5m old DD has flat head on one side! Please help

[Newtobecomingamum]

She does spend lots of time always laying down, I use sling in the day and do lots of tummy time etc. Her natural sleeping position she leans on one aode, I try to move her into her other side but she wakes up and moves head back. Can it cause any internal damage putting pressure on one side? Will her head go back to normal? Is there anything I can buy to help it?? Please help

[Newtobecomingamum]

Meant to say DOESNT spend lots of time laying down

[YokoWakarimasen]

Go to the gp. I have seen babies with helmets to assist in re-shaping, but not in the uk. I would definitely take her to get it checked.

[Newtobecomingamum]

Hi, thanks got reply. I did and he said it's too early to diagnose need to come back in a few months??

[teabagsmummy]

My ds who is now 9 had flat head syndrome due to being prem and had problems turning his head. I don't know if they still sell them but I had a special pillow it was heart shaped with a hole in it. It was for this purpose. Also at a baby group I went to one of the mums was Asian and she said that their culture used a bit of silk in a donut shape filled with lentils and placed baby's head on it when they slept.
Hope this helps a wee bit my ds head did straighten out at about 2 so try not to worry to much

[Newtobecomingamum]

Thanks Teabags I will have a look for this pillow x

[ItsLikeRainOnYourWeddingDay]

As baby becomes more mobile she will sleep in different positions and her head will even out. The bones aren't fully fused until the toddler years anyway so plenty time to sort itself out. My DS is 16 months and still has a flat bit on toy back but have been told not to worry as he still has his fontanelle at the front open so he isn't finished fusing yet.

[StinkyMcgrinky]

DS had a very flat head when he was young due to suffering from torticollis after a traumatic forceps birth. His ears were misaligned and it was extremely noticeable. We tried pillows etc…but nothing worked. The GP referred him for physiotherapy but when we went when he was around 8 months they said his neck would naturally improve with age and his head would become rounder as he got older and discharged him

They were right. Now he's 16 months and has a perfectly normal head it won't damage her brain or development in anyway. It's simply cosmetic and it will improve with age as she becomes more mobile

[teabagsmummy]

I think it's called a love nest the pillow I imagine Amazon will sell them. My ds was also referred to physio.
Did you have any problems at dd birth? Maybe worth seeing if you could get a referral my health visitor did it for me.
I remember having sleepless nights at the time worrying about his head. But it really isn't noticeable now

[Artesia]

I'd recommend seeing an osteopath. My middle son had this, and as a PP said, it was bad enough that his ears and facial features looked a bit wonky. It turned out he had stiffness in his neck, most likely caused by a traumatic instrumental birth. After two sessions he was moving his head much more freely, and sleeping with it on no side rather than always on the left. The flatness soon disappeared.

[NickyEds]

My ds has quite a flat head at the back of his head. It was caused by a mixture of him having an unusually big head which in turn grew unusually quickly and sleeping flat on his back. We had to see paediatricians about it and have an ultrasound of his brain (which was soooo weird!). It doesn't affect their brains at all. I think it's worse if it's on one side as it can cause misalignment of ears and so on. We were told that it would probably sort itself out but to not use any pillows (SIDS risk). It didn't sort itself out and he still has a flat head, there's a patch on the back of his head where it is completely flat and his head does look very wide. However he is 2.5 now and, although he's lost his soft spot I think it is getting marginally better. It will always be a bit flat though. Still, the alternative was to increase his SIDS risk by putting him to sleep on hid front so totally unacceptable to me. It's also one of those things that's much more obvious to me than to anyone else IYSWIM. There's still plenty of time for your baby's head to round out.

[t1mum]

Press the GP for a physio referral. As others have said, stiffness of the neck muscles can cause a problem and this needs to be sorted out properly. GPs in general don't take this seriously.

You could also Google plagiocephaly helmet uk and contact one of the suppliers for an assessment. They cost around £2000 and there is a charity that can help you fund it. When they do the assessment they will be able to tell you the level of severity. Ask if it is clinically severe. You might decide that you don't want to go with a helmet but it is worth having the assessment to see the level of the issue.

[Newtobecomingamum]

Thanks for all of your replies x