Flat head 4 mth old baby

[Jo7249]

I am at my wits end with the realisation that my beautiful 4mth old baby boy has a flat head on the back right side.
I am seeing doctor tomorrow but after reading quite a lot on the subject am soooo worried that I will not be taken seriously or it's too late for him.
His forehead has started to bulge a little on the side that his head is flat and one of his ears is slightly out of line.
Has anyone any experience of this? I have ordered a special pillow for night sleeping and I am trying repositions also but I am so scared it's too late. Please can I have some advice as the last thing I want is to have to buy a helemt at £2000!!
All replies are welcomed

Hi, DS used to always sleep with is head on one side and as a result at about 4 months had a very noticable flat side and the other side which he didn't sleep on stuck out with quite a sharp edge where it met the flat bit if that makes sense. It looked awful but I'm happy to say that at 8 months you can barely see it anymore and the back of his head while not perfectly round is a nice normal shape now and I don't think anyone would notice.

I didn't do anything to it as I was told it would correct itself as he got older and it has (though I appreciate this is not the case for everybody)as DS started to sleep in different postions and spent less time layed down it seemed to take no time at all to right itself. HTH

YOu need to get the assymetry of the head measured - not the circumference. The assymetry is measured using something that looks like salad servers.

My dd had plagiocephaly and it is not a cosmetic issue.

It doesn't always correct itself. My DD had helmet treatment from 10 months and went from 1.7am to 0.3cm. Our GP had no clue, kept measuring wrong, said it would sort itself out. Sometimes it does, but if you wait and it hasn't you are stuffed.

In my experience flat heads do not always correct themselves.Does he still have a fontenell (sp?) if so the plates of his skull can still move slightly. I would recommend going to see a cranial osteopath asap for advice. A session tends to cost approx £30 for a baby
Good luck

Fontenelles don't tend to close fully until around 18 months.

My DS had a very flat back of head. I was very worried about it at the time. HV recommended giving him more tummy time, but he absolutely hated it. I tried a bumbo seat, baby walker and door bouncer. Anything to hold him up without putting weight on the back of his head. Nothing helped, he just preferred to lie on his back all the time. It got worse and worse until he got to 6 months old. Then he learned to sit by himself. He's now 14 months and its barely noticeable (he's had no treatment). It is still a bit flat, but it is better and is covered well with hair now. I'm happy with it and glad we did not pursue treatment.

It is difficult to know what to think about the helmet treatment. I researched it a bit at the time and as far as I could see no proper studies have been done. Although it may improve with the helmet, its impossible to know whether it would have improved that much without the helmet.

I don't know about it not being a cosmetic issue. I was told by a HV and a GP that it is purely cosmetic, in the sense that it does not have any effect on head or brain growth/development. Although it's obviously still very concerning to have a significant cosmetic problem and not to know whether it is best to treat or not treat.

Hope you can get some answers.

I can tell you 100% dizzee that my dd's head would not have improved without the helmet.

It won't be cosmetic if your child needs glasses and you can' get any to fit because their ears are not in line. It isn't about brain development.

There was no need to write such a sharp response. I was only trying to be helpful and write a balanced reply based on what I found out when this was a very worrying issue for me.

Exactly how can you tell that your dd's head would not have improved without a helmet? I am not saying that a helmet is a good or a bad thing. Just that as yet no proper studies have been done.

With regard to the cosmetic issue. I would have been very frightened if my HV or if anyone on MN had told me that my DS's flat head was more than a cosmetic issue as I would have assumed that this meant that there were developmental implications. I didn't mean to cause any offense. I have just interpreted cosmetic/non-cosmetic differently to you.

I don't think anyone can give a definitive answer to the OPs question at the moment. There will be plenty of people who can give a positive story about leaving it alone and plenty who can give a positive story about helmet treatment. I hope the OPs doctor does take her seriously and can offer useful advice.

It isn't a sharp response and I know it wouldn't have improved.

