safe suggestions needed

[bubakus]

My baby girl is 2 1/2 months and has developed a flat head on the right side. I have tried many things to get her to look the other way but nothing seems to be working. My main concern is when she is sleeping at night but I don't know what to prop her head with that is safe because she is very good at wiggling her head off whatever I use during the day and turning her head anyway. Don't want her to bury her little nose!

During the day I try to use a foam wedge to pop her head over but she just wiggles off that. I have tried a rolled up towel under her shoulder and head, trying to sort of get her on her side. Again, she wiggles off. All of her toys etc are always placed on the opposite side and we talk to her from the opposite side. She can only handle so much tummy time at this age.

she sleeps all through the night and no matter how hard I try to tilt her head the other way when she goes down, it always manages to go back to her favourite position. It is such a long time for her to put pressure on the same spot.

The doctor said that if I can get the pressure off she will avoid having to need a helmet. Any suggestions would be helpful. thanks

[JackRube'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''']

Hi try taking her to a chiro or osteo that specialises in babies - often they have slight little niggles from birth and being all curled up (especially if the birth is even a little bit traumatic).
I remember my DD didn't turn to one side and after one visit that changed (we had to go for a while because she wasn't rolling until she was 7 mths). And don't worry at all - they are extremely gentle and don't tend to do the same type of thing they do to adults, its more like a little baby massage and my daughter would usually sleep well after, occassionally she would cry but mostly just from being held by someone other than me and being in a cold climate without many clothes on (she didn't like being in just a singlet and nappy back then - how things have changed for my little nudist!!!)

[MrsBishi]

I agree. My DS had some pretty severe neck issues that meant he wouldn't feed properly which gave me some painful issues and also he wouldn't lift his head on his own for ages.
As soon as I took him to chiro all problems were cleared and his flat spot was gone. Best thing I ever did for him! Also they aren't like chiros for adults, they won't keep you coming back! They want to fix your baby

[melissaem]

Flat head syndrome (plagiocephaly) is on the rise because of the advice to sleep our babies on their backs and because their skulls are so soft and can easily become misshapen. A lot of MCHN's and health professionals will tell you that it won't cause any damage to their brains (which is 100% true) but you also have to know that the shape can become permenant depending on the severity of it and when you start treating it so time is of the essence.
It's great that you've noticed the changes so early and my best advice is to go to your GP and ask for a referral to the Cranio Facial clinic at your nearest Childrens Hospital. The reason you should do this ASAP is that there is often a waiting list to be seen but the visits are free and very informative.
Things you can do at home are encourage lots of tummy time and side play on the good side of her head (you can use a sleep positioner with a rolled up bunny rug behind her back). I couldn't get my DS to sleep with his head to the side so I also had him sleep in a positioner with the bunny rug trick and used to alternate which side he slept on as his flat spot was at the back of his head.
As she gets older, you can also use a jolly jumper to encourage time off her back and if you're bottlefeeding, swap which arm you feed her in so you're placing pressure on the 'good' side of her head.

I hope I haven't scared you but there just isn't enough information out there for new Mums and the earlier it's treated, the better the outcome

[bubakus]

thanks so much for all the suggestions. Hubby isn't too keen on the chiro idea but I may look into it as it sounds like it would help straighten her out a bit. The clinic idea also sounds good. Will speak to my GP soon. I just worry- too much!! The clinic might be able to give me an indication of the severity. What type of sleep positioner would you suggest? With the bunny rug does it sort of tip bubby on their side a little?

[trac74]

bubakus, on 12 March 2010 - 07:10 AM, said:

Hubby isn't too keen on the chiro idea but I may look into it as it sounds like it would help straighten her out a bit.

My Man wasnt keen on seeing a Chiro for our bub,but She was so gentle with him.His wasnt able to turn his neck completely to one side and i hadnt even noticed.She made a few gentle adjustments and the improvment in his sleep and general wellbeing was very noticable.We go every month for a check up.I throughly recomended it.Have your hubby to read some info on it first to reassure him they arent just bone crackers.

