Help with repositioning 12 week old baby with flat head?!

[wutheringalice]

Hiya,

My baby has a flat head. It's flat on the back and a bit on his right side.. I'm wearing him in a sling quite often and I'm now trying to coax him into tummy time (I'm not sure who finds that more traumatic actually, me or him!) The problem I'm having is repositioning him when he's asleep.

During the day, I can kind of prop him to one side on the sofa and I can keep an eye on him, but I'm not sure what to do at night (he's just started sleeping through.) If I move his head only, he wakes up, but I'm a bit reluctant to prop him on his side at night.

Any ideas as to what I can do? I've been looking up pillows too, but that's a minefield as well! Any help gratefully received!

We had this with DS1 (now 2.5). In the end we took him to a cranial osteopath, as he had slight torticollis, which made him favour one side. It got better after a couple of sessions and he started turning his head both ways, which evened things out a bit. Once he turned 4 months, we started putting him to sleep on his side, alternating. Once he started turning, he would flip himself on to his stomach anyway.

With DS2, I got him a goi goi pillow (or a Lila Kunis or something - the company name changed) and so far so good.

It'll get better with age anyway, but I'd ask your doctor if he/she thinks the degree of flatness is what should be expected at his age. If it is, then time should probably sort it out. Their tolerance with tummy time also increases with age, DS2 absolutely hated it but now, at 18w he actually prefers it.

Oh and can I say at your DS sleeping through already, ours still wakes up twice a night!

Ah, thanks... it's a new thing, this sleeping through the night lark (although he had a sort of night routine for a while!) I've ordered the pillow you mentioned, so fingers crossed! The health visitor wasn't too concerned- she thinks he'll be rolling soon anyway, as he's v strong and active (he's HUGE as well!)

Put a soft baby pillow under the sheet, mattress is not soft enough for gentle baby head, and move his head to the other side once hi is asleep.

Maybe buy a sling so your LO spends most of the day upright rather than lying down? Our LO has asymmetry of the skull/face and we are seeing a paediatric chiropractor to try to help.

My ds1 had this and we were advised to change the positn of the cot often, put the baby upside down in the cot (IYSWIM), make sure he is not in his car seat for extended periods and encourage looking round.

He is 7 now and you would never know!

A cranial osteopath helped too!

Hope it improves soon!

Thank you! Re: the sling, we have two, which I like (but he's bloody massive, so I can't carry him all the time!) and I've bought a special pillow. Hopefully it'll improve!

DS3 had plagiocephaly due to being squashed under one rib for most of the third trimester by DD taking up most of the womb space. We also took him to a cranial osteopath, which helped a lot with the muscles in his neck. We took photos of the top of his head every couple of months to make sure it was getting better rather than worse.

He is now eight and it is completely unnoticeable. The only things that could be an issue are if he ever needs to wear glasses, as one temple-to-ear length is different from the other, and also he may need to have braces when he's older as there doesn't seem to be as much room for adult teeth on one side of his jaw.

I would say if you feel you can't carry him most of the time you probably have the wrong slings for you - it's a very individual thing. when my DD is poorly I can sling her all day and she's 19 months.

Which slings do you have? Could you get to a slingmeet or sling library to try more out?

Being slung counts as tummy time, and is much better for core development and really very very good for flat head - a friend's DD had this and the doctor recommended slinging...

That's interesting about the slings. I carried DS3 in a sling, not out of choice but out of necessity, because I didn't want to get a triple buggy and I had three not yet walking. It's good to hear that I did the right thing!