First, EARLY AWARENESS: The day your baby is born and you're looking into their cute eyes and getting to know them, seeing and feeling how their head looks at all angles is something you're already doing.  Noticing that there is a flat area on one side, both sides, or the forehead looks more rounded and forward are things we may be noticing from the start.  Every baby's journey is different and sometimes the difference in head shapes are from babies positioning in the womb--- like having to share the space with a twin, not liking to move as much and so their head rests more on one side compared to the other side, other times it's related to how the bones of their head had to adjust to go through the birth canal during delivery.  After birth, head shapes can take on a different shape as a baby develops habits of staying on one side of their head more than the other side.  And sometimes, it's not just a baby's head shape that is affected but it's also their ears, face, jaw, and face.  

Second, TUMMY TIME: All babies, perfectly rounded head or not, benefit from tummy time play early on.  How early, as early as baby's first day here!  We already do it with our little ones.  Think of how we burp our little one after they've had a bottle or been breastfed, we curl them up and gently hold them across our shoulder and rub or gently make circles to help them burp.  This is the beginning of the tummy time journey!  Practicing how to hold their head and neck up while on your shoulder!  Tummy time play allows for so many great things to happen.  It is the foundation of motor development that leads to so many things, but in this post, we will focus on head shape.  As the days turn into weeks, all that practice of tummy time play adds up and your baby starts to develop stronger shoulder and neck muscles to hold up their head.  This also provides opportunities to keep their head off of surfaces for longer periods, awareness of their surroundings causing visual exploration, and also self awareness with getting their hands into their mouths. 

So, you might be asking, when does a helmet come into play?  In general, babies can start wearing helmets around 4-5 months old.  The idea is that by this time, their strength to hold their head up during tummy time is strong enough and areas of flatness improved after the first few months of tummy time play (and specific neck exercises/stretches if torticollis is involved).  If the first two things have been worked on for the first 3 months, most parents will see a big difference in their baby's head shape.  For some babies, a helmet may be needed if the areas of flatness is still there and in most cases if there are areas of the face, ears, eyes, mouth, or forehead that are different in position between right and left sides.  I typically recommend parents start the conversation with their pediatrician about helmets very early on so that by 4 months old, you have a referral.  Helmets take time to get approved by insurance, it takes time to find a place that makes them, and then making the appointment adds up to days or weeks.  With helmets, in general, the sooner they are able to be used, the less amount of weeks your baby will need to wear it.  Every baby's situation is different but from my experience, early awareness and early tummy time are the key to success for any baby, but especially if a helmet is eventually needed.  

Some key points when looking into cranial orthotics aka baby helmets:

-Do research with what types are available in your area

-People that make the helmet are called Orthotists, usually will find a location as an Orthotics & Prosthetics clinic/business

-Some places offer free consultations 

-There are different ways to measure for helmet fittings, digital or manually.  If your baby tends to be very fussy, consider the options available and maybe the digital fitting will be better versus a manual fitting.

-Ask how the helmets are fitted and monitored.  If you are told it is only a 2 or 3 time visit total, that is concerning.  Baby helmets are like braces, they need to be monitored and adjusted as baby's head shape changes.  In general you should be asked to return to the clinic for reassessment within the first 2 weeks of your baby starting to wear the helmet and the number of return visits are numerous during the course of the helmet therapy.  

I hope this was helpful!  Again, please don't hesitate to contact me or leave a message if you have questions.