I go back and forth over this dilema daily. Our HTC does not advocate helmet wearing as in having to wear a helemt from morning to night. The idea that the helmet is more hindering to a child's ddevelopment than helpful. I do agree with this. I know this is probably controversial for folks in the community. To me wearing a helmet all the time would be a crutch and eventually keep Will singled out from other kids. I don't want either of these things. On the other hand, now that he his walking around and toddling here and there and pretty much looking to bug his brother and find trouble (ie climbing on things) I do wonder if there are times during our day that this might not be a bad idea. When I'm in the shower he has, until lately, been just fine sitting in an exersaucer, but he is getting too big and just doesn't want to be contained. When his brother was his age, I would just let him play in the bathroom while I kept an eye out from the open shower door. Everything is child proof so no big deal. With Will, I just don't want him falling and banging his head on the toilet, the tub, the floor, etc. maybe he could just pop on the helmet during this time. The other worrisome time is when we play outside. On cement. We love to play with outdoor ride on toys in the driveway, but there is going to come a time when I can't have my hand on him at all times. His brother is eventually going to do some daredevil trick that I will have to rush over to and leave Will managing on his own. Maybe this is where a little bike helmet will come in handy. His brother likes wearing his helmet. Sometimes in the car and around the house. For no reason. I am thakful that we've made it through Will's first year without any joint bleeds. I would love to do this one more year. (Crossing fingers) Can I do this without a helmet or will my sanity just go to pieces? I knwo we can get him treated at anytime for anything, but since we don't treat at home, it's kind of an ordeal. Maybe weraing a helmet on a few occasions will save us an un necessary trip. Hmmm.....think I'll sleep on it.
4 comments:
Have you seen www.comfycaps.biz ?
We don't leave them on 24/7 but when they do have to be on, they're much more comfortable & we've even overheard one woman say to another that someone sure had a wonderful idea when they made these for toddlers. They didn't know about our bleeders, just that they were little & not stable on their feet yet!
Carri
I am gonna let PJ wear his helemt just to protect him from getting hurt. I think it is ok to wear a helmet when they are this lil. When he gets bigger just take it away until he is steady on his feet
I totally recommend comfycaps.biz. And I am going to give you my two cents, as a mom of a little one that had a head bleed at 16 months. My son would wear a helmet that I bought online for him every now and then...not all the time. Until his head bleed, of course. And this is not said to scare you at all...but to hopefully prevent you from going through what we did.
It was a very scary, scary situation for us and a few of the doctors and the head nurse in our hemo practice told us just how lucky we are for E to be alive, let alone without any sort of brain damage. I won't put all of the particulars here, but you can find it in the archives of my blog if you want to read about it.
Since this issue, I am a totally different person about the helmet. And I don't think it makes Evan different or special in any way. One of the hemotologists in our practice put it to us like this: he needs to think of this helmet like we think of shoes. We don't see anything wrong with wearing shoes, and we rarely go out without them. This is how we are with the helmet. If he is awake and not in the bath or the high chair, he is wearing his helmet. In fact, he loves it so much that he takes it and tries to put it on his head before we get to put it on.
tough one. What did you decide?
We never tried the helmet - I had a strong aversion to it, and in the end my sanity was better for the kid *not* wearing the helmet. Exactly the opposite of the other hemo-moms who felt their sanity required it.
Peace of mind is different for different people. We did have joint bleeds, muscle bleeds, inhibitors, but never a head bleed. On the other hand, the kid did live head-first. And I have the holes in the wall to prove it! But I do wonder if I'd have made a different decision, had my eldest bled into his brain.
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