Flat head and ASD concerns

[Chunks18]

Hello,
I am sat here typing this so upset and feeling like I have failed my daughter... the last 3 days I haven’t really slept as I have just been scouring the Internet looking for answers and watching videos.

My daughter has flat head which has been assessed as severe. We are in the process of starting helmet therapy. She has flat head to one side and it has made her ear come further forward and also her cheekbone.

She has also been slow at hitting milestones... if hitting them at all.
My concern was initially that the flat head caused a developmental delay. But now I’m worried about Autism.

She rarely makes eye contact with me and if I Really have to work hard for it. She doesn’t look at me when feeding and will always turn her head to the other side. She is hard to get a smile out of. She will smile at the dog and toys and first thing in the morning when I walk into her bedroom. Other than that it’s almost impossible. She has also not yet laughed consistently. She has laughed at my dog a handful of times and again at a toy. The only time she laughed at me was when I was doing a HIT FIT excercise and running up and down doing a truffle shuffle! She has also started to cry at things like she hair dryer and shower which never used to bother her. My biggest concern is that she doesn’t turn to my voice, she only blows raspberries, screams loudly (not upset ones) and goes mmmmmm mmmm when she sounds annoyed! And she has started to twist her wrists and feet. Normally In the high chair!
She will 50% of the time look in the mirror and smile and touch it. She does roll over but hasn’t mastered how to roll back onto her back.

I started to feel that something was different when I started baby classes. All the other babies look so lovingly at their mums whilst mine just screamed and tried to get out of my hold. The other babies were shaking rattles and smiling whilst my daughter just put them in her mouth and got the hump. These other babies were younger than her.

Is there anyone else out there who feels the same? Or who has the same concerns? Or someone who had these worries with their baby but everything turned out ok? Does flat head cause your baby to be slower? I’m so worried I have damaged her brain. I just can’t stop crying over the whole thing.

Thank you

My oldest daughter was similar, didn't have a flat head but was the grumpiest fussiest baby ever, cried if people looked at her, cried during baby groups, wasn't very responsive to interactions with me even.

Shes 5 now, shes very stubborn and still gets a bit overwhelmed and needs cool down time if there's too many people or too much going on, but shes very intelligent and lovely (when shes not in a strop ) and has lots of friends at school.

I think babies show their personalities from early on.

I don't know much about flat heads medically, but my second daughter has excess increasing brain fluid from meningitis a year and a bit ago, shes 22 months now and her head circumference has gone from 40th before that to above the 100th line now where the extra fluid has caused her skull to expand more rapidly than it would have. They've said it won't be causing damage as her MRIs are still showing no signs of pressure around the edges of the brain so I wouldn't think having a section flattened could cause damage if something internally can expand without causing damage.

Try not to worry and give it time, there's a huge range of 'normal' with development.

Hi,

Thanks for your response... I know i sound a bit like a crazy woman but I have had little sleep which I think makes me more irrational and after spending hours on you tube watching videos of babies twisting hands and trying to read through threads to see if they were ever diagnosed.

I do think she is a grumpy baby.. and is very serious! Maybe I need to be a bit more funny 😂

I think part of my thought about are just through guilt about her flat head and that she needs treatment.. I feel I should have done more!

I guess I can’t worry about the what ifs! And I’m trying to now focus on just enjoying every day rather than spend it obsessing like I have the last few... x

My daughter had a flat head which caused an ear to come forward, she also had torticollis, we treated with cranial osteopathy and physiotherapy and lots of tummy time, it's fine now - i think they are self correcting in quite a lot of cases, has a paediatrician advised a helmet?

She was also a very hyper toddler, could never sit still - not even for two minutes for circle time in nursery, I'm sure the staff thought she had ADHD but all fine once she went to school.

Try not to feel guilty, my youngest for some reason preferred one side to lie on and it mildly misshaped one side of the back of his head. I was lucky and it sorted out itself but there was nothing I could do to change it, he would turn his head in his sleep, if I repositioned him it'd be back soon after.

Short of holding him 24/7 there was no way of avoiding it, they and you have to sleep and that's a good chunk of each day/night where they have to be laid down. If they favour one position then its not avoidable!

I'm glad you're feeling a bit more relaxed about it.
On the serious baby side of things, I've always thought that's a sign of them being smart they're too busy taking everything in to sit there giggling!!

No, honestly, flat head doesn't cause asd (I teach children with asd) and my son did the twisting hands thing. He also didn't roll till 10 mo and did what YouTube calls the autism roll (bollocks!) - definitely not autistic!

I felt similarly at times about my child being different at classes - I don't always think classes are very helpful for this reason! He had silent reflux (I now realise after having an easier baby) and was born very tiny but strong which I think made him never turn his head so he started to get a flat back of his head that's now gone.

