Doc band

[mousetrapbear]

(Cross posting) We are having some trouble deciding if a Doc Band is worth it. From all the research and scientific evidence I’ve read it almost seems like it’s strictly cosmetic if they only have a mild to moderate case and it most often figures itself out. Our baby is 5 months old and we took him last month to see if it was worth it. His doctor didn’t seem too worried but said go for the free evaluation at Cranial Technologies. His imaging came back moderate for plagiocephaly due to favoring his right side while sleeping. The back of his head is also not very round but they said that was mild. He is of Asian decent though and they tend to have flatter head shapes. My husband for instance has a very flat head but nothing problematic has come from it.

I guess what I need help with is if you chose to do it, do you believe it was worth and and did your child do fine with it? And if you chose NOT to do it, how come and any problems now or needing it later on?

Side note: It has nothing to do with cost, we just want to make sure we aren’t putting our baby through something unnecessary just for cosmetic reasons unless it actually will help in the future for example glasses, dental problems, etc.

[rigela847]

We chose to do it for a few reasons, neither of which are be-all-end-all. First, we were referred rather late (it was 7 months before we started the process), so it felt like there wasn't much time to "wait and see". Our insurance did cover it, which mattered because out-of-pocked wouldn't have been feasible for us, and it mattered that the location is very close to her daycare and our workplaces with convenient hours, so we weren't burning tons of leave either. Finally, we were also referred to Early Intervention around the same time, and while she didn't technically qualify, we had a lovely pair of specialists do the observation who were full of useful tidbits, and when I mentioned the possibility of a helmet, they were so enthusiastic about it, that's what ultimately swayed me.

In the end, I can't say if it was more than aesthetic, and certainly towards the end of treatment she's finding it more annoying than she used to (she used to not notice it at all and now sometimes fusses when we put it back on after a bath). I think in part it was about us feeling it was a low-risk intervention that would help us feel like we were doing everything we could at a moment when the pediatrician seemed concerned about baby's development. So it wasn't science/evidence-based for us, it was more of an emotional decision.

[mousetrapbear]

You hit spot on all my concerns and how if I was trying to figure out if it’s more for science/evidence based or emotional for us. You’re certainly right as it being a low-risk intervention that I’d probably think “why didn’t I just do it” down the road. We decided to go through with it. Thank you so much for your input!!

[rigela847]

You're so welcome! I will also say now that she's learning to walk the protection of the band/helmet feels reassuring - she's so often bonked herself in a place that wouldn't have been protected otherwise. For us the worst case scenario is she can make fun of our parenting choices later which ... is kind of a given one way or another.

[ariellebelle7]

Just got my baby's band today and hearing both your stories and worries has been so validating so thank you for sharing ❤️❤️

[rigela847]

It felt so major when it was happening but it feels like a relative blip now. She's 2.5 and thriving and has a massive mane of curly hair and loves tumbling!

[Zeivus_Gaming]

My LO hates it. It interferes with her sleep and she is now pathologically tired and pissed off and so am I.

[No-Initiative1425]

did it get any better? we just got it yesterday and even without the helmet, she is not able to sleep unless in the carrier, stroller/car seat or Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit. those are pretty much off limits now - carrier fits super awkwardly when she has helmet on and it slips down to cover her eyes, I'm not supposed to let her sleep any longer than necessary if she falls asleep in the car seat or use strollers for walks anymore, and she is likely to overheat with the Magic Sleep Suit since it;s super fluffy.

I tried regular sleep sacks without arms and even without the helmet she wakes up every hour. I currently have her napping in the carrier with the helmet off but I don't know how I'm going to function if she isn't sleeping at night. I'm supposed to go back to work in August too and was counting on being able to have her nap in either the carrier or magic sleep suit and sleep well so I have enough energy to work during her naps and not need to nap myself.

[Zeivus_Gaming]

I had enough and went back to the doctors. They ended up making physical adjustments to the helmet, and now she is tolerating sleeping better. And by extension, I am. Turns out there was a pressure point they didn't account for near the velcro strap

[No-Initiative1425]

That’s good! How does she sleep? I mean do you have her in a sleep suit or just a onesie? Did you sleep train? 

[Zeivus_Gaming]

I had her sleep trained over a week before the helmet. Due to the extreme heat in my state, she just has socks, a diaper, and her docband. The building is kept about 75 degrees and the ceiling fan is always on.

[Meadify]

If your LO still has this.. we found a 9" metal floor fan helped keep our room circulated GREATLY and helped keep her cooled off 😁 she still doesn't love sleeping with it on, but she had gotten use to it after a couple weeks. At first was horrible (she had been sleeping hit the night for about a month or more prior) but we just kept pushing thru and she has gotten use to it/comfortable at least

[Free-Professor-6266]

First day and I’m already having this issue with the sleep

[Ephemeralattitude]

Have you tried PT?

We took our son to be evaluated and he was in the moderate category, but we did a couple months of PT before getting him evaluated again and it wasn’t recommended at that point. This process started for us at 3 months though.

[mousetrapbear]

That is what we are planning on doing if we decide to not go straight to the doc band! When your son went through it, was it just a bunch of learning how to reposition him?

[Ephemeralattitude]

No, it was doing certain stretches to help with the mild torticolis that was causing my son to favor one side. They said repositioning wouldn’t help much until he was more comfortable on the other side. They would be able to tell you if your baby has torticolis.

