5montjs old with flathead

[Mizzy19]

Baby boy has turned 5 months and seems to have complete flat head, brachycephaly.
I've seen the gp who says, by 8 months, it'll fix itself.
Baby hates tummy time.
Has anyone come across this and what did you do?
I tried the perfect noggin, but apparently baby's head is too big to go into layer 4 and base and they've advised I should try helmet for baby next. Baby developed sore spot on his head after one night use in perfect noggin.

So if anyone's got any experience of this, I would love to hear back and if there's any reputable clinics they could recommend to sort this out. I reside in the West Midlands.

Thanks.

@Abbey94 thought you might benefit from this as you've posted similar recently

Hello, also based on west mids and worried my almost 7 month old has the same. I’m worried it’s too late to treat without a helmet. What did you decide to do?

@LJOY26 , my little one is almost 5 1/2 months now.
Definitely has brachycephaly. I'm definitely having to go down the helmet route. No other option.
I tried to contact the bham technology in motion clinic but never heard back. Next I'll try the Derby clinic as I've read positive reviews and outcome from that clinic or there's the Coventry clinic.

I think you're fine to treat with helmet at 7 months. Usually I thought it had to be dealt by 6-12 months and then it gets too late. But technology in motion site says they can treat later than that.

I have a family of dentists so they say it can affect dental structure having a flat head sometimes. So I'd rather have it sorted than not. Plus I don't want my child tomorrow to lose confidence etc and be not happy with his head shape.

I also tried the perfect noggin (about £135). Highly rated with good reviews all over. Join their Facebook group. Good if baby doesn't roll yet. Otherwise use under supervision.
Also a specialist Dr called Dr Rogers based in the states (also on fb, can send him a message via fb messenger) can answer your questions free of charge if you send him a few photos of your little one, side and above and he'll tell you the best option.
Anyone who says it'll correct itself, I don't believe.
Regarding the perfect noggin, I had to unfortunately return mine as my baby's head was too big to fit in, I was gutted as there were so many positive results.
I wish I had known about the perfect noggin in the beginning, even for my first child who had slight plagiocephaly, bit late now for him.

So I'm now in process of trying to sort the clinic out and then definitely helmet.

If there is anything I can help you with, just drop me a message.

How did you get on with the helmet ? My son is 6 months and has a flat bit on the back of his head. I’ve tried repositioning at night, plenty of tummy time and keeping him off his back. I’ve not noticed any improvement. He’s not rolling yet so may try the perfect noggin. I’m based in greater manchester. How did you go about finding a good clinic for the helmet ?

@Blessingsuponblessings .Hi there.
My son is just over 13months now. We started back in May 2023. So 6 months of wear and it's definitely improved. It's never going to be perfect but I gave him the best chance of correction. With his hair you can't really tell that it's still slightly flat. His brachycephaly was symmetrical at the back of the head. Many have brachycephaly with asymmetrical plagiocephaly. It's been getting there but slowly. Just waiting now for him to outgrow it. His next growth spurt and I think that's the helmet time up.
He's so used to, I don't know how he's going to cope with it off. So far it's protected his head from alot of knocks and bumps.
But I wouldn't hesitate in getting it corrected with helmet... Will be the best decision longterm and no regrets.
Not many clinics that do this, but I used technology in motion Birmingham. He used to be seen every month and his head measured and plotted on chart to show improvement. Plus if helmet need adjusting then that is done there too.
My son used to hate tummy time etc. Didn't matter how much I tried. In the end he started rolling at 7-8 months and sleeping on his front which I guess helped... These days he sleeps only on his front...
By all means try perfect noggin, if it works great, if not I'd recommend helmet.
Hope that helps.

@Mizzy19 thanks for getting back to me. Great to hear that the helmets improved things for your son ! There’s a tech in motion place in manchester so I will definitely look into an assessment there. I’ve purchased the perfect noggin for the meantime to see if it works, as he’s not rolling yet.Fingers crossed it makes a difference.

@Blessingsuponblessings Hi I was just wondering how you got on with the perfect noggin. My boy is near 5 and a half months. He's not rolling yet and saw your post just wondered is there a point to getting it? Thanks

If he’s not rolling I would get it. Also my boy had to go straight into layer 4, so make sure your sons head measurement fits within the layer 4 as that’s the biggest size. I don’t think it’s corrected his head shape but it has helped somewhat. I found their customer service really helpful, I emailed pictures of my sons head before ordering.