4-month old Flat Head!

[Ryansmum]

Hi Everyone, I'm concerned about my 4-month's old flat head, as the result of nearly always being on his back (ie for sleeping, playing on play-mat, in rocker etc). I had a chat with our local health nurse this week who said he needs to spend more time on his sides (eg for sleeping). We're working on this now! Just wondering if anyone else has had the same prob, & does it rectify itself as bub grows?? Thanks Everyone!

[veve]

wow!! I was just talking to other mums about this today ...

lots and lots of kids are getting flat spots on their head due to the SIDS recommendation of sleeping on their backs at all times- it is surprisingly common now!!! . I remember an episode on ACA where they talked to a Doctor who made helmets for the kids (to sleep in) so that their skulls would naturally return to shape..

I know there have been threads on this before... I'll go have a look at what I can find ,.

((hugs))

[veve]

found two threads - one called sleeping with a helmet ... and the other called flat head syndrome. I would post the links for you... but I dont know how :o

hope these help!!!!

xxx

[*Chels*]

my bubba was getting a wonky head from always being on the left, coz thats the side i always fed him on.i started alternating sides and it made a big difference.also just keep alternating which side his head is on when he sleeps and put bright toys etc on each side of his head to make him turn his head.maybe not so much time on the floor?do u have a jollyjumper?just keep trying these things and making sure his head isnt in the same position.it should rectify the situation coz hes young and youve caught it in time.good luck!

[reAllytee]

Thats why they have now introduced "tummy to play & back to sleep" its a must !
Lots & lots of tummy time !
I went against the recommendations not only cause i didnt want bubs having a flat head but also he only slept on his side so we used a safe & sound sleeper but i think your bubs may be too old for these now but im not sure maybe look at these you can even get them from target.
It usually takes a while before it all goes back to normal IYKWIM ( sorry i dont mean that to sound horrible :o ) From memory it took my cousins boy a good 6mths but maybe im wrong.
Just really stick with keeping him off his back as much & possible & all will come good.
Good luck :)

[superbaby]

My DS also had a pretty flat head as a result of being ventoused and being put flat on his back to sleep. I have found it has improved since he has been sitting up more and more and it is quite subtle now - he will be 1 next week. We actually went to the head clinic at the childrens hospital (Sydney) to have it monitored and they advised us that by the second year it should right itself. They will only do helmets if the flattening is extreme.
Definately encourage tummy time and sitting up when he is awake. You could try changing the end of the bed he sleeps at if this may influence him turning his head one way or the other. I tried a safety sleep wrap which is a velcro harness thingy to try and keep him on his side, but he ended up back on his back most of the time! Same thing with towel bolsters. It is just in the last 2 months that he has voluntarily sleep completely on his side.

[proudmummy]

Hi:)

My DS developed a flat spot at 3 months old from leaning on his hand when he slept and the child nurse kept telling me he just needs more tummy time. It didn't help and finally at 6 months old I got a referral to the Mater, specialist clinic-orthapaedics and he was fitted for a helmet. Two months later he finished up with it and his head is pretty much normal. ( just a slight indentation)

If it doesn't get better do something about it asap as some bubs as 6-9 mths got told they couldn't have it, or had to wear it for a really long time.eg 12 mths.

[Ky]

I don't thin that they paediatricians will do much re: helmets etc unless it is caught between 6 weeks to 3 months old ... I'm not sure if this is the rule, but we were told we were too late when we took ds in when he was 4 months old.

DS had a severe flattening on an angle through the right side of his head ... no matter what we tried to do to keep him off that side he managed to get back to how he was comfortable. Being a very big and strong baby at birth, he was able to lift his entire upper torso to the side and then put his head how he wanted it, and in doing so negated all of the devices (rolled up nappies, foam wedges etc) that we were told to use to try an dmake him change sides.

We took him to an osteopath and had several months of treatment (he was being treated for severe reflux too) and that made a slight improvement. Once he started sitting up most of the time, crawling and then eventually walking ... gravity just started to take effect and now although one of his ears is a bit higher than the other, we are able to give him a short (#3) haircut and his head doesn't look too out of shape. It is only if you look straight down onto his head that you would notice and then you would have to be really looking for it.


OK, after all that waffle .... I just wanted to say that if it is not too severe (and ds was quite severe!) that it will probably resolve itself over time if you stick to plenty of tummy time and try to put bub to sleep on alternating sides. A safe-t-sleep wrap is great for putting bub in and making them stay put in that position. It didn't work for Dan, but he was almost 6kg at birth and incredibly strong with it.

[Mrs Little]

My son doesn't have a flat head at the back, but on his right side.

He has torticollis...which is when he sleeps/favours one side. So as a result his head has one very obvious flat side....looks quite ridiculous actually.

