Yep, It's a Helmet

So one of our first stops in Colorado was the custom orthodic office.

Because yes, my kid wears a helmet now.

For about a week now, Lincoln is one of ‘those’ helmet wearing babies. And I am one of ‘those’ moms who gets to explain why he looks like he’s playing football 23/7.

I will admit that I too saw the babies in helmets and wondered ‘what happened’? I didn’t know if there was a bad accident or a disability. Was it a disease that meant I needed to smile extra hard at the mom that was battling more than I knew? I just didn’t know.

When Lincoln was 4 months old I noticed that his head was getting flat on one side. I mentioned it to our pediatrician who agreed there was a flat spot developing and recommended we try to keep Lincoln off of the flat spot using a bit of repositioning.

So we played with the rainforest jungle floor mat a bit less and we did a lot of sitting and standing activities. I tried the little wedge under Lincoln while he slept but he’d just push the wedge out of the way so he could lay flat. In the beginning I would walk in once Lincoln fell asleep in his crib with his head (always) turned to the right and I’d turn his head to the left. But only a few seconds later, still asleep, he’d roll it right back to the flat spot.

So at our six month appointment the doc nonchalantly said, ‘yep, we’ll put him in a helmet and he’ll be good in no time.’ And there I was going “helmet!? What? But my baby is peeeerrrfect!”

I freaked out a little bit at the appointment while the pediatrician was out of the room. I sent a text to Kyle to let him know what was happening. And you know what…

He sent me a picture of him and his manly self wearing a silly helmet.

Because at his work they have silly helmets just lying around.

And because he’s the very best dad in the entire world. And he wanted to make sure Lincoln knew that helmets were cool. And that his daddy-o loved him very much.

He’s also the very best husband and his sense of humor put this momma at ease.

And that’s the story. Lincoln’s fine. His skull is not cracked or broken or missing. It’s just flat. So flat that he technically has moderate plagiocephaly (long word for flat head) that pushes his forehead, cheeks, and jaw a little bit forward on the right side. Later in life this could cause jaw/tooth misalignment, vision issues, and possibly cause this little kiddo’s bike helmet, football helmet, or super hero helmet not to fit properly.

So Lincoln wears a helmet.

23 hours a day.

7 days a week.

Until they tell us we can stop.

Is he still the cutest baby I’ve ever seen? Yes.

 

Does he get even more attention now for his cute little self? Yes, of course.

So just in case you see us out and about or all over Instagram: yep, it’s a helmet. It fixes his flat head. And yes, we think he looks cute in it too.