Cosmetic usually means just how things look, plagiocephaly isn't a cosmetic issue, nor is it a brain development issue.

People who did nothing and their children were lucky enough to have heads that rounded out will always say to leave alone as it will round out in future. They were just lucky. They had no way of knowing that would be the outcome. You don't have unlimited time to do something if you do decide to wait and see. You miss the window of opportunity and the head shape will stay misshapen.

I am not saying that all heads will improve if left alone. I just don't know and I would not like to recommend one treatment over another.

I just find it unscientific and irrational to state that you just "know" that your daughter's head shape would not have improved without a helmet. Unless you had the ability to look into the future just before you started treatment, you cannot possibly know.

It seems to me that medical professionals do trivialise this issue - whether rightly or wrongly - and it causes a lot of worry. However, the alternative is the companies which sell the helmets. They have a financial interest in this and I'm not sure I would trust them.

The poor OP is worried sick about her child and whether she has left it to late. Her DS is only 4 months old and whether or not it will resolve by itself, it is surely unlikely for it to be too late right now.

I just don't find these one-sided comments with no evidence to support them helpful. I have always found anecdotal evidence on MN to be helpful, as it is always useful and often reassuring to hear of other peoples experiences. However, I just wish some people weren't always so categorical in their answers.

Good luck with your doctor Jo7249. I hope they take you seriously and explain the pros and cons of treatment/leaving. My worries were virtually ignored and fortunately I was lucky that my son's quite severe and extremely noticeable flat head has resolved itself. If you are interested there was an interesting article on this in the Observer a few months ago (easily found on google). It is strongly from the medical profession's point of view, but it does have an interesting point about how before the 1970's babies were usually sleeping on there backs, yet you don't see too many flat-headed people walking around who were born in that era. I found that quite reassuring in its own way.

I do not have to explain myself to you and I will not be made too just because you won't accept what I am saying about my own child.

A 4 month old child has not been left too late to treat.

I know what I am talking about, and yes, I am categorical about that.

I went to see Gp about my DD's flat head. He referred her for physiotherapy which basically entailed tummy time! I too looked into the helmets but was more distressed by the amount of time DD would have had to wear it rather than the cost. Unfortunately my DD's cranial plates fused and the fontenelles closed up when she was about 8 months of age. It was then too late to do anything. She has long curly hair now, aged 2.9, but i'm afraid if she ever decides to cut her hair short and it loses some of its curl you will be able to see her flattened back of head. It's not a life threatening condition but i do wish i'd known sooner that i could have had help from an cranial osteopath.
DS2 had a very difficult delivery and had a pronounced ridge where the plates overlapped just above his forehead( made very obvious by his lack of hair at birth). The MWs assured me the moulding would settle down however 4 weeks later it hadnt. He had 3 sessions with a cranial osteopath and the ridge has almost completely disappeared.My osteopath told me,the younger the child the more scope for movement of the skull plates.

FabIsGoingToBeFabIn2010 - Why are you so aggressive about this? All I have said that it is useful for the OP to hear anecdotal evidence from others, but that it is best to give at least a balanced view of things.

Anyway, let's leave it at this. This thread is about the OP's concerns and should not be turned into a petty argument. I'm just glad our children's heads are improved, regardless of how it came about.

Hi Jo7249, try not to stress too much. Great you are off to the GP for a check up.

This is a really common problem and can be improved with being very aware of how you position your baby boy. Ask you doctor to refer you to a paediatric physiotherapist who can find out more about how you have the cot positioned in the room (ie is he always turning to the right to watch you come in/look at a light etc?If so, swap things around), sleeping positions, playing positions etc. The flattening is caused by the baby holding his head in the same position when on his back.

To improve the shape, you need to think about your baby's daily routine and try to minimise time spent on his back except when sleeping/nappy changes. Tummy time is ideal, sitting on your lap or using a bouncy chair with things to look at on his left.

Hope that helps and good luck tomorrow.

