Plagiocephaly - flat head syndrome DS 4 months

[EssentialHippo]

My baby is 4 months old and over the last few weeks his flat head has gotten a lot worse. It is to the right side of his head as that is his preference to sleep. I try and turn his head each night and when I wake in the night but he is stubborn and often turns it back. I can't bring myself to use a pillow due to the SIDs risk. I feel so guilty for not noticing before now and moving his head around or looking up details and how to help with this sooner. The info I've now read suggests that my DS is a prime candidate for this being born by forceps, refusal of dummy and thumb sucking instead and tight neck muscles. I feel horrendously guilty for letting it get this bad.

I have been in touch with a specialist and can afford the slightly horrific fees. However, during this pandemic I don't know whether I would be reasonable in going to see this specialist. I have an appointment booked but I'm getting nervous.

What have others done and would you take DS to the specialist in these awful times?

*in the carrier

Thank you everyone. My baby seems very well in terms of development. He is thriving (well I think he is - PFB and all!). I have bought a pillow for the day when he is on his back play mat etc. I don't leave him on his back much but obviously there are times when it is unavoidable. I will contact some of the osteopaths the specialist sent me details of to see if any will do an online session so I can treat at home. I'm trying my best with keeping him up with tummy time and making him move his head round. That's the good thing of lockdown, I'm not doing anything else! Thank you for the websites too with info and stretches on.

I was worried about this with 2 of mine. The chances are that a daytime pillow, tummy time and time spent looking around will fix the problem without spending a fortune on the helmets. It worked well for us and they’re absolutely fine now. I remember 4months being the worst time for it because it’s before the start to sit up, etc. Try not to panic!

DONT USE PILLOWS

Easy to say when you're not faced with the possibility of your child being permanently deformed! I know it's against the SIDS advice and so it isn't a decision to be taken lightly, but there are ways of doing it safely (as per my PP - under close supervision) and the NHS actually supply Mimos pillows.

I’ll say up front we did use a helmet for my youngest. It was awful, but only took 6 weeks to correct his head to a shape we were happy with.
Of course, it could have been ok without treatment but he had kind of a bony ridge at the back and months of cranial osteopathy helped but didn’t resolve it.
The clinic monitored him for a couple of months before treatment as we were really unsure, but I’m glad we used the helmet. Apart from wonky ears it’s all forgotten about now and his head is beautifully shaped!

We paid 2k for a helmet for ds when he was 7 months old.

His plagiocephaly was really bad though. (Looked like he had been repeatedly smashed over half his head with a spade) his ears were out of line and his forehead was bulging (frontal bossing they called it) he had Torticollis from a traumatic birth and he couldn't turn his head until he was 4 months old so the only side he could comfortably lay on is the side it was as flat as a pancake. He was diagnosed at 8 weeks old by the gp and we spent months with all the special pillows, sitting him up in a bumbo seat, loads and loads of tummy time not letting him lay on his back unless he was asleep, nothing worked.

So I contacted this clinic after loads of research and we just took the chance. He wore the helmet 23 hours a day for 6 months actually it was 5 months it worked that well it came off 4 weeks early and it totally changed the shape of his head, he got scans at the clinic before and after that showed the flat side had moved 18mm or something like that by the end of the treatment.

He's 6 now, he has long hair and you cannot tell at all but if his hair is wet I can see it's still a little (only slightly, mind) lop sided which doesn't matter at all.

We used a clinic in Leeds called technology in motion who were fab.

We travelled 3 hours to see them every 2/3 weeks for 6 months for adjustments and measurements which was a total faff doing the journey by train then on 2 separate buses. But was so worth it and deffo don't regret it at all.

We also used a helmet (8years ago now) DS had torticollis following a forceps delivery and at 4 months had a very obvious flat side to his head, ears out of line and when I held him up to the mirror his facial features were very asymmetrical. I was fobbed off by GP who assured me that these things will sort themselves etc but as a teacher I had seen plenty of children with misshapen heads which clearly hadn’t been sorted. After cranial osteopathy which eased the torticollis but didn’t impact on the head shape we looked into helmets and he was fitted at 5 months. The helmet itself never caused any problems, he slept in it fine and even wore it abroad in very hot weather. We quickly saw results and his asymmetry reduced from 20mm to 1 mm. I think it cost us about £1500 at the time. His face is lovely and symmetrical now and he has no problems with glasses/bike helmets. So glad we did this, I think it’s potentially worse for boys as could lose hair when older and the Head shape is very obvious. Girls hair tend to make it easier to hide! Never regretted this, in fact I almost forget we did it and it’s only occasionally we see a baby in a helmet or look at old pics and say do you remember when....

I think I'll keep the appointment as I don't need to make a decision there and the initial assessment is free. I just want to do what is best.

Oh we also change the side baby sleeps on each night by changing which side their feet point to if you see what I mean. That helps as they naturally turn to the light, but won't make a difference if your baby has a stiff neck or really won't turn their head at all.

My child had a helmet.

A paediatrician on the NHS told me his was so severe that he wouldnt outgrow it. When a physio advised us to crowdfund treatment I realised that possibly this might need looking at.

With the pandemic its really difficult. You might get a private paediatric physio to help you loosen his neck muscles, i would also consider cranial osteopathy which wer didnt try.

As much baby carrying as you can - eg Connecta Sling. Consider a breathable donut pillow, think we paid £100 for hours.

As much tummy time as possible - every minute off his back is worth it so do what you can between now and 6 months.

Assuming this is severe, and I can't really tell you that. But excluding a helmet and possibly a pillow these solutions wont cause any harm and are worth persuing. The others are worth taking expert advice on from peoples whos opinions you trust.

I don't have much experience but I looked after an 8 month old who wore a helmet until 14 months and the difference it made was unreal.
The only issue we had was when it was removed he kept careering into objects thinking he was protected 😂

My son will be 15 in two weeks time, he had a helmet fitted at 14 months old and it’s the best decision we have made. It won’t correct it’s self despite what the doctors say. He still has a slight misalignment of his ears but you would only notice it if I pointed it out to you. He was born with plagiocephaly due to the way he was lying in the womb, no amount of repositioning made any difference to him.