STOP... Helmet Time! - Struggling

Ugh. I'm sitting here nursing a headache from sleep deprivation and a stomachache and nausea due to a stomach bug (NOT pregnancy -- believe me, I checked), and reconsidering whether the helmet is going to be worth it.

Tycho had an incredibly rough night after a tough day. It took about an hour and a half to put him to bed, and while he did sleep, he woke up in the middle of the night completely inconsolable. At around 2am, we ended up taking the helmet off as it was clearly bothering him -- he kept taking his fist and hitting the side and front of his head, poor baby! -- and we noticed an incredible rash where the helmet sits on his cheekbones.



This is after three days of wearing the helmet 23 hours a day. Part of that rash was already there; when we bathed him last night, I noticed the beginning of the rash, including two spots with open wounds. After deliberating with Matt, we decided to put him in the helmet overnight, then take it off for the day and discuss it with the cranial specialist at our appointment (which is today, thankfully).

Then he woke up at 2am. And we took it off. And noticed a HUGE rash on both sides of his head. How devastating!! The photo above was taken around 6:30am... 4.5 hours after we took the helmet off.

I'm incredibly bothered by this. I mean, we are seeing progress -- we can already see that Tycho's head isn't as flat as before, and it's only been three days of full-time wear. I imagine it might just take an adjustment in the helmet for it to right itself, but I also wonder if all this is necessary or if we're putting him through unnecessary pain and stress for something that is, in all reality, mostly cosmetic.

(Not to say that it is NOT a medical condition, as it is. Especially other related conditions such as plagiocephaly and torticollis.)

On a 3am sleep-deprived-fueled whim, Matt and I purchased this from Amazon:

[caption id="attachment_1929" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Babymoon Pillow (Amazon)[/caption]

It's purported to help with head flattening while lying down and when in devices that may put pressure on his head, like in the carseat. (It's not intended for crib use, but many people have done so, and we probably will, too.) Many of the reviews point to positive changes using the pillow.

While we're not sure if we're going to discontinue helmet therapy and use the pillow instead or if we'll wait a week and see how it goes with the adjustments, we're definitely feeling the stress of Tycho's obvious discomfort and questioning if we're doing the right thing.

Which I guess is a parent's job, right?

I'm even more conflicted because we sent Tycho to daycare today without his helmet, and our provider said that he's in a great mood and has been up for a while. That hasn't happened since we started helmet therapy. So...

We'll see what happens after today's appointment. Wish us luck... :|