4 Month Old Getting Doc Band

The helmets really helped my twin preemie nephews. They were so tiny when they were born that they were in the NICU for months with masks and other equipment pushing on their little heads. They needed them very badly and we are all thrilled with the results. They got theirs at about a year old. Theirs were decorated with stickers so that they could change them from time to time. They had football team stickers, trucks, etc. with their names on the front.

both of my twin girls went to see the specialists about their head shape and the specialist recommended the helmets, but with lots of questioning finally admitted that their heads were "borderline" cases that might heal on their own. We opted to wait about getting the helmets and instead we were more careful about how we placed the heads, frequently rotating the position, using a "donut" under the head, etc. At almost 5 my girls have wonderfully shaped heads. Don't know what your situation is, but definitely question them a lot and talk it over with your pediatrician before jumping into this. Given that they are twins, you may have to lay them down a lot to feed them etc. and that may be how the head became misshapen, and perhaps it will get better with being careful about placement. I knew better when my twin boys were born and took care to re-position the head etc. good luck!

My son got his 1st DOC Band at 5 months old. He was the cutest baby ever and even made the DOC Band calendar. His head grew so fast that after 7 weeks it was too small. We couldn't beleive the amount of correction it did in that time! We waited about 3 weeks and then went into the 2nd band to finish it. Both of them were painted by TLC Painting (Cranial Tech referred us to her) and she did an awesome job! We had both of them painted like my husbands fire helmet and was always getting comments on it by strangers. My son never knew he had it on. We, too, had it in the summer and it can be very smelly. We always cleaned it with alcohol and let it airdry for that 1 hour each night. This seemed to control it quite nicely. Good luck! I'm sure your daughter will be very cute! (CT has a section on their website about what kinds of paints to use if you decorate it yourself).

One of my triplets had a Doc Band and it was wonderful. It made a HUGE difference in the shape of his head. It is worth the trouble. He now has a lovely round head. If you email me directly I will find out what kind of paint my husband used to decorate it. He just painted directly on it. It was so cute, I still have it 4 years later. I would be happy to send you a picture of him in it. K.

My daughter got one at 4 months. She did NOT like casting for the helmet at all!

As for the Doc Band itself...she had no prob adjusting to it. Just make sure it fits properly when you get it...not red spots that last over 14 min. or blocking the eyes or moving around too much.

As for decoration: Get a primer paint and paint the helmet and then paint over that with a acrilic paint. You can use stickers and change them out if you want and decoposh it. I did that and then used rub ons and lacqured it. I got huge compliments on it and was told I should get into Doc Band decorating! I loved how it looked...I had her name on the front and Faries and flowers on it.

I know that Cranial Techologies have a lady that does painting of Doc Bands for them...they have a book there of her work. She does GREAT work!

As for keeping it from smelling: I would clean out the inside with a washcloth and rubbing alcohol and set it out in the sun for an hour. Do this for their one hour break during the day. I never had a prob with smelly band...do this daily.

Your childs head will sweat for the first few days but will aclamate to it.

Of course Ins didnt pay for our band...she had to get one due to torticollis caused phalocephaly. She only had it on for three months and has a beautiful round head. She is a little flat on the back and a little ridge but nothing major and not worth paying another $3000 for it.

I am so glad we did it...I just ignored the looks and informed others who looked or asked questions.

My daughter got hers at 8 months and was supposed to have it for 12 weeks and ended up only having it for 10. We actually didn't have her wear it the entire time. I never told them that, but it was summer and hot and so I kind of left it off more than I was supposed to. But she still got it off early! Her flattening was only slight, so maybe that's why. I recently heard that the casting is now done by light beams to measure!! If so, that's awesome! I know last summer we asked about that and when they would have the technology for it and they said it was being worked on. I so wish we could have skipped the casting, she didn't like it at all, although they went so fast. Everyone was helpful and sweet and I would recommend it to anyone!! Totally worth it!! As for decorating, I just did stickers for her name and they kept peeling off. I used Modge Podge, but I don't think I did it very well! :)

My son got the Doc band when he was 7 months and wore it for about 3.5 months. His H. was really flat in the back. We could have used another treatment, but after the first treatment, I felt like his H. was round enough to be covered by his hair. Now, only I sometimes notice the slight flatness in the back when his hair is wet, but no one else notices.

Like other moms mentioned, there was no adjustment period for my son to get used to the helmet. He never knew it was there. The only "drawback" was that he found he could bang his H. against stuff and not have it hurt. So, when the helmet came off, he was in for a rather unpleasant surprise when banging his H. on stuff actually hurt! Some people made weird comments (like,"Does he knock his H. around a lot?"), but nothing major. Mostly, we were approached by people talking to us about the experiences they'd had with their kids' helmets.

