To Doc Band or Not To Doc Band

The Back to Sleep Campaign started in 1991 has been successful in reducing the incidence of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, SIDS. However there has been an unforeseen consequence, more children are being diagnosed with positional plagiocephaly. Positional plagiocephaly occurs when a baby sleeps in the same position repeatedly or because the baby has problems with their neck muscles.

We first learned of positional plagiocephaly when we had our twin girls, Paige and Emmy. When Paige was born we noticed that she always slept with her head tilted to the right, looking left. My husband and I just thought maybe this position was most comfortable for her and did not think much more of it. However, when Paige was about four months old we started to notice her remaining in this titled position even when sitting up. This became quit a concern for us. We took her to see her pediatrician and this is when we learned that Paige had torticollis, tightness of the neck muscles, and would need physical therapy to stretch her neck. Paige’s doctor also noticed a flat spot on the back of her head due to her repeatedly sleeping in the same position, positional plagiocephaly.

We started physical therapy immediately and we are happy to say that Paige no longer tilts her head to the right and she is hitting all her milestones. However, her head not only remained flat but it also caused slight asymmetry to her face. The next step was to take Paige to Cranial Technologies in Oak Brook to see whether or not she would need to fitted with a Doc Band.

The Doc Band, which looks like a helmet, applies mild pressure to capture the growth of an infants head while holding growth in the prominent areas and encouraging it in the flat regions. The length of the treatment depends of the severity of plagiocephaly and the child’s age. The Doc Band has to be worn 23 hours a day in order to achieve the best results.

Paige had enough asymmetry to warrant the Doc Band and thankfully our insurance covered all the costs. Now we had to make the difficult decision of whether or not we wanted her to endure wearing the Doc Band consistently for months. We decided to pursue the treatment after reading many posts from parents online who wished they had done it for their children because their asymmetry was becoming more apparent with age.

Paige has been wearing her Doc Band for one month now and she has adjusted to it just fine. To our great surprise the shape of her head has already become more round and her asymmetry is slowly looking better. Positional plagiocephaly not only causes cosmetic problems but it also has been linked to difficulty with vision and problems with eating and chewing, which can lead to TMJ. Although it is vital to follow the back to sleep rule please keep in mind positional plagiocephaly. So when your child is awake plenty of tummy time is essential. If you have concerns about the shape of your child’s head or if you noticed your child tilts his/her neck please contact your pediatrican.