It seems that the helmet thingy is rather new. I could not find for how long surgical treatment is available. My guess would be that the helmet allows for more "gentle" treatment. In general, it seems that less skull deformations are uncured nowadays, saving from esthetic as well as functional problems.

This is why I like Bored Panda. It sometimes makes you think and look up further information.

It seems as though Plagiocephaly, also known as flat head syndrome, has increased since people have been putting babies to sleep on their backs (to decrease SIDS). Some cases of plagiocephaly are caused by the skull joints fusing at an abnormally fast rate. It seems as though many of the babies are prescribes the helmets post surgery. Physical therapy is also a treatment option. There are probably plenty of babies with the same condition that don't use helmets. Some just need it more than others.

Where I live they don't have helmets like this. We just had to try and fix it by letting our son sleep on the other side of his head, but he's a stubborn one and really prefers one side to sleep on. In the end it does no damage to the skull, it's just that a perfectly round head is prettier than a head with a little flat side. My sons skull fixed itself pretty good in it's own once he started to crawl and stuff (when a little baby just lays around on his/her head all day) He still has a little bit of a flat side, but you really don't see it now that he has more hair.

My son is the little guy with the "It's OK to ask" helmet in this article. He was at about 90% hearing loss before the helmet. Without correction, he would have become deaf. His eyesight was at risk as well. These problems would not have self-corrected.

Most of these kids have Croniostenosis, which doesn't "just correct itself" And people in the past either lived with cranial and brain deformities or died. Why are people so suspicious of medical advances? Just because you didn't see them in the past doesn't mean they are not a good thing. We didn't have organ transplants before the 1950's but you don't hear people saying, don't get them because I didn't see them when I was a kid.

It's for a flat head so they don't grow up to have a flat head! Not an issue of bad parenting. Babies heads are really soft because the bones are new and still growing. What do newborns do all day?... sleep! And what position are newborns supposed to sleep in?... on their backs. Sometimes they're born more likely to get a flat head but sometimes not.

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Diane, have you given birth to a baby? Or do you only have “Fur” babies?