At 4 months, though, you might want to give it a little more time to see if his H. rounds out a bit. For us, we began consulting with Cranial Tech at around 4 months and decided to go through with treatment after 3 months of repositioning, increased tummy time, etc. with no results. Some kids do improve, though, so if you can avoid the costs of treatment, it'll be worth a slight wait.

That's another thing...our insurance covered absolutely zero of the cost. We paid the balance in full up front, so we got $300 off, but still, $2,700 is a lot to pay for some rounding of the H.! We don't regret the cost, but we sure wished at the time that we didn't have to do it!

As for decorating, Cranial Tech should have some names/numbers of people you can contact if you don't feel comfortable decorating it yourself. I'm not very artistic, and I wanted it decorated, so I went through one of the people Cranial Tech recommended. I think it was around $50. I dropped the helmet off, and it was finished about two hours later. I think he was out of his helmet for a total of about three hours (I could be remembering that incorrectly, though). You're not supposed to have them out for that long, but he was fine. We chose a "tough guy" design--black with yellow/orange flames and his name written in red across the front. I even got him a matching onesie at Hot Topic, so it was really cute! The woman gave me a list of paints to buy for touch-ups. We used acryllic paints in opaque colors and Elmer's "Painters" paint markers. We used a Krylon clear glaze to help protect the paint job.

Hope that helps! Good luck with everything, and send me a message if you need any more info.

I do not have any experience first-hand, but I have seen several at the therapy clinic.

They usually decorate them with stickers and decalls. I have even seen some that come in stylish colors.

They are really cute.

One of the companies that puts them out even has a calendar each year that has pictures of babies wearing them.

I hope this helps.
P. <><

My daughter had one...we used stickers to decorate it and then used decopage over to seal it. I think I misspelled that : )! I can send you pictures if you want. Send me your email address. They work great and you'll be sooo thankful you did it!

Every one is so right. The kids don't care. My son had one at 4 months also. Now, despite being hyper aware of positioning, it is looking like my daughter may also need one. The one thing I do suggest with it, is to be very careful not to let them get too hot, especially since we are in the summer. Keep him in cool clothing, especially at night. When you get in the car, turn on the AC first to get it cooler before putting him in, etc. And when you get that hour to clean it - clean it WELL. Scrub it with a toothbrush and alcohol because it will smell bad!

We went through the STAR clinic, but the device is basically the same. My son began his treatment at 7 months and it took no adjustment time for him. He slept fine with it too. My son's helmet came with a design on it - fire trucks and dalmations. The hardest part for me was how people would look at him, but we did get used to it. He was graduated out of it by 12 months, so it was over in a flash. He is 20 months now and no worse the wear. His head is definitely not perfectly round, but we had slow progress and I don't think that is the case for most people. Good luck ~ you won't regret your decision.

My daughter got hers at 7 months. We had two bands because she got it so late. I WISH someone had sent us sooner. We wound up changing pediatricians because of that. The younger they are when they get it the less time they have to wear it. We decorated our with stickers and used a sealer on the outside only. We also had our in the summer and it got really stinky because she would sweat. They tell you not to use anything except a damp cloth to clean the inside. Someone at Cranial Technologies eventually told us to go to Target and ask the pharmacist for Zeabsorb powder. It helped with the sweating and the smell. Also, our insurance wouldn't cover it at first, but the people from CT convinced them it was an orthodic device and was necessary. They covered both at 100% after that. You do get funny looks but who cares? You are doing what's best for your baby!

Good Luck!

one of my twin granddaughters had the doc band. She got it just prior to her 1st birthday. He ears were not even, and her eyes were not aligned. She had torticollis (not sure how to spell it) She wore the helmet about a year. I personally thought she was the cutest thing ever in it. It just framed her little face. the result was great. Her head, though not perfect, is not noticible because of her hair. We were looking at pictures the other day and could not believe the difference it made. We would do it over again if ever needed. My daughter drove 2 hours once a month for fittings. It did not seem to bother my gbaby, it was very light weight. I can give you my daughters email if you want to ask direct questions.

My son wore one and had zero issues with it. It's so light weight that they don't even notice it. He was 7mos also and had almost started to crawl and when he started full force it was the best head protector! Of course after the band came off it wasn't so much fun!
I remember crying because I thought it would look so ugly on him and then the day we went for our fitting I started laughing because he looked so cute in it. I am glad we did it. My pediatrician told me once his hair grew in and he was older we would have never known but that if he decided to shave his head at 18 you would see it! It's definately not a "cosmetic" treatment.(His opinion) Anyone who says that, obviously can't really relate.
I did stickers and then changed them out when the others started looking old. The paint is adoreable.
Good Luck! It will be a snap.