my three month old won't look right and has a flat left head!

[carocaro]

as the title says, for love nor money he won't look right and he has developed a flat patch on the left hand side as he always sleeps this side. we are doing more on his tummy and off to see a cranial osteopath next week, he went when he was 8 weeks and she noticed his reluctance to look right, but it has not improved. Any experiences with this ladies?

Sorry no, but did not want to leave this unbumped.

yep, dd was the same, and she was 1 month prem, and her ears were a bit assymetrical...but everything evened out in the end...at about 4/5 months, when she started sitting up...now she's gorgeously even. I think it's something to do with how they were postitioned in the womb

Do not worry

My DD was the same and I was told to encourage to look the other way as much as possible, dangle something interesting in her crib to catch her attention and lay her on the floor often with a pile of teddies one side to make her look that way. Should be fine and sort itself out. My DD's head was fine after a short while.

My ds ended up with a flat head due to favouring one side. We had a paed referral who ruled out torticollis so we just had to encourage him to turn the other way with toys, mobiles etc. He is 2 now and still has a slightly flat head on one side although it is hardly noticeable. I think you do need to get your ds seen to however as if it is torticollis you need to get things sorted.

also, try putting her on her front to encourage her to move her head.

cx

i always thought it was pretty normal for young babies only to look one way, DS certainly did. but given the flat patch, I can see why you are taking steps to try and change things. good luck.

for prem babies I have looked after we used something called a "lovenest" head support, which I've just found on urbanbaby.com.au though its for up to 4 months which may be of no use to you.

Hi carocaro

IMO, defn worth going to your GP & asking for a referal to phsio for torticollis. Dd had it mildly (only diagnosed at 6 mths, although missed by our CO) - and as I understand it, true tort rarely just sorts itself out (& obviously, as long as your ds doesn't look to the other side, the head asymetry isn't going to sort itself out.
Lots of what we were told wasn't rocket science - eg hold toys to the RHS, position everything interesting to RHS etc, buy there are also some stretches that can help - if you google torticollis there are some good ones online. DS also had a strong perefence to look one way - hv dismissed it, my mates through I was mad, but i did a lot of work putting things to his 'wrong' side and sorted him out on my own

We also used Bowen therapy (no idea HOW it works, complete mumbo-jumbo!) which really helped dd.

At this stage, you should be able to make a big difference pretty quickly to your ds' head shape, if you can get the tort sorted. You might want to think about some repositioning techniques to keep him off his flat spot (eg carry in sling; prop him slightly with rolled blankets in his buggy) - there are also repositioning products/techniques you can do when they're sleeping, but all involve stuff in cot, which SIDs recommend against - can tell you more if you want to go down that route

Lots & LOTS of tummy time will also help (although tort babies tend not to like this much - getting down to his level/putting him over your knee so he can see better will all help

Well done for spotting it so early

My nephew suffered the same thing after a very traumatic birth lasting 3 days . He also couldn't turn his head one way, and had, actually, STILL has a flat patch on his head. My sister took him for cranial osteopathy (sp?), and after a few sessions and some gentle exercises he started to improve dramatically .

He'll be 3 next weekend

My DS had this - his was not torticollis according to the physio, they never did get to the bottom of what caused his reluctance to turn but the physio said it can be due to birth trauma or the way the head is positioned in the uterus, one neck ligament gets stretched more than the other and it's therefore more comfortable for the baby to turn one way.

All my DS required was a few very gentle exercises prescribed by the physio and some encouragement to turn the other way (eg we turned his cot around so he had to face the other way to see us as he slept). Once his neck became more flexible the flat patch righted itself (at one year old his head's still a bit flat but you can't really see it)

See your GP and don't be fobbed off with assurances that he will grow out of it as he may not! - demand a referral to a physiotherapist who will be able to tell you whether its tort or what. Whatever is causing his reluctance to turn, the sooner it's picked up the easier it will be to sort out.

Oh, and flat patches on head are REALLY common, esp at that young an age (GOsT reckon 50% of babies have them...) - but if you can get it sorted the sooner, the better!

This happened with my DS1, he was my first and always lay him towards the left, he wasn't comfortable on his back. He also had a flatter bit on the left hand side of his head, my fault should have turned him to the right more I suppose'

Anyway, spoke to health visitor about it and was referred to a baby physio who basically with simple exercises stretched his muscles in the neck to be able to turn his head to the right (probably about six sessions).

Hope all that makes sense, and that it helps.

Same as Toady for us - I could have written just the same myself. However, DS is now 6, can move his head each way no problem but still has a mis-shapen head. However, no-one would ever notice since his hair covers it now.