16 week old can't fully hold his own head up

[Vicky08]

Hi all,

Didn't really think much of this until the doctor commented on it the other day. My DS is 16 weeks and still can't fully support his own head. He does do it for a few seconds at a time but then it falls forwards again. Doctor says he's lazy and needs to be stimulated more which I've been doing.

I'm now getting worried that something more serious is wrong.

Please tell me it's normal and if not what could be the matter with him?

TIA

Vicky

I think my DD was about 18 weeks when she was able to hold her head up well and reliably. It happened reasonably suddenly as well, she went from one day lolling to one side, to the next holding her head pretty well.

She is also slow at holding herself up when she is on her tummy (I think she is lazy like her parents!) even though I am being religious about tummy time and getting her to practice.

Some little ones are slower than others, so give it a couple of weeks before you worry, then go and see your HV - they will have seen loads of babies, and will be better at reassuring you the window for development is quite wide, or helping you with any referral you might need (which I doubt you will!)

Thanks for the reassurance, if it was someone else I would also be telling them to wait a while longer as I know that he's still quite young but I can't remember exactly when it happened with my DD so now I'm getting worried. We have his 4 month check up next week so I'll see what the HV says.

I have a vivid memory of myself and the HV howling with laughter at my ds (5 months/24 ish weeks) who was so big and heavy and had such a big head that he would just lay on a table looking out of the corner of his eye at us...he didn't bother to hold up his head for long...if at all from a front position! My ds's expression was just so funny we couldn't control it. He has written in his red book 'mild head lag'. He is now a very skinny, clever, athletic 10 yr old....with a REALLY big head (bigger than mine and I'm 5 10!) He'll grow into it eventually but he looks like a lollypop at the moment!

Don't worry...out of my 3 children, I have one v large headed boy, one diddy headed girl and one large headed girl....didn't do anything different and they're all lovely.

Actually now you mention it, my son does have quite a big head, had never thought of that before,
thanks Shushpenfold.

Do you give him tummy time? It helps strengthen the neck muscles.

Tummy time is a good idea. It will help him if you roll up a small blanket and place it under his chest. This will give him extra support.

To encourage him to raise his head you can shake a rattle or get something shiney and scrunchie. Those marathon/foil blankets are great for this and most babies love them.

Do this for 5 mins a day at first and build it up as he gets stronger.

HTH

Thanks for all the advice, I'm going to start to give him more tummy time and distract him more so he doesn't get annoyed, up until now when I put him on his tummy he's started crying almost straight away.

I'll let you know how I get on

Vicky

Good luck with the exercises, hope they help.
Is your son quite tall by any chance? Mine is and he took AGES to get his head control. At around 16 weeks I made the mistake of consulting Dr Google and convinced myself he had torticollis. We were referrred to physio (who diagnosed a dreadful problem... hypochondria. Mine.) and saw a difference within a month from doing exercises to encourage him to lift his head. He's two now and his head control is absolutely fine.

Lol RuleOfMum, I have a feeling that I might be suffering from the same problem and this isn't even my pfb! I've been doing tummy time with him and it seems to be helping, only time will tell.

Hi,
i know this is an old post. Is there any update. Please. Thanks