We’ve officially said goodbye to the helmet! I received quite a few questions about our experience and have compiled everything into a q&a for you.

I shared our journey on getting the helmet here. If you or anyone you know ever has any questions regarding the helmet please DM or email (hello@katiecassman.com) me. I know it’s a tough decision and I found it so helpful to connect with people who had gone through the same experience. 

How long did CC wear the helmet?
Just under 3 months.

How often did you take the helmet off?
Our doctor recommended the helmet be worn for 23 hours a day. We gave cc a break every night and made a few exceptions for special occasions (ie her best friend’s 1st bday party and Halloween night) to let her go helmet free.

How do you clean the helmet?
We cleaned the interior and exterior daily by disinfecting the helmet with rubbing alcohol we kept in a spritz bottle and followed by a quick water rinse. Since rubbing alcohol can be drying to a baby’s scalp, we would then do a quick wash with a gentle baby shampoo and water rinse. This worked well for us and was easy to do.

  

Would you do it again?
Yes and we probably would have done it sooner. At our 5 month appointment the doctor said cc would only wear the helmet for 5 weeks if we did it then, but we remained hopeful her head shape would round itself out. In hindsight, the helmet wasn’t a big deal and it would have been nice to have her wear it for a shorter amount of time.

Did insurance cover the helmet?
We filed a claim for it, but are still waiting to hear back. 

How does the hair grow under the helmet?
The helmet didn’t hinder any hair growth for her. I can’t believe how much her hair has grown!

How does her head shape look now?
It looks better, but it’s not 100%. CC’s head shape is still a little flat but we didn’t go into this thinking it would be 100% rounded. At this age her head will continue to form it’s shape. Her head was growing widthwise not lengthwise and the helmet helped redirect that. If CC walked into a doctor’s office today she would be in the mild head shape category and wouldn’t be a candidate for needing helmet treatment. 

How did you know it was time to retire the helmet?
We had 2 visits with minimal growth and cc had hit a lot of developmental milestones that go hand in hand with body growth. Given that, our doctor felt the helmet had done most of its work.

Did you hear from any moms that didn’t have a great helmet experience?
Every parent I’ve spoken to has said they’re glad their child wore the helmet. I have yet to hear a bad experience or someone who regretted going that route.

Where is the helmet now?
One my readers told me they put their child’s helmet on a stuffed animal and I loved that idea!  CC’s helmet now lives on her teddy bear‘s head, see below!

Any other insight? 
One thing I was surprised by post-helmet was the amount of dandruff she had. The helmet tends to get hot and sweaty on their little heads, so when that moisture is no longer there it creates a very dry scalp. We’re still in the process of letting the dandruff run it’s course, but it’s getting better.

I was also nervous that she would bang her head on everything since the wearing the helmet made her think she was invincible, but fortunately that hasn’t been the case.