Mommy Life

The Doc Band Journey

You do not realize how common something can be, until you experience it! When my younger son needed a DOC band to reshape his head, my eyes picked up every other kid that also wore a DOC Band in public. The purpose of this article is to shed light on some of the questions regarding what a DOC band is and what it does. When my son was about 4 months, my husband and I noticed that the back of his head appeared to be slightly flatter. We brought it up to his pediatrician, who referred us to Cranial Technologies . From his initial evaluation, we quickly learned the importance of it and let us say it became part of our family for the next 9 months. There are many resources available in understanding Plagiocephaly, Brachycephaly and Scaphocephaly. To summarize, Plagiocephaly, sometimes known as the flat head syndrome is a relatively common condition. A baby’s skull is very soft and pressure from everyday surfaces can cause flattening. In Brachycephaly the back of the head becomes flat, causing an abnormally wide, tall head shape. Scaphocephaly is characterized by a long, narrow head shape. My son had a combination of Plagiocephaly and Brachycephaly. My initial reaction to my son wearing the DOC Band was probably typical of any mother. We just don’t like to see our children in any discomfort. While it took our family some time to adjust to it, before we knew it the DOC Band became a routine. Even my 2-year-old son embraced, “little guy’s helmet”. It was not always easy to make the 40 min drive up every 2 weeks for adjustments, but we made it happen. Was it worth it? YES! We saw a significant difference and could not be happier with the way things turned out. Cranial Technologies was wonderful during the whole experience and I would highly recommend them to anyone who must take their child in for a head shape evaluation

Being Two Years Old is Magical

Whenever my son “misbehaved” in public, I would often hear the common phrase “terrible two’s have begun”. I often found myself cringing to those words. Really, why is being two years old terrible? It is quite the opposite in my opinion, its magical! It’s when “mamma’s kisses heal all “ouchies” and play-time is always encouraged! Sure, there are times when I am challenged, when my patience, is challenged but my child is never difficult. He is doing his job, being a kid. Just think about it from a child’s perspective. Their day consists of eating, playing, sleeping, and more playing. During this time, they are learning tons of things by just being present, exploring and watching the people around them. Everything can be turned into some silly game, such as brushing their teeth! When I am getting frustrated that pajamas are not on or bath-time has turned our bathroom into a giant pool with the splashes, it is because I am tired, or I have a lot on my mind. It is never about the child; it is almost always about us. When we try to think like a child it is a lot easier to just join in the giggles and the silliness, after all they only get to be kids for a little bit.

I get you mamma, there are moments when you will be tested! Not every situation can be ignored, of course! In some situations, you will need to be the “tough mamma”, where you find yourself disciplining for hitting, throwing, screaming or even biting. I learned a helpful tip that I often find myself using with even my adult relationships. It is called “Acknowledging Feelings”. Let me explain through a common scenario in my household. My two-year-old is found working diligently and quietly on his “Lego tower”, along came my younger son who casually just knocks that Lego tower down. I now find myself in between two children as a “referee”. Clearly this is overwhelming. I take a deep breath and remember “these are little people with big emotions”, who have not quite understood how to navigate them. I knelled down and said, “I am so sorry, you were working on this really hard and it got knocked down.” Crying stopped! He looked at me with curious eyes and said “yeah”. I can see this is upsetting and I am sorry this happened let me give you a hug. Let us work on building this together and help your brother understand how to build with you!” Magic, conflict resolved. Can I tell you a Secret? this trick works even with adults! “Acknowledging Feelings”. I know when I am upset, sometimes I just want a little bit of acknowledgement. Someone to sympathize with me, I do not want to hear a lecture about what not to feel or what not to do. It is like when you’re taking a picture, you want to focus into the scene to capture what you truly want. Focus into your child and take the extra moment to zoom in and understand the silliness or the temper. The book that inspired me and taught me this helpful technique is called “How to talk so little Kids will Listen”, by Joanna Faber and Julie King. I really encourage parents to listen to the audio version or read the book! It is truly helpful in understanding and navigating parenting with understanding.