10 week old not turning head to one side

[CloggingM3]

My 10 week old noticed doesn’t turn his head anymore to both sides. When held upright he will turn, but on the floor he won’t. When you try and gently turn his head he doesn’t/it seems uncomfortable and he will not longer track that way. Also in the bedside cot he won’t turn at all all night to face us if the affected side.

He has a HV appointment next week, is this something to speak to them about then or contact GP tomorrow?

I’m not sure if this is similar. But with my similar aged baby I noticed she would have her head permanently tilted up to one side. Trying to remember the name of it and google came up with this. “Called congenital muscular torticollis (CMT), this condition is caused by a shortening of the muscle that bends and turns the head and neck. Babies with CMT typically tilt their heads to one side and prefer to face in the opposite direction”.

After a few weeks of physio it was gone. Your HV will be able to advise next steps. Good luck.

Our youngest was like this. Two treatments at a chiropractor specializing in infants helped 100%.

Thanks, we decided to wait until the HV next week and throught the same after a google about the congenital torticolis. Also trying to find a osteopath or baby chiropractor

This does sound like torticollis which is common in babies. Ask your HV to refer you to children's physio on the NHS. There is not usually much of a wait because the sooner it is treated the better. When I worked in children's therapy they would usually see you within 2-3 weeks and in the meantime they can speak with you on the phone and give you some advice. Your HV or GP may have a leaflet with at home exercises.

Thanks, after being told people are waiting for a year for the dietician I thought it was going to be a crazy wait and wondering if there was a private option as really don’t want him to suffer

I think you’ll need a cranial osteopath specialising in babies. We had one for our DC after c section as apparently it can make babies a bit squished. After a few sessions they were fine. It isn’t invasive at all - very gentle and barely noticeable. We approached one privately who had been recommended to us.

What a blessing it is to have Mumsnet when you want to ask a question like this. It is so useful to 'talk' to other people who have experience of any condition. It's one of the good sides of the internet.
I only dropped in to read, because it's a condition I haven't heard of before.

talk to health visitor.

It’s gentle exercise and a lot of encouragement to turn the other way.

My daughter had similar from a forceps delivery. Is now an incredibly active and full range of movement 3 yr old.

What was his birth like? DS1 had torticollis after forceps poor sausage.

Yup, sorted out DS1. I remember MN telling me not to go as they’re dangerous but can confirm it fixed him and he’s a more than functioning 10 year old now 😄 it’s so gentle I can’t believe it did anything, there’s no way it could be damaging. But worth a shot and certainly did seem to fix him!

My DC had torticollis. Do not go to a chiropractor or cranial osteopath. You need a paediatric physio.

I felt exactly the same about it. I was worried it’d be v rough and I was sitting there thinking “Are you doing anything?!” It was very subtle. My DH is in a similar field and said immediately that this would be good for DC and he was so right.

Will see what the HV says and how long the referral will take and will try and work out if I want an osteopath/cranio sacral/chiropractor etc in the mean time in case it’s a while. He can’t lift his head doing tummy time flat, only if he’s propped up on a tummy time roll

My dd was a bit like that, but hers was due to one side of her head at the back being flatter than the other (squashed up against my pelvis for too long apparently), so she found it harder to turn her head one way.

I can't really remember the details of how old he was or how long it lasted, sorry, but my ds, as a baby, only looked to one side for a period of time, but it corrected itself without any intervention.

That's quite normal to find it harder without the roll at first. Sling time counts as tummy time too so I did lots of that to avoid the neck causing a flat head.