How To Paint A Baby Helmet Design

Did you just find out that your child needs to wear a baby helmet or Doc band? We were in the same position and painted ours to add a little character. Because why be boring if you don’t have to be? Learn how to paint your baby helmet with our step-by-step tutorial.

*Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read our full privacy policy.

Before You Start

Before I start to explain how I went about decorating my son’s baby helmet, you need to make sure that you are following the rules from your doctor about what is allowed.

Our Doc Band came from Cranial Technologies and they have great baby decorating tips on their website. Remember that a baby helmet is a medical device and should be treated like one. 

*We are not liable for anything that could happen to your baby helmet after you decorate it. I just feel like I have to say this here, again! It is just worth stating because, at the end of the day, I am talking about how I painted a medical device). Read our full disclaimer.

Why do babies need to wear helmets?

It is simply to correct the shape of their heads.

There are medical terms to describe everything, however, if you are reading this then you probably already know about torticollis and plagiocephaly.  My son had a flat spot on the side of his head due to a tightening in his neck muscles. 

*We used more expensive Liquitex paint because we already had it, but some people say that the cheaper acrylic paint works just as well.

How To Paint A Baby Helmet

Before: Clean helmet

Make sure your baby helmet is clean and grime-free.

Step 1: Create A Sketch On Helmet

First, create a sketch or find an image you want to use for inspiration.

After I printed images that I thought would work, I put the pencil on the back of the image, cut it out and tape it on the helmet where I wanted it

Use a sharp pencil to trace on top of the picture and push the scribbled graphite on the back. It actually worked better than I thought. The graphite did stick to the plastic coating of the outside shell.

Step 2: Begin Painting

Once my images were on, I simply began painting with acrylic paint. I used my artist’s acrylic paint.

However, according to the Cranial Technology website, regular acrylic craft paint will also work when painting a Doc band baby helmet.

Make sure you are using non-toxic paint as you want to make sure that you are being safe for your baby.

Now, this is where my skills come into play. I know everyone reading this may not be able to paint as I do. However, my drawing technique can work for a lot of simpler baby helmet designs.

Step 3: Wait For Acrylic Paint To Fully Dry

I was surprised at how fast the acrylic paint I used dried. I placed it outside to dry and also to get some sun inside the helmet.

After a month of us, the inside foam definitely has a little smell and I am told letting sunlight get to it helps. 

I placed my son’s Doc Band in an 8″ baking pan to support it outside while drying. I thought it worked perfectly!

How long should you wait for your baby helmet to dry?

For the best results, I would let your helmet dry overnight. When I was cleaning mine that night, my nail slipped and took one of the leaves out.

Luckily, it was not an important part. My son did sleep in his once I thought the smell of the mod podge was not too bad. He did not ruin his helmet or anything, but it may be best to let your painted baby helmet dry overnight.

I am so happy that I decided to finally get over my fear and just paint something on the baby helmet. It is so nice to see his smiling face with a cute illustration on it instead of the medical-looking white baby helmet.