[dianna35]

my son had a flat head on one side it is caused by putting the baby on one side to much to balance it out the baby needs to be put on the other side so the soft bone can go back to the right way . do not go to chiro for this. the bone is still very soft. my son was fine after a few weeks.

[Harrison''sMummy]

Hi,

I thought I would share with you my story, advice and suggestions. I hope this doesn't start a debate because my suggestions go against every SIDS guideline!

My son from the age of two weeks developed plagiocephally on the left side of his head. My GP referred us to a specialist and he was diagnosed with torticollis - it basically meant that when he was lying down, his neck muscles only wanted to turn one way. We were immediately referred to paediatric physio ($$$) to learn exercises to encourage him to move his neck more.

We were incredibly lucky as DS LOVED tummy time and could turn his head when he was on his tummy, it was just when he went to sleep on his back that he couldn't!

We started going to Westmead Children's hospital to see the craniofacial surgeon - they took photos, told me to keep doing physio and to come back in 6 months.

So the physio continued until he was 1 year old - his neck finally sorted itself out. Unfortuntely, the damage had already been done to his head.

We went back to Westmead to discuss the option of a helmet - however Westmead doesn't believe in helmets - they believe that there is no proof to suggest they even work - they believe the head will just correct itself over time. We got told to come back 12 months later.

Well, its now 12 months later and my DS is nearly 2 years old now - and his poor little head is still terribly mis-shapen. Luckily, his hair has grown over it so nowadays people don't notice until you tell them. I can only hope that the hospital was right and this will get better over time. I see them in 2 weeks.

I tell you all this because I have constantly been told by people not to worry as this will correct itself over time. Well I'm sorry, but in my case it hasn't! Flat Head syndrome is horrible! It makes me feel so bad when I wash my child's hair at night and see what a mess his head is. One ear is so much more forward than the other even!

I really encourage you to do whatever you can NOW for your bubba. Physio, osteo, ANYTHING!

If I had my time over again, I would let my DS sleep on his tummy during the day. I would have given him a pillow at night and I would have been more vocal to my GP about my concerns. People just told me everything would be ok, and I believed them. But things definitely aren't ok.

Best of luck!

[melissaem]

Harrison's Mummy, I was so sad reading your post I just wanted to say it's not your fault hun, I know I felt the same way too about my DS. I told my MCHN they really should hand out a brochure on plagiocephally when they hand out the brochure about SIDS to new parents, it's just not good enough to tell parents that it 'might' correct itself when it's not always the case.

I've never tried chrio with my DS but my brother had good experiences with his young DD and her shoulder problems. I'd again seriously recommend that even if you go ahead with seeing a Chiro/Osteo you should get the referral the craniofacial clinic (not sure where you are but the one at the Royal Melbournes Childrens hospital was great) because that way you can get your child accessed by a craniofacial surgeon who'se job it is to deal with these kinds of issues. Too many MCHN's & GP's just write off plagiocephally concerns as purely a cosmetic issue.

I was told by the Craniofacial unit that after 6 months the condition gets a lot harder to try and treat and that's when pressure helmuts may be required (not nice things, they usually have to stay on for up to 23hrs a day and can cause things like heat rashes). I told the craniofacial surgeon that my DS saw that I was letting him have some of his day naps on his tummy and using a sleep positioner to sleep him on his side and she didn't make us feel bad at all and said we were doing all the right things. To also answer your question babakus, you can get sleep positioners from any Kmart, Target or Big W stores. I think the one we used was made by Sassy and if you roll the bunny rug up very tight and tuck it right down to the bottom you'll find it won't lift bubs up at all.

