A rocky start

Isabelle was fitted for her DOC Band ("helmet") on Friday morning. Our instructions were to take it off every 3-4 hours for the first two days, to check for redness, mop any sweat off her head, and basically just let her skin breathe. We were told that if her red marks went away within an hour, to put the helmet back on and then by Sunday she should start wearing it 23 hours a day. She gets one helmet-free hour a day, which gives us time to clean the helmet and wash and dry her head.

The front of the helmet. As you can see, I glammed it up with some flower and butterfly stickers so it doesn't look so clinical. I told Isabelle to think of it as a fashion accessory, much like a great handbag or pair of shoes. If she wears it with confidence, I'm sure all the other babies on the block will start begging their moms for one.

A side view

The back of the helmet

Things started off just fine. The band is unusually light - only about 6 oz. - and Isabelle didn't seem to have a problem wearing it. She had a hard time getting comfortable the first time she fell asleep on my shoulder after being burped, but from then on she was able to sleep in it like a champ. During our initial skin checks, she had some redness and sweating where the band was pressing against her head, but the red marks faded fairly quickly.

Until last night. I took the helmet off her in order to give her a bath, and her forehead and "sideburn" areas were unusually red and crusty feeling. I washed her face and head thoroughly and dried her off, but after 90 minutes she was still bright red so I let her sleep without the helmet. At 6:30 this morning, 12 hours after taking the helmet off, she still has a red rash across her forehead that looks like a sunburn. So she's still helmet-free.


I called the clinic and they said it sounds like she has a pretty good case of heat rash. She hinted that we should have taken the helmet off periodically yesterday, just long enough to dry her head and the inside of the helmet, and then put it back on. I will admit that we probably didn't do this enough - but in our defense, yesterday was not a very warm day, and they were adamant in their instructions to us that the band treatment is not successful unless the baby wears it 23 hours a day, every day. Sigh. We're still learning.

So we have to treat her forehead with hydrocortisone cream, and start over with the helmet once it clears up. Isabelle has her first weekly check-up on Friday morning and I'm hopeful that her skin will be better and with our second attempt she will "take" to the helmet much better.

One side note, I now understand why it's so important to clean the helmet every night with a toothbrush and rubbing alcohol. Our clinician warned us that it will start to smell like sweaty athletic equipment, and boy was she right. Isabelle herself doesn't smell when she's wearing the helmet - I don't think I'd be able to go through this for over two months if my baby had a constant funk - but when you take the helmet off it REEKS. It smells like the worst sweaty gym socks you can imagine, and it's enough to make me gag!