10 week old only turning her head one way

[mckenzie]

I'm posting on behalf of a friend who doesn't have computer access at home.

Her 10 week old DD is only turning her head to one side and you can see that the back of her head is shaped differently ie, one side is rounded and the other side is a bit flat.

She's been advised by the health visitor to just 'keep an eye on it'.

For a start, she's beating herself up that she hadn't noticed it before because of course now that the health visitor has pointed it out, she's seeing it all the time. And also, she's worried about the long term implications, if indeed there are any.

Has anyone experienced this? Can anyone pass on any advice please?

TIA.

My DD was exactly the same. The HV suggested I put things on the other side of her to keep her looking the other way. I used to put the activity arch or a tape recorder with soft music on the left of her and it solved the problem in a matter of weeks. My HV said their skulls are soft and this is a common problem. hope this helps.

thanks Kbear, I shall pass it on.

My sister's child had this.Much more common these days apparently with 'back to sleep' campaign. Her little boy head was also pulled to one side (torticollis.)
She asked for a referral to a physio and also saw a cranial osteopath. All ok now.

Early days,but imho,waiting lists for physios are so long,how about being referred now?

my friend had a baby boy with the same problem...
she done physio....for him and the problem got a bit worst with time...

keep an eye on him...and if you can ...take him to a specialist....

sometimes they need an operation.....

don't worry...because,,,they are usually...ok...

but just to put your mind in peace...and take the prblem from start...

at 10 weeks old the baby can be having short periods of tummy time to get her used to being on her tummy as well instead of always lying on her back

torticollis sounds quite serious according to the descriptions on the internet!
I'll mention the laying on tummy Hana, thank you. I dont know if she's been doing that.

dd would only turn her head to the left at that age. She saw a cranial osteopath for her colic who spotted this and sorted her out

thanks nell12. did the osteopath give it this name as well?

Both dd and ds did this. Before she starts worrying herself sick, try putting them to sleep at the other end of the cot - i's natural for babies to look out into the room rather than to the wall, being the inquisitive little souls they are, and this can lead to them favouring that side even when not in the cot. And IME this is enough, in the early days, to make the head look slightly lopsided.

thanks prufrock but it seems that my friend has tried this but the little one still doesn't turn, not towards her, music, the TV, her brother or anything. She's going to call the local cranial osteopath tomorrow and make an appointment with him.

My dt2 was the same, always looked to her right up until she was about 5 months. Health visitor did not know what it was, her only suggestion was it was the way she may have been in the womb, just the same way babies are reluctant to straighten thier legs, because they are curled up in the womb.

Sorry mckenzie, she didn't give it a name (or perhaps she did and I was having a blonde moment...) she did say the same as tiffini, in that probably dd lay that way on the womb...
Hope all sorts itself

thanks very much everyone. We appreciate all the replies.