9 month old cant hold head up

[mumofjust1]

Just wondering if this is normal?

Dp and I looked after dp's nephew today and I've noticed that he can't hold his head up properly.

Also, if you sit him up, he falls to the left.

His head lolls to the left too, and he canstantly shakes his head too.

Is it anything to be concerned about do you think?

I would say this needs urgent attention and is severely abnormal. Babies walk at 9months, he should be weaned and they need to hold their head up to eat properly, this is really really really concerning. Most 9 month olds would never tolerate being in a car seat for that long - why does he? Wow amazed he hasn't been seen by doc/Hv before now.

Head shaking can be a sign of neurological issues too. He needs to see the GP tomorrow.

Ss are involved with the family.

Mum has serious mental health issues. Her older child was taken away from her by ss and she only got her back because she was with dp's brother and he was deemed a stable figure in her life and sorted the house out etc.

Over the last couple of months mum has gone down hill again and has physically attacked dp's brother at least twice. The arguments (which happen in front of the baby) have been so bad that police have been called. Mum self harms to make it look like dp's brother has hurt her - he never would.

They were both arrested last time.

Dp's brother has now left and taken the baby with him because he thinks the baby is not safe with mum. Her older child is usually at some other relatives at night, as she likes to go out and drink. Dp's brother stays home with the baby.

Samvet - he has been seen by hv and gp in the past - nobody has picked up on this.

I feel that I can't say too much because I don't want to sound like I'm criticising.

Is his head a 'normal' shape? You mentioned he seems to have a promenant forehead is his head 'long' front to back? I ask because my DS has a large forehead and he has a condition where some of plates in his head have fused prematurely it can lead to raised inter cranial pressure. My DS doesn't display the other symptoms you discribe though apart from an odd shape to his head he's on track with his developmental markers.

If the baby hasn't had much stimulation and "floor/play" time it could account for all of this. Did the mum drink when she was pregnant? Could the baby have Fetal Alchohol Syndrome?

It's good that SS are involved but perhaps your "BIL" needs a crash course on what type of thing to do with a baby of 9 months?

Is his head big? Might this be why he can't hold his head up?

DS2 has hydrocephalus caused by prematurity and had an operation to fix it when he was 5 months old. He was late lifting his head because it was so much heavier in proportion to his body.

Hydrocephalus causes 'sunset eyes' where they can't look up because of pressure behind the eyes and it can cause sleepiness. Does your DN show any of these signs?

It sounds awful but it can be fixed and DS2 hitting all his milestones now.

Strawberry yes, his head does seem kind of "long" from front to back - that's a good way to describe it.

He also has quite a prominent ridge down the centre of his forehead to his nose. I also noticed that his fontanelle is very soft and from a distance of about 4ft away I could clearly see the fontanelle pulsing.

Random - no, I don't think he has much time on the floor to play or just wriggle about. He doesn't seem to get much stimulation - don't know if he's ever even seen a book tbh. As for fetal alcohol syndrome, dad said that mum didn't touch a drop whilst she was pregnant, but I wouldn't stake anything on that. She is a big drinker. If she did drink she wouldn't have let him know about it that's for sure.

When we had him yesterday I let him lie on the floor but apart from rolling onto his side he didn't move about much. I also took him round to play with a friends baby who is a month older than him. The difference was so obvious that even my friends younger daughter asked what was wrong wit the other baby.

That is so sad, really I think you just need to say to his Dad that the baby seems a bit behind as once they get older they need to be "played" with - could you invite him around and just spend time with them and showing him the kind of things the baby would be stimulated by.

Very tricky situation - alternatively contact the health visitor and just say you are concerned that there are some development concerns you noticed which may have been overlooked as the priorities have been on sorting the other issues out?

A pulsing fontanelle is a big thing to look for with hydrocephalus. You really need to get them to see a GP with your DN.

Lots of image here

www.fetalhydrocephalus.com/hydro/gallery.aspx

Really does sound like hydrocephalus and he needs to go the GP asap.

Hmm not sure about the fontanelle but it could be craiosynostosis. The ridge at the front sounds a bit like the front plate joins could be fused. It could also be what other posters are saying. If your feeling brave have a google of both conditions. Lots of Gps never come across a case of craniosynostosis and health visitors certainly don't so you might have to prompt them to consider it. Diagnosis is via CT scan. I'll see if can find you a link hold on

m.hopkinsmedicine.org/neurology_neurosurgery/specialty_areas/pediatric_neurosurgery/conditions/craniosynostosis/types.html

It's an American page so not everything they say about treatment will apply in the UK although it probably won't differ greatly but it has drawings of the typical presentation of each single suture fusion although if more than on is fused ie sagittal an meyopic the overall look will be different. Something to note is that in some cases craniosynostosis can lead to hydro- thingy (sorry word escapes me ) as well. Hope you managed to get a docs appointment and that this is now useless to you let us know how he got on of you feel able x

AFAIK the milestone for sitting unaided is 9 months so he sounds delayed. I'm a bit about the 'my baby was walking at 9 months' comments though. That is completely irrelevant as very few babies walk (unaided) that early.