Charley's Head

When Charley was about three weeks old I started to notice that she was only sleeping with her head turned to the right.  A couple of my friends have had thier kid wear a DOC band to help re-shape their head so I was trying to be proactive and watch for it.  I started doing neck stretches with her and repositioned her while she was sleeping so she would lie on the other side and get the pressure off of her right side.  After the stretching and repositioning, her flat spot got better. 

Then she started sleeping longer stretches and she kept her head perfectly straight.  Now she has a flat head in the back.  She must have a super soft skull!  The skull is still very maleable during this time so I am trying to do exactly what needs to be done during this window.

After thinking about it daily, I finally just called the pediatrician so another doctor in the practice could take a look.  The doctor who saw her at 2 months agreed that the back of her head was flat but she just said to try to get as much tummy time in as possible and to see what happened.

Dr. Kovar agreed with me that we should let the specialists look at it.  So, we are starting with the physical therapy evaluation.  They will see if there is anything that needs to be done to help strengthen her neck muscles.  After that appointment, I will have her evaluated by a company called Cranial Technologies.  They make the DOC (Dynamic Orthotic Cranioplasty) bands that can correct her head shape.

I took these pictures of the brochure with my phone so that's why they're all crooked.

These two pictures are good examples of her head shape.  Charley's head is similar to the bottom circle in the picture on the left.  It's flat across the back.  From the side, it looks similar to the top picture on the right.  I'm so impressed by the before and after shots when the kids wear the bands.

 

If the Cranial Technologies evaluation shows that she needs a band, she will be fitted and hopefully in it as soon as possible after she's 4 months old.  The sooner she gets it on, the less time she'll need to wear it. They have to wear them 23 hours a day and she could be in it for as little as 5 weeks or as long as 6 or more months.  The good news is that they don't seem to bother the babies.  The band only weighs 6oz and the doctor said that their bodies quickly adjust to regulating their body temperature so they don't get too hot. 

 

Her physical therapy evaluation is scheduled for Monday and then after that I can make her Cranial Tech eval appointment.  I see lots of appointments in my future.  That should be a lot of fun with a two-year-old in tow.  Thank God for Parent's Day Out.  Hopefully I can get lots of Thursday appointments!