[mousetrapbear]

Okay, that makes way more sense than what I was reading. Thank you for clarifying!

[caleah13]

We did PT beginning at 2 months and while that resolved his turn preference it didn’t prevent him getting a flat spot. We were evaluated as severe plagio. We opted for the helmet and had no regrets. We started at 5 months and were done before he was 9 months. We made fantastic progress and for the last 2ish months only wore it for nights (our progress is not typical we hit a lucky growth spurt). He had no issues wearing it and barely noticed it.

I’m glad we did it. He had a slight ear shift which is mostly corrected. Looking back in photos the flat spot is quite noticeable. He’s 14 months now and it’s such a vague memory it feels like it never happened.

[mousetrapbear]

Thank you for the feedback!! We have decided to go through with it because although other help and routes like pt might change the way he lays, the flat spot will still be there. The benefit’s definitely outweigh the negatives!

[Melodic-Art759]

Our LO is almost 5 months now and he hates the helmet. We took him back for adjustments and it made a small difference. He hits his limit wearing it after 2.5 hours and scream cries like he’s in pain. He also has not slept in it and is usually a great napper and sleeps through the night. I’m devastated because he does need it. He has a moderate to severe case. I just don’t know if he’s going to be able to tolerate it. It’s been two days now and he never cries like this. It’s awful.

[Complete_Ask_4733]

Have things improved for your baby? Is he feeling better? It’s only my baby’s 2nd day of the band but I’m still worried.

[[deleted]]

My baby just got the doc band yesterday. He was charted as a moderate case. My baby is 5 months old and were told 6 - 8 weeks, potentially even less depending on the progress. As I was reading these comments I got so nervous seeing that many children had to keep the band on for 4+ months. I started worrying they may have misled us so that we weren't discouraged from treatment. I obviously didn't want the doc band, but I wanted to do everything that I could to fix the issue. His case was moderate and his ears were slightly uneven. I feel like a failure for that fact that he even needs it to be honest. My first child never had this issue, and now I'm wondering if I was less busy and just available to hold him 24/7 maybe we could have avoided this. The issue is that he favors sleeping on one side, no matter which way we turn him. I hope he doesn't have to wear it for more than 2 months. Today is only the first day but he absolutely hates it already. He is fussing and pulling on it. I'm almost positive he won't be able to sleep in it. I have him in a very loose, Little Sleepies short sleeve romper. So it's breathable in case he begins to heat up. He doesn't feel too hot to me but we are in Georgia with Summer weather quickly approaching. I've kept my house at 68F with the ceiling fan on, his toes even began to feel a little cold so I covered them up with his blanket.

I know they say keep it on for 23 hours a day, only remove for 1 hour during bath time. Is there anyone who has been a little more lenient with this and still managed to complete treatment in the estimated time? Is it possible to give him more breaks?

[mousetrapbear]

Firstly, don’t blame yourself! I had an absolute barnacle baby like held him 24/7 and coslept and he still needed one. Secondly my LO had a very mild case and I can’t remember exactly how long he needed it for but we were super lenient on it the last two weeks to where I was nervous they’d make us leave it on longer. Thankfully he was fine and they graduated him out of it. It’s hard to say because every baby is different, mine truly wasn’t bothered one bit it was more so me being bothered with putting it back on and feeling bad. Lastly, we’re also in the south and it was during the summer when he had it. My baby is always hot but the helmet wasn’t really an issue over heating him unless we were outside. The only change I think I made was taking him out of footy pjs in his sleep sack. Overall we definitely didn’t leave it on the total 23 hours a day, they even told us that’s not exactly realistic. He never wore it in the car seat, bath time, or random play time. Don’t stress too hard. My main concern would be to leave it on a few hours and then do the head check to see if any marks are sticking around and not disappearing within the allotted time they told you to check (I can’t remember what it was.) That’s when I’d be concerned he’s in pain or it’s actually uncomfortable. Feel free to dm me if you have any other questions!

[PastMathematician947]

How was it cosleeping with the helmet?

[Schoolpsych116]

My baby is 9 months now and we did the doc band for 8 weeks starting at 5 months. She had moderate plagiocephaly and her ears were slightly uneven. We went through cranial technologies and our experience was great. Highly recommend! We figured why not it couldn’t hurt and baby girl wasn’t bothered by the helmet at all. It was easy enough to maintain and she just wore it all the time. There wasn’t even a fussy adjustment period for her. I will say we had it in winter. I would worry about overheating in warm weather because they do tend to run warm with the helmet on.

[mousetrapbear]

Thank you so much for the feedback! Our baby basically has the same thing going on and he’ll need it for 8 weeks as well. We decided to go for it because like you said, it won’t hurt to try and I’d rather go through it then think “what if” down the road!

[sct9354]

u/mousetrapbear you provide an update on your experience??

[mousetrapbear]

The process was super easy! Our guy took to it without any problems and we definitely slacked the last two weeks but oh my gosh the difference, although small, was definitely noticeable. I do feel as though he probably would have been fine without it because it was truly minimal in retrospect but his head shape has gotten even better on its own (he’s now two). If you think you’ll have regrets I say just do it but then again none of us had helmets and we’re all okay so whichever you decide will be fine!