jungle mural in E’s room and mountain mural in R’s. (you can follow him on Instagram here) We gave Mark a general idea of what we were looking for and he went above and beyond, as he usually does. If you’re not an artist yourself or don’t know one either, there are still plenty of options for helmet decoration! You can look on Etsy and Amazon for decals and stickers to match almost any theme. I have seen Velcro bows that can be attached and changed to match any outfit. I have also recently seen people using temporary tattoos to decorate their helmets. The possibilities are endless! Use this as an opportunity to have fun and make the helmet special, it really does seem to help change your mindset and make the whole experience much more positive.
Join a Group
I know this situation can feel isolating. At the time my son was in a helmet, I only knew of 1 other friend who had a child that had been in a helmet. I believe it is so important to surround yourself with people that are positive, that you can trust to be judgment-free, and ask questions. Our orthotist suggested the Plagiocephaly and Torticollis Support for babies in Cranial Helmets group on Facebook and I found it to be full of wonderful parents who shared their experiences, questions, and results. Even after my son’s helmet graduation I still follow the group and love answering questions and seeing all the cuties in their Torticollis helmets.
I really hope that this post can give you even the slightest bit of comfort and confidence that your helmet journey will be great and that you can enjoy your summer with your baby in their helmet! If you have any questions or just want to send me a picture of your adorable little one in their helmet please share!