OP - DS had an incredibly flat head, which I noticed at 6 weeks old. I kept going to the HV/GP about it and was constantly fobbed off about it, people telling me he would grow out of it, or saying that it didn't matter because 'his hair would cover it'

In the end DS didn't need a helmet - I used A LOT of repositioning treatment after advice on here (will try and find the thread) and his head is just about OK. When he's got wet hair you can see a very slight flat bit, but it's fine.

We repositioned his cot, playmat and changemat so he had to lay on the non-flat side to look at us/middle of the room/lights etc. We used a wedge when he was in his cot to keep him on one side and a goi goi pillow whenever he was on his back (other than sleeping)

He too had the bulge on his forhead and one of his ears was at least an inch further forward than the other one. This has now evened out.

Fab - I think you might have been one of the people who advised me about this, if you were, thank you

Where have I been aggressive?

You have implied I don't know what I am talking about dizzee and I don't appreciate it.

I have spoken the facts from my point of view, better than wishy washy platitudes that everything will be fine when no one can possibly know about this child.

Pure Thank you for your thanks, none needed but appreciated all the same and I am thrilled all has turned out good for you.

Here are my threads asking for help on this.

Flat head

www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=am_i_being_unreasonable&threadid=493460-to-expe ct-the-sodding-health-visitor-to-take-my-concerns&pagingOff=1#9964200 bloody HV]]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/463707-plagiocephaly-torticollis-nab3-palgio-uk-h elp further questions]]

HTH

ffs ~tries again

Flat head

bloody HV

further questions

great help from pure and zapostrophe, lots of good info on the old threads. Your GP needs to check for torticollis (tight neck muscle) and make sure your little one can turn his head to both sides equally. Let us know how you get on.

Can i just ask please, if not neuro developmental & not purely cosmetic, what are the implications/problems associated with flat head?

Hi

I have to agree 100% with Fab. Infact I couldn't have put it better myself...

My son is currently wearing a helmet for brachycephaly. This means he was (and I love saying was!) completely flat at the back although perfectly symmetric. He was classed as extremely severe and I often had comments on how flat it was (which use to cause alot of tears). I remember researching flat head for many hours every month until I took the plunge and went to the LOC clinic in Kingston for him to be measured. I would like to add this is free of charge and they give you facts clear and simple...they do not try to sell you a helmet.

Flat head is extremely common now due to the back to sleep campaign and approx 1 in 2 babies have it. If the flathead is mild or even moderate, it may improve and you may not even know your child had a flat spot but it's not always the case depending on how bad your childs flathead is. There are alot of children out there with a flat head and their parents are told 'it will correct in time' or 'it will grow back' but the fact is that's not always true. There will always be growth to the childs head (there has to be as the child gets bigger) and it may improve but not necessarily to the naked eye, so will still look very flat.

My son was diagnosed with very severe flathead and has been in the helmet for 7 months. He was diagnosed at 5 months and helmet started at 6. The difference is amazing and we can't wait to finish treatment now. He had a beautiful head when he was born and although it will never be the same, he looks completely 'normal'.

I battled with healthcare professionals as they all told me it would be ok apart from my HV who actually suggested the helmet. My doctor has finally agreed it was the right thing to do and apologised for not listening before.

Go with your heart and you have nothing to lose by seeing the specialists. If you go to www.plagiocephalycare.org you will find all the help and support you need. Just read through some of the posts. Also, if I can be of help please let me know as I know how distressing it can be. Believe me, I couldn't afford the helmet but there's lots you can do for raising money towards it and if you are on a low income one of the helmet providers can offer help.

If your child has plagio/brachy it's all about a risk. It may/may not resolve itself in time but it's whether you want to take that risk.

All the best xx

Gleno

Do you know what your son's assymetry measurement was?

anonandilikeit - as far as I know, Plagio/brachio can cause problems with eyesight.

I'm sure Fab will be back with more info, I can't find anything at the moment.

Thanks Pure, really I didn't realise it had anything other than cosmetic implications.