Hellobee

“Back is best.” These days we’re supposed to put our babies on their backs for sleep and being the rule follower I am, I did just that with both my boys. My first was a good sleeper, scratch that, my first was a really good sleeper. He stopped nursing in the middle of the night around 2 months old and was doing 7 hour stretches starting at 5 weeks. Yes, it’s not fair. But my second little guy has been an awful sleeper, so I definitely got to experience both sides!

Since Crumb was such a great sleeper, he developed a flat spot on the back of his head. At his two month appointment, we were told to keep him off his back while awake whenever possible. We purchased a noggin nest to use when we needed him to lay down but otherwise we worked really hard at making sure his flat spot didn’t get worse. By his 4 month appointment it was improving and now his head is almost perfectly round.

My nephew had an extreme case of plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome because he also had torticollis. Torticollis is a condition where an infant holds their head to one side due to a shortened or tight muscle on the other side. The cause of torticollis is mostly unknown but many believe it occurs because of abnormal positioning in the womb. Regardless of how it happens, it’s painful for a baby and requires lots of physical therapy. And in my nephew’s case he also ended up with a severe flat spot on one side of his head.

Astronaut

My sister and her husband were advised to get him a helmet or cranial cap. Despite helmets being more common these days they were still pretty bummed. No matter what medical professionals tell you, as a parent you always take some of the blame for something that happens to your kid. My sister said it didn’t help that people would see my nephew in his helmet and feel the need to tell her that they held their baby all the time so their kid didn’t develop a flat spot. Both Crumb and my nephew were held a ton as babies and frankly, that has nothing to do with it.

Despite their initial hesitation due to the stigma and their fear that putting a cap on my nephew in the heat of the summer would make me him miserable, my sister and brother-in-law ended up embracing his helmet in the coolest way possible. Upon hearing so many comments of how he looked like this person and that person, they decided to do a photo shoot placing my nephew in different scenarios using the helmet as part of a uniform or professional outfit. The results are awesome and adorable and my sister encouraged me to share them because after all, it’s not what you see, but how you look at it.

All photos taken by my brother-in-law and edited by my sister.

Scuba Diver

Football Player

Biker

Soldier

Skateboarder

Fighter Pilot

Baseball Player

Jockey

Renaissance Knight

After three short months my nephew retired his helmet and his head looked SO much better. It has continued to round out since then and at 18 months old, you can’t even tell which side was flat.