Flat head - Anyone used the helmet?

[mama2moo]

10 week old dd has had a flat head on one side since she was 3 weeks old. I take her to a Cranial Osteopath as she only turns her head to one side which is causing the problem.

I am try to re position when she sleeps and plays but it is hard. The CO is defo helping.

Dp and I have been looking into how to fix the problem as it bad (I will post a photo on my profile in a mo)

The helmet seems to be the only way to fix it but at £2000 it is pricey if it doesnt work.

Has anyone tried it? Did it work? how old was your lo when you did it?

smokinaces That is amazing, thanks for showing the photos. I have just showed dp and he was shocked at the difference it made as well. It looks exactly the same as dd's head. Did you have to wait until he was 16 weeks? (Gorgeous boy BTW

onebadbaby No one else in mine or dp's have had a flat head. Dd1's head is perfect and always has been.

Right, where do I go to get the assymetry measured?

Hiya

We finished helmet treatment last week after 10 months of my lo being in a band. The difference from when we started is amazing..he was 5.5 months when we started and his flathead was severe. Now he is in the normal cephalic ratio range.

Am happy to send you pics if you would like to see before and after photo's and also his scan which are quite unbelieveable.

Best thing I've ever done in my life and all I keep doing now is kissing that beautiful head of his! Glad the treatment is over )

We used the LOC clinic, Kingston Upon Thames and I can't rate them enough. There are other clinics though, check www.plagiocephalycare.org for all the info you need and you will find all the support there too.

Whatever you decide I wish you lost of luck x

How can you check for torticollis?

I am currently paying a lot of money for cranial osteopath to sort her neck out but if the NHS can do something I would rather go down that route.

gleno I would love to see the photos if thats ok. Its great that its worked so well for you ds.

OMG I have just been through her baby photos and out of about 100 there are 2 where she is facing the other way. Why the hell didnt I notice it I wish the mw or hv who came out to see us had told me to change her head position to prevent it.

Off to the doctors asap to see if they can do anything instead of CO. Thanks for that

Hi mama2moo, I can't contact you directly due to your settings. can you send me your email address and I'll send them straight through to you?

The clinic also checked for torticollis but as zapostrophe mentioned, the gp can refer you and the quicker the better for physio if that's the case.

Don't beat yourself because you didn't notice before, why would you? also, the hv's and docs don't generally see flathead as a problem and they actually know very little about the condition.

Your lo is actually too young at the moment to be considered for a helmet but you can use this time wisely by doing aggressive repositioning techniques. This will be difficult if your lo has torticollis. Lots and lots of tummy time, playing as much as you can by strengthening the neck muscles. Make it more exciting for them (as I know my lo hated being on his tummy) by joining in and having them on your tummy while they play, superman round the room etc etc.

I have had 2 DC with plagio- 1 corrected through repositioning, 1 through helmet treatment.

My DS is a heavy sleeper, and a good one too- he keeps still, and doesn't thrash around much, and we found it fairly simple to correct his plagio through repositioning, making sure we turned him each nap/sleep. He also didn't have a torticollis problem, so he was happy to be put any way round to sleep. We used a sleep positioner from red castle, I think it was about £20. We started treating his plagio when he was about 10 weeks, and by 5mo you would never know he had had an issue.

My DD has always had sleep issues, had reflux, torticollis and thrashed around everywhere too- her plagio was not improving but getting worse, and at 5mo we bit the bullet and went with the helmet. I don't regret it for a minute, as having been through the process with DS, I know there is no way we could have got it within the bounds of normality through repositioning.

The main thing is preventing it from worsening- so... tummy time for play (though both mine hated it!); goigoi pillow for all nappy changes and for in the pram; sling sling sling all day. Yes- it is back-breaking, but it is worth it. However you decide to correct the plagio, you need to be stopping it getting worse now you know about it.

Certainly sounds like your baby has torticollis- your GP can show you some simple physio exercise to do each time you change her.

We used LOC in Kingston too, very highly recommend them.

DS2 was 14w when he was seen there, 16w when he got the helmet. He'd been under the osteopath from a lot earlier (about 8w) but no avail - he didnt really favour one side all the time, his was from birth trauma.

Incidently he is now 2. We saw the GP at 8w and were told we were being referred to the paedtrician about it. We are still waiting.......

You can get assymetry measured at any of the clinics. Like I said before they nearly all do the 1st consultation and measurements for free. I cant vouch for the other clinics, but I do know LOC are very honest and do turn people away from the helmet if there are better options for them. They are very honest and very good.

and thankyou - I think he is gorgeous too

mama2moo Your GP needs to do the assymetry and make sure they are not doing the head circumference. The assymetry is measured by something that looks like salad servers/forceps/tongs whereas the circumference is just measured with a common and garden tape measure.

Carrying babies in a sling as much as possible helpes with this too. Be VERY careful - this is another pf those situations where at the extreme end of the problem then action is needed, but at the other end it is very easy to exploit and make money out of the natural paranoia we all feel as parents.

Mama2moo - couldn't access the photo. My son is 23months now and his head is much better, though still slanted on one side. By the time he was 5 or 6 months old his head was like a triangle! He favoured lying with hos head to one side, and I kept trying to move it in his sleep to no avail. I was so worried but HV told me it would "sort itself out." My mother gave me a special small pillow. Can't remember what it was called. By the time he was a year old it WAS gettung much better, though not sure how much if it was due to the pillow or time.

Well the pics don't look too bad to me.
My ds2 had (and still has) a flat head much worse than this - he's now nearly 10 and had no problems.

He saw a paediatrician when he was about 4 months old for another reason and he mentioned the flat head and had a feel around. He said one of the plates had fused too early and there was nothing to be done. He advised to get him to sleep on the other side of the head as once flat he naturally wanted to sleep that way.

It is very noticeable if you touch his head - back right is very flat. He looks quirky in most baby photos - he had a big head and an odd shape. Once hair grows it isn't really noticeable.

Is this one of those things which now seem to be made a big deal of when pretty much ignored before?

As seeker said if it is at the extreme end of the spectrum then I can see the need to correct, but otherwise I'd leave alone.

One last thing to try before the expense of a helmet - have you thought of a baby hammock? They naturally support the head in a gentle rounded curve and help little one's sleep beautifully. Only downside is my son (8mnths) hasn't slept through since he moved into his cot, he obviously preferred the hammock!

HI mama2moo!

I'm a Paediatric Occupational Therapist from the US, now living in London. I've treated many babies with Plagiocephaly and/or Torticollis. Some of these kids had helmets and did really well.

You mentioned the head tilting to one side. Does your baby tolerate tummy time? Do you notice her moving one side of her body more than the other? Can she turn her head to the other side?

I think it's great that you have noticed this so early and are trying to work on it from now. There's so much scope for progress and improvement when caught early.

Meanwhile, as an Occupational Therapist, I'd suggest doing lots of tummy time, encourage head turning to the opposite side that she chooses to by putting interesting toys there and by approaching her from that side.

You could also self-refer yourself to a private Occupational or Physical Therapist who specialises in treating infants and would give you suggestions of activities to do with your baby so that you can start early.

All the best to you and your baby!

Munira

Thanks all. Oddly enough dd has started moving her head more this weekend. She still favours the one side but it is promising that she will lie on the lumpy part for some time.

We are going to continue with CO for now and moving her head. We are also going to get a pillow.

In a months time we will see what its like and go from there. I think we will get it measured then as well just to see what the difference is.

The photos from before and after the helmet is amazing so if we need to do it we will. We will have to live on bread and water for a year but so be it. Thanks again