helmet odor

[lucsdad]

hope someone can help.
lucas has finally been wearing his helmet, and he's sweating alot!
now were having odor issues. the helmet doesn't smell his hair does.
im washing lucas' hair everyday, but cannot fully get that smell out.
of course, im using baby shampoo. iv'e even tried scented baby shampoo, no luck.
any ideas??

[Katie]

It took a long time for Dillon's hair to stop smelling. Once he was wearing it round the clock, it was a few weeks before he stopped sweating so much. In the meantim both him and the helmet got washed every day. It was really all that could be done. Once he stopped sweating in it so much though, it wasn't an issue anymore. Hopefully Lucas adjusts to it soon!

[snickers9246]

I've seen on the CAPPS site that some of the Mom's reccommend using rubbing Alcohol to clean the helmet some and they say that it helps with the smell. Now sorry, not sure if that's the smell of the helmet only, or eventually makes the hair better as the helmet doesn't smell as much.

Sorry!! Hope someone can help you!!!

[Mom2William]

Don't know if this will work. But have you tried rinsing first with white vinegar then shampoo like normal? You would need to make sure that the incision is completely healed and no other little cuts or it will burn like crazy. And you would need to do in over the sink (like at a hairdresser) so that none will run into his face. also it will feel cold, I would use about 1/2 to 1 cup.
My mom used to rinse our hair with vinegar to make it shine and I used it when the girls were little to get the smell of cigarette smoke out (their grandparents smoked.) It is also good for cutting any greasy substance in the hair.
Good luck.

[Mom2William]

Forgot to tell you that I would lay the kids on the counter on a towel with a rolled towel under their neck and hold their head over the sink with one hand.
Also you will need to rinse several times and you still may have a faint smell of vinegar but it should not be strong.
We only had the helmet for 3 months and luckily it was in the colder months so I did not have strong smell issues. Normal shampoo worked for us! Best wishes

[cheryl2]

Clara wore a helmet for 6 months after surgery. We cleaned the helmet with 99% alcohol, and washed her hair with lavender scented baby shampoo by Johnson&Johnson. That's what the orthotist recommended. It seemed to do the trick. Good luck.

[Dean'smom]

My son has been in the helmet for 2 months and a week, and at first it smelled no matter what, although washing his hair and the helmet everyday did help. We clean the helmet with rubbing alcohol, and his hair with Aveeno baby shampoo. Sometimes we use a toothbrush with alcohol on the helmet. After a few weeks though, he stopped sweating so much, and he hardly sweats now at all.......

[SunnieFaerie]

hope someone can help.
lucas has finally been wearing his helmet, and he's sweating alot!
now were having odor issues. the helmet doesn't smell his hair does.
im washing lucas' hair everyday, but cannot fully get that smell out.
of course, im using baby shampoo. iv'e even tried scented baby shampoo, no luck.
any ideas??

Not sure what to tell you. I was told to clean Jackson's helmet daily with rubbing alcohol. His smell wasn't all that bad and when he quit wearing the helmet, I was so used to the smell that I actually missed it. He wore his helmet for nine months and has been helmet free for almost 2 months. I still miss the smell, because it was him. A circumstance. But still him.

[scdillon]

Our son Kiernan only ever had peach fuzz...but every night we cleaned his helmet with rubbing alcohol and then put baby powder in the helmet to absorb any sweat. He had 2 helmets over 8 months and we (luckily) didn't have any odor issues. It could have been b/c he doesn't have much hair though!