My paed. reccommended phsyio.....which we have been doing....and it's helped immmensly! We also saw a chiro...the results from that were amazing.

He is now able to hold his head up beautifully and his head is starting to even out as he sleeps on both sides now.

His muscles on his left side were shortened as he never used them.

Mrs Little & Son.

[Elfin]

My friend's baby had the same problem and she was referred to a paediatric physio by the CHN who gave her some exercises to do and it fixed the problem. Apparently her baby had slightly shorter neck muscles on one side due to the position in the uterus. They physio was able to fix this before my friend's baby developed a severely flat head. You might want to give a physio a try.

[lil monkey]

just briefly as it has already been said by others........

Dd had severe reflux and a flat head from sleeping non stop on her back for 9 months! WE took her to have several osteopath treatments and it has improved the cranial alignments but after her first session she decided she was going to sleep on her stomach with legs tucked in!

[TLCC]

My DD had a very flat head as a result of purely sleeping dead still at night on her back. We took her to her pediatrician who referred us to the cranial specialists at the Mater Hospital in Brisbane.

Tayla was 6 months old when we saw the Mater team and within 2 weeks she had a helmet to correct it. She wore it 23 hours a day for 12 weeks. Unfortunately it didn't work as well as hoped as her head simply didn't grow much during that time which is what the helmet needs for success. She did manage to even out the two sides and the back of the head 'popped out' so to speak but it is still a bit flatter than we would like at the top. Thankfully she has so much hair you don't really notice unless having a good look when she is swimming.

The mater team said that ideally 4 months old is the best time as they are doing a lot of growing then which is the key to success but they will treat anytime up till 9 months. For some it can be fixed in a couple of weeks for others its 12 like us which is the most they will generally do.

If your at all concerned please get it checked because its such a crucial thing as the child grows up (self esteem wise). At the worst they will give you exercises and just recommend some of the other great advice already in this thread.

Cheers,

:)

[our little treasures]

My ds has it on both sides as he sleeps on his side and its even Im glad he has hair so noone else has notised lol

[chloe1]

hi, my 4 month old boy has also got a flat left side of the head, and i have been trying to get him to sleep with head turned to the front or right side, which is quite difficult at times. I assumed it would just get better over time but after reading all the responses on helmuts etc am starting to worry that maybe i hadnt worried enough about it. What exactly would an osteopath do??? Is this the best option??

[Mrs Little]

Chloe.....

we found seeing a physio sooner rather than later really helped.....i would get a referal and see a physio straight away.

We also went to chiro.....worked wonders..and we only needed 2 visits!......i would also reccommend them...(they are very similar to an osteo).

Feel free to pm if u want their details.

Mrs Little & Son.

[giggles]

My son doesn't have a flat head at the back, but on his right side.

He has torticollis...which is when he sleeps/favours one side. So as a result his head has one very obvious flat side....looks quite ridiculous actually.

My paed. reccommended phsyio.....which we have been doing....and it's helped immmensly! We also saw a chiro...the results from that were amazing.

He is now able to hold his head up beautifully and his head is starting to even out as he sleeps on both sides now.

His muscles on his left side were shortened as he never used them.

Mrs Little & Son.

We had the same problem as this. Ava still favours th right side but the change in shape has been dramatic.

We just have to keep working on keeping her off that side and lots of excercises to get her neck stronger.......tummy time is hated with a passion but we just try and persevere.

[amandancooper]

DS had a flat spot at the back of his head at 3 months old and i was getting worried about it as the child health nurses were making a big deal out of it. So i bought one of those sleep positioners with a cushion either side of the baby and i have been alternating the sides he sleeps on and noticed a huge difference within a month so i think it will be back to normal very soon hopefully

[RoarsomeMum]

I don't thin that they paediatricians will do much re: helmets etc unless it is caught between 6 weeks to 3 months old ... I'm not sure if this is the rule, but we were told we were too late when we took ds in when he was 4 months old.


Totally Untrue. they are more effective between 3-7 months, but they still work

Our daughter was fitted just B4 she turned 9 months. In 3 short months we acheived over 95% correction!!!!!!! So well worth checking out IMO.

Helmet's are secondary to Physio and repositioning thou, cause after the helmet is off, if the still have a tendency to lean to one side, you can have same scenario all over again.

If you have any Q's feel free to PM me. :hugs::hugs:

[mum of 3]

my dd2 has just finished physio for flat spots on her head the docs think she has developing hip displasia so she like to lay to one side it started pushing her ear and forehead faward i was told if i had of left it any longer the would of had to put a helmet on her the best thing to do is get them to lay on the opposite side and roll a towel/blanket up and put it underneith them to stop then from rolling back the same way

[~Bec~]

Hey people, I read this thread too (bubs had a flat head) until I checked the date of the initial posts, it's very old.