No she is not exceedingly accident prone (which was honestly my thought when I first saw a baby in a helmet like this.) She has what they call plagiocephaly (aka - a flat spot on her head). For Eliza, her scoliosis and torticollis prevented her from turning her head to the left until she was about 5 months old and the physical therapy started working. So for 5 months she would lie on the same part of her head, hence the flat area. The physical therapist warned us about the worsening flat spot but hoped she would grow out of it as she learned to sit up. After almost 2 months of sitting it was still very flat so she was evaluated for a helmet.
Eliza's head was "bad enough" for insurance to approve her helmet as medically necessary based on two separate measurements. If left untreated the plagiocephaly can cause jaw and other problems in the future. With how hard it is to get insurance companies to pay for things, we knew that if it was bad enough for her to qualify we should go ahead with the treatment. I added a line in this picture so it is clearer how uneven the two sides of her head are.
Yesterday she was fitted for her helmet which I thought would be traumatic for her. They make a cast of her head that gets shipped off to the helmet manufacturer. Surprisingly Eliza wasn't too bothered by any of it but Hazel freaked out! She kept telling the orthoitst "Take it off!" "Don't cut her" etc. In a way it was cute that she was worried about Eliza. I just hope we can convince Hazel that the actual helmet is just a silly hat so she doesn't keep freaking out about it.
Not to worry Eliza, helmet hair or not, you'll always be the cutest girl ever!
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