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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

9.5 month old son who keeps holding head to one side...???

7 replies

burtie2u · 17/08/2009 10:48

Hi my 9.5 month old son has done this 3 times already and each time I have taken him to the GP who says leave it a few day to see if it gets better..... Last time he did this was over a month ago and after about 5 days he holds his head straight again. He still moves his head around all over the place, but it's to one side. Has anyone come across this before. I am taking him again to the GP after work today, as I have looked on line (always a bad things to do) and have read some horror stories about tumors etc on the neck etc...... Could he just keep pulling it or just being lazy holding it up??? I would like the GP to send him for more test to make sure his necks okay. Any advice would be very appriciated as getting very worried now :-(

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theyoungvisiter · 17/08/2009 10:59

Ok, I'm not an expert but firstly don't worry too much about the word tumour. When they say tumour in relation to stiff necks they just mean a muscle growth, not a cancerous tumour. It's unfortunate the word is so scary!

I presume what you've googled is torticollis which I know a little about as my DS1 had a very stiff neck and was referred for it.

What sounds strange is that I think torticollis isn't normally sporadic in the way you describe - certainly in DS1's case it was a permanent crick, he never managed to turn his head past a certain degree, it didn't come and go like you describe.

Anyway hopefully someone with medical knowledge will be along soon, but I just wanted to post and say don't worry about the tumour thing too much, and don't worry if it is torticollis, it's not scary and is usually easily fixed with physio

theyoungvisiter · 17/08/2009 11:00

btw is it worth seeing a cranial osteopath? Some people find them excellent for stiff neck problems.

sandcastles · 17/08/2009 11:21

Sounds like Torticollis

Original poster

burtie2u · 18/08/2009 08:46

Thank you, GP has had a look and says not to worry he might just be pulling a muscle. But as it is the 3rd tile since he was born he said he will refer him to out patients to get checked out. I am really pleased, at least he will get a proper check up and doc said they might just give us some massage to do when he next pulls it. I feel allot more relaxed now. Cheers ;-)

OP posts:

sandcastles · 19/08/2009 09:42

Just keep a close eye, as if he is sleeping alot on one side, it could cause postional plagiocephaly (flat spots on the head)

LynetteScavo · 19/08/2009 09:46

DS2 used to hold his head back, with his chin in the air.

I didn't think anything of it, but our cranial osteopath asked if he did this when she was examining him at a routine consultation, and aparently it was due to his fast birth.

She sorted it out there and then.

danabu · 19/08/2009 22:03

Hi. It could also be his eyes - sometimes if there's a problem with the extra ocular muscles that coordinate the two eyes, double vision occurs and tilting the head gives a single image again. The double vision is unlikely to be present all the time, just when looking in certain directions, which is when the head tilt will occur.

Hope that helps - just another possibilty

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