To ask about flat head syndrome

[Daftodil]

Hi all,

Sorry, not really an AIBU, just hoping someone else has encountered this and can offer some advice/reassurance.

My 6 week old baby has quite a lopsided head. I spoke to the doc at his 6 week check who said it is plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome and should even itself out over time but to keep an eye on it in case it doesn't improve. Has anyone had a baby with flat head syndrome? Did it even itself out over time or is it still lopsided? Has anyone used a plagiocephaly pillow/helmet/other intervention and did it work? Any recommendations?

Would be grateful to hear anyone's experience with this.

Thank you.

Yes, mine had this a little. I got one of those little memory foam pillows with bear ears which seemed to help. I’ve no idea if it’s still a bit flat as he has a massive mop. He’s 2 now.

How noticeable is it?

My ds had to have an ultrasound (via his soft spot)because of his flat head. He was born with a big head which then grew quite quickly from birth to 4 ish months and it developed then. His was flat at the back, from laying flat on his back in bed. When I say flat, I mean it was completely flat at the back. The ultrasound showed nothing untoward and we were told to do lots of tummy time etc but not to use pillows at all. We had always used a sling a fair bit, gave him plenty of tummy time and he napped on me, plus we didn't have a car so he wasn't in a car seat at all really. I'm not sure what else we could have done. It has got marginally better as he's got older but it is still flat at the back, it's not really noticeable as he has loads of hair but you can still tell when his hair is wet. Most of my friends whose dc had little flat patches rounded themselves out by a year old though.

You need to do everything you can to keep pressure off the flat part of the head. Tummy time is good and slings are better than pushchairs/prams. I used a Sleepcurve (I think was the name) mattress for my baby and a little soft pillow for the pram/car seat/bouncy chair only when supervised.

It's worth reading up about it. Don't just ignore it and assume it will go away. That is terrible advice.

Hi my daughter had this. Hers was very flat at back we invested in a helmet. She was about 11 montjs when she jad it. She wore it for approx 6 weeks it rounded out but the rrsults would have been better if she had it done earlier.

My next child i made sure she had all these pillows you can get online. I also kept her off her back more. She has a lovely round head nowm

It's not so much flat at the back as flat at the side. It is quite noticeable, I think. I've started reading up on it, but seeing mixed advice online re using or not using pillows.

My DS had this - it was probably at its most noticeable at around 12 weeks but evened out by the time he was one.

Wear your baby in a sling as much as possible.

Thanks all. This is reassuring. My first DS had a perfectly round head but rarely slept aside from on me. This is my 2nd DS and he sleeps like a log, so is spending more time on his back than DS1 ever did!

Any recommendations for slings? What age can you use a sling from? (I've got a baby carrier but it says suitable from 3 months up)

My daughter had it very noticably at the back, by 14 months ish it had evened out and it was impossible to tell. We didn't buy any oillows etc, just kept her upright in the day or in her swing/bouncer as much as possible. She hated tummy time until around 10 months but we did try. She just always slept in the same position until she was around 9 months.

Both mine have some type of flat head. First one is flat at the back and the second on had a sort of flat both side head.
Dc1 is still a little flat, although it’s better than what it was with his hair. We used a pillow but I’m not sure they are recommended now. If I’m his hair is short you can see it, he also has a bit of a funny hair line at the bottom.

And dc2 he has a flat side head, so I used to turn him a lot to the other side to take the pressure off, both sides sort of went a bit flat and pointy. But his is ok now.

If their hair is wet it’s more noticeable.

With both if I had know enough about it I would have tried a helmet I think.

It’s much more common now the advice is to sleep babies on their back. Early intervention that gives baby alternative positioning can help but it tends to sort itself out, unless it’s a true craniosynostosis where the skull is fused from birth. That’s really very rare though.
Hold the baby off its back a lot when not sleeping in it’s cot. Sleeping on your chest or being carried on a shoulder, or in a sling, helps.

We had a Caboo and a connecta slings. The Caboo could be used from birth, even with my small babies, the connecta we used when they were a bit bigger.
My ds also slept really well, he slept through at 12 weeks.

I only found out about this recently but looking back I'm sure my DD1 had it. You can't tell now as she has plenty of hair.

I'm starting to think DD2 might be starting to get it as well.

Even if you carry them in the sling for naps (which I often do), if they're sleeping all night on their backs it's difficult to know how it can be avoided?

I noticed this with both my twins at about the same age. Also on the side, but opposite sides.

I was in two minds about pillows, because they go against the safe sleeping guidelines. I ended up buying them for use for daytime naps (i.e. when closely supervised) and sat in chairs. I got Mimos ones and I highly recommend them, but if you're going to go down that route, do it ASAP - we had to stop using them when the babies could roll, so the window of time you can use them is relatively short.

