HELMET FAQS

01 — What are Cranial Remolding Orthoses(CROs)?

A cranial remolding orthosis (often called a cranial remolding helmet or cranial band) is used for moderate to severe cases of cranial deformity and is designed to guide your baby’s head growth into a more symmetrical shape. The rapid head growth between birth and 18 months (at age 18 months a baby’s head size is 70% of its adult head size) allows us to utilize this guided growth principle to create a more symmetrical head shape while wearing the helmet. We utilize the SmartSoc Scanner and Star Band system for our helmets. Around the world, more than 500,000 infants have been successfully treated with the STARband.

02 — Why does my baby need a CRO?

Babies between the ages of 3-18 months can utilize a CRO to correct a misshapen head. Most commonly we see Plagiocephaly and Brachycephaly head shapes, but we also treat Scaphocepahly and post-surgical Craniosynostosis. The head shape can be a result of inter uterine positioning, birth trauma, neck tightness, or early sustained positioning. Regardless of the cause, when conservative therapies and repositioning efforts just aren’t enough (let face it… repositioning a sleeping baby is harder than it sounds) we have CROs as a safe and conservative option to treat head deformities. There are several studies that have shown a correlation between secondary medical issues and head deformities. Whether or not a helmet is required for medical necessity can be debated throughout the medical field and requires additional research to get a full understanding. We believe that every baby will achieve some level of self-correction, however, this amount of correction is often not enough to get a baby’s head shape from a severe range to a mild or normal range. This is when a helmet can be an extremely effective tool.

03 - How old does my baby need to be for a helmet to help?

Babies who are over the age of 4 months and have moderate to severe head deformity are ideal candidates for a CRO. Babies younger than 3 months can often benefit from our repositioning program, simply called: Head Shape Program. Helmets are recommended by the FDA to be worn no longer than 18 months of age, however after 12 months of age growth is significantly slowed and see we lesser results. .

04 — Will a helmet actually work to correct my baby’s head?

A cranial remolding helmet WILL work as long as two things happen:

1.) You are compliant. This means you have to wear the helmet the full prescribed time- that being 22-23 hours per day.  Cranial helmets work by redirecting growth and the helmet is built to a corrected head shape. Because your baby’s head is growing 24 hours a day, we need to capture all of this growth to guide the head shape into a symmetrical shape. If you are not compliant, not only will the helmet fit poorly because the head will grow outside of the designed head, but you will also prolong the length of treatment.

2.) Your baby’s head grows. We have to get growth to get head shape correction. Remember we do not correction through forcing the head into a different shape, we get correction through growth and filling in the void areas of the helmet.

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05 — How will the helmet affect my baby’s brain development?

As far as brain growth and development, the head (and brain) are still growing so we are not affecting brain development. As long as the brain is growing we are not affecting it’s development. We are simply changing where the outer forces are contacting the head. There is space built into the helmet to ensure that there is room for brain growth. 

This is one of the reasons why we have regular follow-up appointments; because we want to monitor growth and make sure the head is growing, and we can assess the fit to make sure there continues to be room for growth.

Sometimes the helmet can affect gross motor development for a short period of time. Often times the helmet actually helps with gross motor development, specifically rolling. The helmet creates a round surface on the back of the head. babies with flat heads often struggle to roll because they cannot get past the flat spot on the back their head. The helmet creates a round surface on the back of the head and families often report their baby started rolling once they got the helmet. In some instances, a family will report their baby was rolling before receiving the helmet and they will regress after starting treatment. This usually resolves and they catch back up within 3-4 weeks once they gain the strength to coordination to move with the helmet on.

06 — How long will my baby need to wear the helmet?

Typically 3-6 months. The major factors include compliance, age the treatment began (the older the baby the longer it takes to get correction) and severity. We recommend you begin your journey between 2-4 months of age to ensure time for early diagnosis and repositioning therapies. Your baby will likely not get fit with a helmet until closer to 4 months, but early detection is vital for optimal treatment success. Our goals when treating with a helmet are to achieve cranial symmetry or asymmetries within the normal to mild categories. It is not recommended that babies wear a CRO beyond 18 months per FDA regulations.

07 — How much does a helmet cost?

At Baby Bear Cranial Clinic we like to start treatment as early as possible to render the best results in the shortest amount of time which often means forgoing insurance authorization. For that reason, we offer significant private pay discounts and payment plans to make helmet treatment affordable to those who want to begin treatment right away or those who may not have appropriate coverage (Insurance authorization may add on an additional 3-5 weeks until treatment can begin).

Many families prefer to process through insurance when possible. When processed through insurance, helmets can cost anywhere between $2000-5000.00 - depending on the insurance contract/deductibles/co-pays etc. Many insurance companies will cover some or all of the cost if certain criteria are met. We are continually increasing the number of insurance companies we are in contract with, check to see if we are in-network: INSURANCE LIST.

There are additional funding options, such as charities and grant opportunities when neither Private Pay nor Insurance are options: FUNDING OPTIONS. Other financial questions can be answered on our Financial FAQ page.

08 — Do you offer other types of helmets?

Yes, we do…we offer custom and off-the-shelf protective helmets as well. There are many cognitive and physical conditions that put the skull and brain at risk for injury and a protective helmet may be worn some, or all of the time to protect it. A protective helmet could be necessary due to seizure disorders, head banging, recent brain surgery, craniosynostosis, or a variety of other conditions. The current standard for these medical type protective helmets are cumbersome, bulky, and look very “medical”. We offer an alternative solution for those who may need a protective helmet.

09 — How do I get started?

Good news, you’re already half way there! At Baby Bear Cranial Clinic we encourage your first step being education and awareness. Look around our website- there is so much useful information on our site.

We offer  Free Consultations when you are not sure if your baby will require a helmet, but would like to learn more about prevention, tummy time, and the cranial remolding process.  This appointment takes approximately 45-60 minutes, depending on how many questions you may have. We will often refer you to a physical therapist or chiropractic professional if you have not already participated in structured repositioning efforts. At the consultation, we take a series of measurements and get a baseline scan with our safe 3D scanner. If we are not processing through insurance a helmet can be ordered the same day as the evaluation and fit within 10 days. If it is determined that your baby requires a cranial remolding helmet and you would like to process through insurance we will submit all the objective information from your evaluation, as well as any supporting documentation from the pediatrician or PT, to your insurance company. Depending on the insurance type, we may Scan at the evaluation or set up a separate appointment for this. A Delivery Appointment will be scheduled within 14 days of the scanning appointment. This appointment consists of fitting and fine-tuning the custom helmet to your baby. We will also go over wear and care (video), break-in schedule, allow practice putting on and taking off the helmet and make sure all of your questions are answered. This appointment takes 60 minutes. Regular 30-minute Follow Up Appointments will be scheduled every 2-4 weeks to monitor progress and growth.