7 month old with flat head

[HeyBungalowBill]

DS has always had a fairly flat head and the HV said he needs to spend more time on his stomach and sitting up etc.

Is there such thing as some people just having flat heads because he's always standing, sitting and even sleeps on his front or side.
His dad and paternal grandad also have flat heads?

He was probably laid on his back a lot when little and slept through for 12 hours in the night so obviously put a lot of pressure on it.

I've made an effort to make sure he doesn't lay on it too much and it doesn't seem to have changed.

She also mentioned if it doesn't improve they'd have to do something? But also said it won't do him harm to have a flat head!

I'm baffled and a little worried!

Can anyone shed some light?

[Jellyandjam]

My dd has a pretty flat head. You can't really tell as she has a lot of hair now (she's nine now)! We did give her tummy, she'd had a bumbo etc when she was younger but she did also sleep really well so maybe that affected it, I don't know? However my SIL also has the same flat bit on the back of her head so maybe it was just family thing? Anyway dd (and SIL) has never had any problems from it.

[Novia]

I believe in some cases it's just genetic. My father's side of the family have flat heads and my mum's don't. 50% of the grandchildren seem to have 'inherited' it. Luckily my DD hasn't - but I'm not convinced it's not just luck.

That said - too long in hard car seats doesn't help and DD always slept on a soft lambskin, which I do think helped.

[rallytog1]

I think it's genetic. I worried for ages about my dd's head shape. However when I saw a photo of myself at the same age, I realised I was exactly the same. Not sure if it rounded out, or whether my hair disguises it, but my head looks perfectly normal these days. So hopefully dd will be the same. We've seen the doctor a few times just to get it checked, and they don't think there's any cause for concern either.

[Cast1ststone]

Don't be worried. Just keep trying everything you can to help him stay off of it. The head does the most rapid growing from 6 to 12 months so it should start shaping up better. There will prolly always be a bit of a flat spot but very few people have a perfectly round head. My 6 month old son has a flat head and I did everything I could to stop it but his head is 95% and his weight and length 25%. The doctor told me it is more prone to kids with larger heads. There are other medical reasons and it might well be genetics. The way I look at it is babies sleep soo much their first months of life and it is safer to let them sleep on their backs. So it is bound to happen. I get very annoyed by women who spout off that everybody should wear a damn sling! Umm I have pain in my back and can't carry a baby around all day. That is really not logical and seems a bit obsessive compulsive! Just enjoy your boy and don't sweat the small stuff. My son has crooked pinkies and I absolutely think they are adorable! If any woman would not date him cuz he had those then she is a superficial twit and who cares anyways!

[HeyBungalowBill]

Thank you for all your replies!

DS does have a big head so that may contribute, and he was sleeping through from 11 weeks and a few weeks later slept 12 hours at a time so what do they want you to do?!

I think he's just inherited it based on what has been said on this thread. His dad and paternal grandfather both have flattish heads and he's inherited the big head from my side