Good luck again

[BiancaJade]

I also have a little darling who has a flat spot, we've just started pysio and can already see an improvement in my daughters neck movement, she can now turn to both sides however still favours turning to her right. The physio informed us that it's just that her muscles are tight in her neck and we now just have to massage the muscles and do some stretches 3-4 times a day (it only takes a couple of minutes). We've only been to physio once and don't need to go back for 6 weeks. Both Dr and physio seem to think her head will round back out by 6 months of age. I'm very paranoid about her flat spot and constantly turn her head for her while she's sleeping and have her sitting up or on her tummy!!

[skye83]

I would agree with going to the physio, i have BG twins and they had a flat spot each on the opposite side from looking at each other which has now gone thanks to the excercise we did. I would ask for a referal to a physio now and start working on it sooner rather than later as the longer you leave it the harder it is to correct.

[bubakus]

Thank you all so much for sharing your stories. I agree that more info needs to be made avaliable.

I am taking her to the Dr to ask for a "where to from here plan" and am checking out oesteo/chiro in my area. I live Brisbane ( Northside). I would really like to avoid the helemt- it is just too hot up here and I would hate to put her through all of that.Thankfully, my little angel has LOTS of hair. I tell everyone that God gave her curly hair to cover up her flat spot!

I was beginning to feel like a bad parent. I look at my friends' kids and they don't seem to have any problems. Parenthood is not easy!!!

[meikanoah]

bubakus, on 10 March 2010 - 09:57 PM, said:

My baby girl is 2 1/2 months and has developed a flat head on the right side. I have tried many things to get her to look the other way but nothing seems to be working. My main concern is when she is sleeping at night but I don't know what to prop her head with that is safe because she is very good at wiggling her head off whatever I use during the day and turning her head anyway. Don't want her to bury her little nose!

During the day I try to use a foam wedge to pop her head over but she just wiggles off that. I have tried a rolled up towel under her shoulder and head, trying to sort of get her on her side. Again, she wiggles off. All of her toys etc are always placed on the opposite side and we talk to her from the opposite side. She can only handle so much tummy time at this age.

she sleeps all through the night and no matter how hard I try to tilt her head the other way when she goes down, it always manages to go back to her favourite position. It is such a long time for her to put pressure on the same spot.

The doctor said that if I can get the pressure off she will avoid having to need a helmet. Any suggestions would be helpful. thanks

[meikanoah]

Hi I have a four year old that needed a helment has she was born with flat head syndrome, the helment was needed for 8 weeks and it worked very well, I now have a 6 month old that at 8 weeks started to get a flat side due to resting on the one side, I went to a baby shop and purchased a lovenest pillow it is a heart shaped pillow that the child sleeps on it stops the child from sleeping on one side it worked well and my 6 month old did not need a helment, he used it until he started to roll and move around approx 6 months. they only cost $39.95 which is well worth it.

[NSC63E]

I noticed my son had a flat spot when he was 3 - 4 months old. It appeared to come up rather suddenly but as he had a full head of hair from birth it was harder to notice and I didn't until I had him sitting up in the bath one evening when his hair was flattened by the water.

I took him to a paediatric physio and he did not have the associated neck issues, he just liked sleeping with his head to one side. I did everything I could to try and balance it out. Wedges, anti roll pads, lots of tummy time and making sure he did not have much pressure on the back of his head (the spot is actually more to one side).

At nearly 2.5 he still has a flat spot. They did tell me it might never be completely normal but it will hopefully get better with age. His hair is really thick (I have had it cut every 6 weeks since he was 6 months old) so you generally don't notice and it has improved a little, but I still see it and feel terrible.

When my daughter came along I bought a special pillow designed to be used until 4 months to avoid it and she moves her head beautifully, is upright a lot during the day and I did all I could from the very start but still she has a slight case of it. Not nearly as bad or obvious as DS and I am confident it will rectify itself over time providing it doesn't get worse. I think part of the issue is that both my babies have been excellent sleepers. At 7 months old she sleeps 12 hours and has been since about 3 months old. I don't think there is much else I can do... But there you go. My experiences with it anyway.