Mine are 7 months now and for DD2, the flatness is barely visible any more. At one point, it was affecting her ear alignment and face shape, but that's sorted now too. For DD1 it's still noticeable, but it has improved and is less obvious now that her hair's growing. I really hope that it'll keep getting better now that she's spending less time resting her head on things.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately.

DS is 2.2. His head is flat at the back.

When he was born his head was shaped like a cone. However it was perfect the next day. I don't know did the birth make his skull softer.

He tended to prefer one side and soon his head started to get flat on one side. We watched videos etc and did exercises with him. They worked to loosen the neck up but then he was lying flat on his back. Good sleeper so this was a problem. The back of his head was going flat then. It's like his head was as soft as butter.

Went to GP at 16 weeks. He brushed me off and said it would right itself. He was horrified when I mentioned a helmet or trying an osteopath. I asked for private paed referral. Paed said it wasn't even that bad and it was common and would right itself, just keep doing what we're doing.

We tried everything. Special pillows, lots of tummy time, sling and such. It just kept getting worse.

I know we are lucky to have a healthy child but we feel so guilty like this is our fault. It doesn't look quite as bad now he has started to grow some hair finally. However he has very fair blonde hair. His dad went bald at age 19 so this worries us too.

So annoyed at health professionals not taking this seriously.

I remember seeing a friends baby who had a very flat head and I stupidly secretly judged her thinking she must have let him lie in a bouncer all day

I think I'm obsessed with his head I keep searching for research online to see did any children improve as they got older. There does seem to be one study that says a high percentage improve by age 5. Another study looked at teens born following back to sleep campaign. Only 1% had flat head

My eldest’s head was practically triangular by the time he was 6 months - it was fine, and then it wasn’t. I asked the health visitor and she said “it’ll sort itself out” - it didn’t. Never listened to a HV again!

My son has quite a big head, and it’s noticeably flat when his hair is wet - although not as bad as it was when he was little.

I feel terrible, but I didn’t know any different! I think the problem was that he never learned to roll (or crawl) so he would just lie on his back and stay on his back, then the flatter his head got the more likely he was to lie on that spot.

We did have him xrayed when he was about one as a doctor friend pointed out that it might be premature fusing of the skull, but no issues were found. By then it was too late for a helmet or anything.

For DS2 I bought pillows and all sorts - he would only ever sleep on his front

If you’re worried, I’d get it looked at sooner rather than later just for piece of mind.

I see PP has recommend Mimos pillow. I would def Invest in this is I ever have another baby. They are the only pillow that is breathable and have passed safety tests

My eldest had plagiocephally, we sought advice and opted for a helmet, his head is no longer flat at all, in my experience the short few months of wearing a helmet was worth it.

One of mine had plagiocephaly. His developed already in utero, he was stuck in one position for a long time and came out flatheaded. Then he only wanted to sleep on the flat spot as it was comfortable. He also hated tummy time which didn't help! I ended up wearing him in a sling for naps etc and we did get a mimos pillow for him. We did physio exercises since he also had torticollis and that was also pulling his head to one side. He's three now and I have no idea if he has any flatness left since he never stops for long enough for me to check his head from straight above lol.

My son had a flat side to his head when tiny and would always sleep with his head turned to that side. The GP recommended a rolled up tea towel placed on that side so he couldn't turn his head that way and it sorted it out.

DD looked like one side of her head had been ironed it was that flat. She’s pretty round-headed now age 13 and I didn’t do anything specific.

Just keep a close eye on it that it is flat head syndrome and not something more serious like craniosynostosis. A friend kept noticing that when she looked down on her boys head from above it looked triangular. He eventually as a toddler got referred to specialists in a London and underwent several surgeries to correct but only after she kept on at the Gp and researched it herself. I remember her saying it could have caused a lot of problems if went untreated

www.nhs.uk/conditions/craniosynostosis/

Both mine had plagio.
One never slept, so there was no chance to fix the problem with propping while she slept as she had terrible reflux and had her cot propped up, and was in my arms most of the time in any case. Her ears were badly out of alignment and she had a bulgy eye. We got a helmet at six months and she wore it for six months.
It did work- her head is vastly improved, not absolutely perfect, but round at least. I can still see the 'shelf' 14 years later if I wash her hair, but no-one else would ever know. She also has massively more hair on one side of her head (sort of back from her ear) where presumably the skin folicles had moved to in the deformation, but again only I notice that (takes way longer to blow dry that side too!).

My second child slept like a dream, and when I noticed signs of plagio, I straight away did the physio exercises for the Torticollis, and propped him with a rolled towel to sleep, alternating sides each day.
That sorted it out after a month or so, and he has a lovely shaped head.