My son was often impatient and this is a big trait if his but it makes him keen to learn and get stuck into things (now 5).

Some babies do have slightly twisted necks from the womb which leads to favouring one side when sleeping.

Thank you so much everyone.. I am Defo feeling a little more normal today! I think a lot of emotions led to just fear and panic!

Yes her head measures as severe and we have tried repositioning and physio .. although not he cranial osteopathy but I’m worried if we don’t do it know then it will be too late to fix it!

I think google can be the devil as it literally links everything to autism... even a baby blowing raspberries all day!?!

I like the classes as it makes me get out but they do play on my insecurities, I’ve always been a worrier and being a mother does not help that!!

My daughter also has reflux which is being treated with baby gaviscon although 6 months old and she still has it bad if we stop the medicine!? I’m not really too sure what the doctor will do next?

@Chunks18 just wondering how you LO got on. I'm in a similar boat atm.

Hey, my daughter is 3 and a half now and has no signs of ASD. She’s chatty and funny and not as serious!

We used a helmet for her flat head which was improved massively.

The only advice I can give is to try and enjoy your baby, my post natal anxiety was awful and now I live with guilt that I didn’t enjoy her younger years. No matter what we can not change what our children will be and I wish I had accepted that earlier on and made the most of my daughter rather than spend hours online looking for answers.

I wish you all the best and I hope this helps xx

Hey op, It's great to see you come back and update us on your dd's development. I'm glad everything worked at well for you. All the best.

So good to hear such a wonderful outcome!! You gave me hope , god bless you!!

@Chunks18

Hello, I am sat here typing this so upset and feeling like I have failed my daughter... the last 3 days I haven’t really slept as I have just been scouring the Internet looking for answers and watching videos.

My daughter has flat head which has been assessed as severe. We are in the process of starting helmet therapy. She has flat head to one side and it has made her ear come further forward and also her cheekbone.

She has also been slow at hitting milestones... if hitting them at all.
My concern was initially that the flat head caused a developmental delay. But now I’m worried about Autism.

She rarely makes eye contact with me and if I Really have to work hard for it. She doesn’t look at me when feeding and will always turn her head to the other side. She is hard to get a smile out of. She will smile at the dog and toys and first thing in the morning when I walk into her bedroom. Other than that it’s almost impossible. She has also not yet laughed consistently. She has laughed at my dog a handful of times and again at a toy. The only time she laughed at me was when I was doing a HIT FIT excercise and running up and down doing a truffle shuffle! She has also started to cry at things like she hair dryer and shower which never used to bother her. My biggest concern is that she doesn’t turn to my voice, she only blows raspberries, screams loudly (not upset ones) and goes mmmmmm mmmm when she sounds annoyed! And she has started to twist her wrists and feet. Normally In the high chair!
She will 50% of the time look in the mirror and smile and touch it. She does roll over but hasn’t mastered how to roll back onto her back.

I started to feel that something was different when I started baby classes. All the other babies look so lovingly at their mums whilst mine just screamed and tried to get out of my hold. The other babies were shaking rattles and smiling whilst my daughter just put them in her mouth and got the hump. These other babies were younger than her.

Is there anyone else out there who feels the same? Or who has the same concerns? Or someone who had these worries with their baby but everything turned out ok? Does flat head cause your baby to be slower? I’m so worried I have damaged her brain. I just can’t stop crying over the whole thing.

Thank you

Can I ask how old your daughter was when you posted this? It sounds exactly like my daughter! Xxx

Exactly 6 months old x

Hi OP, how is your daughter now? Can you give an update? I have similar worries about my LB and most of these.posts come to a dead end 🙃 x

Hi, please see my above post (it may be a few back)! She’s now 5 and half almost and a very funny kind sociable thing who is excelling at school! Lots of friends and does not stop talking…. Ever!!!

I know this is an old thread, and the OP has no concerns now, which is great, but just in case anyone else comes across it... head flattening doesn't cause developmental delays. There are no medical consequences to cranial flattening. If a baby has gross motor developmental delays, they are more likely to develop head flattening, but there is no reverse correlation.

@Kwno1 how old is your baby? It wasn't clear if you are worried about head flattening or his development, but if the former, I recommend joining the Noggin Doctor's Plagiocephaly and Torticollis Discussion Board on Facebook. He is a paediatric craniofacial surgeon based in the US and will answer any questions you have free of charge.

Thank you so much for providing this update. I’m going through something very similar with my almost 8mo, very teary and anxious about ASD. Trying hard to just enjoy my baby and not compare. Thanks again 😊