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Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

Behaviour/development

Do flat heads correct themselves?

19 replies

Moorhen · 29/09/2007 19:21

DS is nine weeks old and have noticed the back of his head is a bit flat (his favourite thing is gawping at the ceiling).

Am worried. Will this sort itself out with time or is it permanent?

Will tummy time (which he hates) help? How much does he need at this age?

Thanks...

OP posts:

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louii · 29/09/2007 19:23

My lads flat bit went away between 6 months and a year, it was really so completely flat at the back but it totally righted itself.

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mrsmerton · 29/09/2007 19:24

Heads can correct themselves, if not there is a baby helmet (my friends company supplies them) which will help to correct it.
My ds's head was flat, but when he grew hair, you would never notice.

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Isababel · 29/09/2007 19:25

Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. Although most times does.

Obviously the above is not much help but I think that tummy time is an excellent idea, if not for his head for movement or muscle development.

Check that he is not spending too much time sitting in a hard seat like a not well padded car seat, etc.

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NAB3 · 29/09/2007 19:26

Sometimes it can but you may not know whether it is going to until it is too late. You need to get your baby's assymetry measured and check he has full neck movement.

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Moorhen · 29/09/2007 19:27

Thank you all.

He does have a seat, but it is a soft Fisher Price bouncer (just padding attached to a frame at the edges).

His car seat is a Maxi Cosi but we make sure he doesn't spend long periods of time in it, and he's only in it when we're out and about.

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tizzwhizz · 29/09/2007 19:29

Hi

My ds had a flat head as a small baby. Health visitor worried me to death about it was talking about referring him. But GP looked at it and said it was just because he slept on his back. Once he was older and on his front, crawling etc it corrected itself.

Dont be too worried.

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bookthief · 29/09/2007 19:29

My nephew and my cousin's ds both had very, very flat heads. Both are now completely normal looking, especially now that they have full heads of hair.

Neither had any special treatment and their heads just remoulded as they grew older and more mobile. I don't think my sil even bothered to try to reposition my nephew in his cot as her mother had said that all three of her children were the same and all were fine by 12 months or so.

I did "tummy time" with ds just as long as he was happy (so hardly at all at your ds's age). He was willing to go for longer and longer periods as he grew older but was only really happy on his front when he was able to flip over by himself.

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NotADragonOfSoup · 29/09/2007 19:39

Invest in a fabric pouch sling like a Coorie. BabyDragon spent a fair amount of time in hers instead of being permanently in a carseat/travelsystem/pram and she had(has) the most perfectly shaped head. She did also spend time in a bouncy chair or on the floor etc. No tummy time whatsoever until she learnt to roll.

DSs both spent more time in carseats etc and did get flat bits which corrected themselves.

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popsycal · 29/09/2007 19:41

ds1's looked realy flat until he was 18 months.....now he has hair you can't tell at all. Think it has sorted itself out a bit but even short hair covers it.

Try not to have him lying down for too long.

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sunshinegirl · 29/09/2007 19:42

Not sure if anyone's mentioned it but cranial osteopathy can help

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NAB3 · 29/09/2007 20:26

This has been covered so many times.

In some cases it is nothing at all which is why it sorts itself out.

Sometimes it is a problem and will not sort itself out without treatment. Without proper diagnosis and treatment you will not know which it is.

It can cause problems later and is not a cosmetic thing.

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louii · 30/09/2007 12:23

Does anyone know what long term research has been done on these helmets?

Do they not restrict the growth on other areas of the head?

I would be quite sceptical about them as in does anyone know if there would be long term risks.

I am genuinely interested in this subject as my son had a really really flat head but i decided not to opt for any treatment and it corrected itself.

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NAB3 · 30/09/2007 14:01

Baby's whose head corrected themselves was probably becasue it was only because they laid flat for a long time, and not because they had true plagiocephaly.

The helmet does no damage.

My DD's assymetry was 1.7cm and even though she was relatively late at starting the helmet treatment (we had to go private as the NHS was shite) she improved to 0.3cm in 3 months.

If your child has true plagio and you do nothing it can mean eye problems later, ears that aren't in alignment mean glasses are hard to fit. Headaches and ear infections are more common in plagio children.

You need a proper check done and the assymetry not the head circumference measured.

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NAB3 · 30/09/2007 14:02

louii If your child's head corrected itself I fail to see the interest?

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tissy · 30/09/2007 14:06

info from Great Ormond Street here

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louii · 01/10/2007 16:04

NAB3

My child had a flat head thats my interest, I was told by paed he had plagiocephaly, it was not caused by lying on his back too much as he was a sling baby so no buggy etc, also we don't drive so he was not in a car seat.

I also took him to an osteopath for a few sessions.

How do you know the helmet does not also cause long term problems?

When DS was diagnosed with it, i came very close to getting the helmet fitted, but couldnt find any proper info cept for the same speil the private companies give, i opted against it for this reason.

Tissy thanks for the link.

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NAB3 · 01/10/2007 17:14

It is an uninvasive treatment. How can it cause problems? You are more likely to have problems later if you leave it untreated and it is true plagio.

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Mungarra · 01/10/2007 18:31

My friend's son was born with a flat bit on the back of his head. He would automatically lie on the flat bit and face one way.

My friend started carrying him all the time during the day and only lay him down at night time. I think the theory was that it would right itself as his head grew and he wasn't lying on that spot. This went on until he was old enough to sit up on his own. It did work as you wouldn't know now that he had a flat head.

I saw someone I know's two year old last week and I'd only ever seen him in a pushchair before. His head was noticeably flat at the back even though he had thick hair.

So, I don't think it necessarily corrects itself and it would probably be a good idea to see a GP about it.