Yesterday Trey and I drove up to Charlotte to get Dalton's DOC Band. If you're not familiar with the DOC band, it's a helmet for babies to correct flat spots on the head. When Dalton was born, I noticed immediately that he always slept on his left side. So, at hs 2 month check-up the pediatrician and I discussed ways to correct this at home first. So, we did extra tummy time, offered toys on the right side and after he would fall asleep, I would go and move his head to the right side. I noticed a bit of a change but not much. At his 4 month appointment, the pediatrician reevaluated Dalton and we decided that he would be referred to Cranial Technologies in Charlotte for a consult. I knew that this was coming but I was still a little upset after I knew this would be a definite.
So, a month ago, Trey and I took Dalton up to Charlotte for his initial consultation. They did a photo study of his head and diagnosed him with plagiocephaly and torticollis. The plagiocephaly is the flattening of the head and the torticollis is where one side of his neck muscles is tighter than the other, causing him to favor one side over the other. We were told that no amount of repositoning would correct this and so we needed to get a DOC band. This is obviously, not mandatory and we could keep trying repostioning therapy and extra tummy time but we knew that we had done this for months and the results were not great. So, we opted to get the DOC band. I will say, that I've see babies with these on before and had no idea what they were for, until now.
After a month of waiting on the insurance to approve everything we finally went back to Charlotte two weeks ago so Dalton could get fitted for a band. I thought they would make a mold using some sort of casting method but they use a very high resolution digital camera. They take pictures with the camera and use that image to make the mold. It's really neat and takes no time at all, that is, if the baby is cooperative.
So, yesterday the band was ready for Dalton! Trey and I drove up and we had Dalton fitted with it. It's plastic on the outside and is lined with thick foam. The band itself is very lightweight, only weighing a few ounces. Now, you may be wondering how this whole thing works. Well, we will be taking Dalton every week, yes EVERY WEEK, to have Dalton's head measured and the band adjusted. Each week, they will shave a few millimeters off the helmet to make room for head growth. At first we were told he would have to wear it for 3-6 months but then they said only 2-3 months. We're hoping for the 2-3 month window, especially with gas prices the way they are!
Here is Dalton in his new DOC band! He doesn't mind it one bit!
Of course, they are all white so we needed to add a little flair to it! My mom brought her cri-cut down and we cut pictures out of vinyl to put on the helmet. This is just the front. We added his name and a cricket. On the back, it has grass and caterpillars.
