Flat head syndrome...

[LittleBoysRock]

Hi All,

Hoping somebody can help me. My son is 11 weeks old and has a somewhat flat head. I am worried he might end up with flat head syndrome. Sounds silly but can be quite a problem.

I have been doing all the things I am supposed to such as lots of tummy time, rotating his head each sleep, laying him on his side to play, teaching him to roll. etc.. I am still sleeping him on his back due to SIDS reccomendations.

I just dont know what else I can do to stop it from getting any flatter. I would like to avoid having to send him see a physio about it.

Does anybody have any tips or suggestions??

Fanx :)

[sweetangel2811]

Hey Simone,

While I don't have any direct advice I can give you, I can tell you what happened with my cousins bub.

After she was born she started getting quite flat on the back of her head due to , as you have said, lying on her back.

two years later, Alannahs head is now starting to pop out at the back, and become a bit more rounded on its own.

One option could be as they did and just leave it, as it should come out on its own.

Don't know if this has helped or not, just thought I would share the story.

K

[Elfin]

My friend's bub had this. Her muscles were stiffer on one side so she couldn't turn her head easily so started to get a flat head. She went to see a peadiatric physio that the MCHN referred her to so she didn't have to pay. The physio gave her some exercises to do and it fixed the problem very quick. Her baby doesn't have a flat head anymore as she got it fixed quickly. So maybe you should see a physio.

[Milly]

Oh yes, this is rather common in many babies and it has a name that I can't remember. It starts with P. Gosh, not much help there am I? LOL

But the flatness naturally rights itself in time, so it is not a permanent thing. Just make sure to regularly change your baby's head or direction that you place them in the cot to the opposite side on a regular basis so that they even out.

You could also speak to your GP or MCHN for any sugestions like a referral to a physio as suggested above if you are really concerned.

[jaydensmum]

I dont know of any solutions to the problem. I think the flat head syndrome is the 21st century ailment. The reason why all kids of this generation have "flat heads" is because they are forced to sleep on the backs due to SIDS. Unfortunately this is the result of the new method of sleeping techniques. My son who is 7 months also has a flat head and im just going to have to get used to it. I refuse to put him in a helmet to correct it. I think all you can do is give him plenty of time on his belly or his side during the day. Im sorry im not much help to you.

jaydensmum.

[Ky]

My son had an incredibly strong neck at birth and also a favoured side, so he ended up with a flattened patch to the side of the back of his head.

No matter what we did ... rolled cloth nappies to stop him turning, moving his head once asleep, sleeping him on his tummy ... he just moved back to his favoured side.

I took him to an osteopath and over a period of 5 months or so we saw some improvement in shape, but the biggest improvement has been since he has been sitting up and walking.

If you look down on the top of his head you can still see that it is out of shape a bit and one of his ears is higher than the other so sunglasses always sit crooked, but it has improved to the point where we cut his hair to a number 3 and it isn't too obvious.

The biggest problem we had was that one of his eye sockets was out of place and it looked like he had one eye turned in whereas he actually was looking straight ahead with both eyes in unison! This has corrected over time and his eyes look very normal.

The paediatrician I went to said that if it isn't caught within the first couple of months of thier life, then it is not much use using helmets etc to reshape thier heads. It is better to let nature take it's course and most of the time the flattening will resolve itself without any intervention at all.

I wouldn't be too worried as with the "back to sleep" trend, most of the kids at school will have some form of flattening!

[JanetF]

You might find that wearing your baby in a carrier or sling of some kind helps correct this by minimising the time they're lying down. Some babies seem more prone to it than others but those who are carried and worn continuously don't get these problems because their heads aren't under pressure all the time.