Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

To be judgey about parents with babies with REALLY flat heads

324 replies

BigGingerCat · 08/04/2011 10:20

Second AIBU thread I've started today - I must be mad.

First off - my DS has a bit of a flat patch, very mild. I know it happens because we all lay babies on their backs to sleep now, and it is apparently just cosmetic. Not talking about mild or moderate cases as these I understand can fix themselves when the baby gets older. I also accept that there is only so much you can do. But I go to a lot of baby groups and I would say that about 1 in 20 babies I've seen have heads which are entirely flat at the back, i.e from the neck up it's just a straight line. Literally it shocks me and I'm not easily shockable. And these same parents put their babies straight down on their backs for the whole of the baby group. Mine can't sit but I hold him on my lap, put him on his tummy, turn his head etc.... all things which I would have thought were basic common sense things to do.

I am not judging women who have PND and who are too exhausted and miserable to function, and where this may be a factor. I have it too. But there is no excuse for letting your baby get like this - surely skulls can't always pop back to normal if they're that far gone out of shape? Feel really sorry for the kids concerned, especially boys as their hair won't cover it. Am I the only person who notices this sort of thing and gets....well a bit judgey quite frankly?

OP posts:
Taz1212 · 02/05/2014 18:43

One of my babies had a very flat head. I can't remember whether it was DS or DD. My lack of memory is possibly judge worthy but it also says something about flat heads bouncing back. Grin

SpinDoctorofAethelred · 02/05/2014 18:48

I repeat my post from February.

Please guys, leave this fucking thread alone. I remember it from 2011. The OP was a struggling woman with serious PND. She repeatedly clarified that her judgment did not extend to children with medical conditions.

Re-reading the thread, she was convinced that preventing a "flat spot" was the only thing she'd got right. She thought she had fucked up every single other bit of parenting. Including childbirth.

This thread was unwise. But she was ill. On the slim chance she didn't end up leaving MN entirely after this, I don't want her seeing yet more people piling in on her again.

YetAnotherHelenMumsnet · 02/05/2014 19:31

Hi to those of you who have reported this thread, we have been through it now and removed the posts that broke our guidelines. We would remind everyone that it really was a ZOMBIE THREAD in any case, and best left to pass on peacefully.

ChickyEgg · 02/05/2014 19:59

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 02/05/2014 20:02

ffs why not READ at least the last few posts on the thread before posting?

ChickyEgg · 02/05/2014 20:06

Because the first few were enough for me, at that time. I didn't know it was a zombie thread and I am entitled to an opinion as is anyone on here.

Why doesn't MNHQ delete the whole thing then?

mousmous · 02/05/2014 20:07

yabu
dc1 had a very flat/loopsidedhead.
comments from other people and stares made me feel bad.

we did everthing advised, tummy time when awake, all the time etc. it still was flat for quite a while.

ScarlettDarling · 02/05/2014 20:16

Wow, it must be nice to be such a perfect mother that you feel able to judge other women for having babies with flat heads.
YABVU. Dd had a v flat head from about 6 weeks. Gprs investigated and it was positional plagio , nothing more sinister. Nevertheless i did everything i could to correct it, chiropractor loosened her neck muscles so she wouldn't always lie with her head on one side, did lots of tummy time, put her in a bumbo seat when old enough etc etc and yet her head remained flat. She's 7 now and it is so much less noticeable but still flat if i feel it. Wouldn't have occurred to me that this was my fault or that others would judge me for it. Don't be so silly!

ScarlettDarling · 02/05/2014 20:22

Oops, just read last few posts. Don't know what a zombie thread is but wish i hadn't posted now

tabicat · 02/05/2014 20:25

Christ there's some nasty posts on this thread!

My ds has a flat head (far from the worst I've ever seen) - he's at high school now and regularly gets called 'panhead', which makes him miserable :-(
In my experience, it doesn't resolve itself, and I wish I'd have known more about how to actively try and avoid it getting worse/correct it when he was a baby.
The OP didn't offend me at all, in fact I'm struggling to see what was quite so inflammatory about her post that she deserved all the stick she got! I've read far worse on here.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 02/05/2014 21:05

It's also your right to look like a wally

ChickyEgg · 03/05/2014 06:55

Others have posted since me sharon I don't see you name calling anyone else.

MNHQ have told me that they have no plans to delete the whole thread, so all the while it has been made active again, people will comment.

Here have a Biscuit

Coconutty · 03/05/2014 07:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MiniatureRailway · 03/05/2014 08:12

Neither of mind ever has flat heads so therefore I am a perfect parent to the point I didn't even know this could happen. Op, I'm a bit shocked and disgusted by you.

Grin No, wait, of course I'm not.

Neverknowingly · 03/05/2014 09:09

Can't you just lock the thread MNHQ?

This is not exactly MN at its finest (on both sides).

Hsterry · 20/11/2017 15:08

It’s mothers like you who make me worried to take my twins to any activity classes. My daughter has flat head and a larger looking head due to hydrocephalus... she was premature making her skull soft so easily moulded into the wrong shape and spending months lying in a hospital bed due to twin to twin syndrome and then 4 surgeries to treat her hydrocephalus. But I have to worry about judgy parents like you and all I have to say is shame on you.

C8H10N4O2 · 20/11/2017 15:19

Am I the only person who notices this sort of thing and gets....well a bit judgey quite frankly?

Yes.

HTH HAND

Sirrah · 20/11/2017 15:25
Biscuit
WaitrosePigeon · 20/11/2017 15:26

Why on earth bring up this Zombie thread?’!

Sirrah · 20/11/2017 15:26

Oops! ZOMBIE THREAD!

DonkeyOaty · 20/11/2017 15:49

HSterry this old thread had lots of rebuttals of the OPs stance. Don't take any notice.

Rebeccaslicker · 20/11/2017 15:51

Hsterry - if you found this thread because you were worrying and looking up whether people would notice your DD etc, please don't listen to a word, this original post was nothing but mean judgmental bollocks Flowers

Doubletrouble42 · 20/11/2017 15:52

Fuck off. I have a great friend who has 9 mo twin boys and one of them has a massively flat head. She is the most attentive and hardworking mother I've ever met. He just likes lying down! How dare you judge her? Oh and btw I always forgot to trim my babies nails, all 3 of them so my DP always does it. I'm still an amazing mum. Your standards are too high, give yourself a break!

Doubletrouble42 · 20/11/2017 15:53

oh 6 years old!

notangelinajolie · 20/11/2017 16:03

I think you should stop looking at other peoples and get help.