Because of Maya’s tight neck muscles (torticollis), she wound up preferring one side over the other when it came to sleeping, and especially early on, she spent a lot of time sleeping. Thanks to all this, she developed a flat spot on one side of her head (plagiocephaly). She also has mild scaphocephaly. To treat these things, at her pediatrician’s advice, we had her fitted for a DOC band.

Maya’s first day with the helmet

After some appointments for imaging and discussion, Maya received her band (which we call a helmet) on June 20th. She wears the band 23 hours a day, really only taking it off for bath time and so we can clean the band. She goes in every two weeks so they can route out portions of the band to allow for growth where her skull needs to “fill in.”

Interesting tidbit about these helmets: thanks to all the head sweat, they develop a deep gym-sock-like funk that nightly cleanings with rubbing alcohol cannot get rid of.

Maya Monkey

It was a little difficult for the first few days. She wasn’t fond of having it on, and she found it difficult to sleep with it. Plus, it’s summer. In Texas. The poor girl was so sweaty. After a few days, she adapted. She slept better and got used to having the band on during the day. We have the thermostat in the house set a little cooler to keep her comfortable, but she really prefers to be outside. The hundred-degree heat plus her band are a rough combination.

It took us a while to decorate it. For a little while it was plain. Then in desperation, Sean slapped a Mickey Mouse head on it. We tried some 3D stickers, but they are flat and her band is not, so it was a matter of minutes before Maya had crushed 3D stickers in her grip. Eventually, we settled on some flat stickers and since then all has been well.

Final decorations

We’re likely nearing the end of her DOC band wearing days. We have an appointment next week for imaging to see if there’s anything that might be correctible with a second band. All told, her head is looking much better. There are things that won’t be fixed. Hopefully those will smooth out a bit as her head continues to grow. Even if they don’t, they should be covered up by a head full of hair.