Woman defends making twin babies wear £500 helmets for 23 hours a day to reshape their heads

A content creator and mum-of-three has explained why she decided to fit her newborn twins with 3D-printed head-shaping helmets.

You may not know much about babies, so it may come as a shock that there are helmets which some parents choose to place on their babies for several hours in a day.

Apparently, they were created to encourage a baby's head to grow naturally by applying light pressure to certain areas, helping growth in certain flat regions.

The helmets are made as the baby's head grows, with the helmet allowing for the head to grow into a tight, and more importantly round, space to grow into.

Madeline Lawrence has received some backlash after posting social media content about her baby boys wearing their own personalised helmets for 23 hours in a day.

The mother has defended her decision (Instagram/@mads_lawrenceig)

She opened up about newborns Nico and Ash and how she said the flatness of her babies' skulls are the main reason behind them wearing their own head-shaping helmets.

"The babies wear their helmets 23 hours a day because that’s just what (their paediatricians) recommended," the Utah-native said to the Washington Post, adding: "To start, we did one hour on, one hour off to help acclimate them to the helmet."

Madeline revealed: "My daughter started off with 14 millimeters of asymmetry, and she’s was down to 3.75 millimeters after six weeks of wearing the helmet."

Data from the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences in Chicago state that one in every eight healthy infants suffer from plagiocephaly.

This is also known as flat head sydrome and while it doesn't affect brain development or intelligence, it is identifiable when a baby's soft skull is flattened in a certain area.

If left untreated, the deformity can cause the ear on that side to appear pushed forward, or asymmetry in parts of the face, neck, and jaw.

Plagiocephaly can be caused by birthing, sleep positioning, lack of tummy time or pregnancies with more than one baby, with experts suggesting that helmet therapy is a solution for this condition, though it can cost anywhere from $1,495 to $5,195 (£1,117 to £3,883) for families without insurance.

Madeline forked out $700 (£500) for each of the helmets, as they started wearing the gear at about four-months-old.

Madeline was prescribed the helmets by a professional (Instagram/@mads_lawrenceig)

One TikTok user called the helmets 'unnecessary', with another writing: "So sad. Don’t use helmet come on."

A third added: "Twenty-three hours is crazy."

Responding to the negativity, the content creator said: "If it were me, and I had a head that was that flat, which could potentially cause asymmetry to my face, I’d want my parents to do what they could to fix it.

"I kind of compare putting my babies in helmets to kids wearing braces. If it’s fixable, why not."

Madeline said that they practice tummy time to further combat their flat heads, while also strengthening the muscles in the upper half of their bodies.

Explaining how the helmets were made, the mum said: "The paediatricians sent them to a place that specializes in prosthetics and orthotics. They do measurements of the baby’s head and take 3D images.

Then they send those images to the 3D printer. Each helmet is foam lined on the inside and that’s how they make adjustments as the baby grows.

"The idea is that the helmet’s perfectly round, and their heads will (begin mimicking that shape) as they grow," she said.