Baby - flat head

[fifitot]

My 3 month old has a decidedly flat spot on back of his head. I am not particularly worried as know this is more common these days due to sleeping on back. My DH is more concerned and stupidly googled it - some sites say it is a cosmetic issue which rights itself as child gets older but others say it can cause problems.

Anyone else's baby have this and what do you think?

Make sure you give your baby lots of tummy time too and don't always lie them on their back whilst awake. So use a bouncy chair or similar and it shouldn't get worse.

Thanks

Hi fifitot
My ds1 has a flat head.
he is now 3.2 years old. I was told by a children's doctor (can't spell the word) that it would correct itself by the time he is 5.
It started off when he was a baby and started on the side as he favoured laying his face to the left.
The hv advised me to move the cot mobile to the other side and use rolled up towels to re-position his head, which i did and the result was a completely flat head.
I have been told that in ds1's case, it is completely cosmetic but have also heard stories about how the bones have pushed against eye sockets etc and caused problems.
There are helmets that can correct the problem, but I don't believe they are available on the NHS.
Ds1 hated being on his front so I used bouncy chairs and door bouncers alot, but didn't seem to help.
he was forcep delivered, so he was always more likely to suffer this than ds2 who was naturally delivered.

You need to get the baby's assymetry measured. You could also take them to an cranial osteopath. It is called plagiocephaly and it could be caused by torticullus which is easily sorted with exercises. It is not a cosmetic problem in each case.

I'd second cranial osteopathy.

There is a special support pillow (not a proper pillow of course) that relieves the pressure at the back of the head. Its called a lovenest [hconfused] try 'thebabycatalogue.com'

My DS had a practically wedge shaped head by the time he was 4 months because he wasn't much into moving and must have favoured one position then as the head got flatter that meant he layed on it even more.

The HV said it would be fine, just do more tummy time etc and that it would resolve itself by the time he was 1. It didn't.

By the time he was 18 months we were starting to get worried that it was something else - early bone fusion or something - so went to the GP who referred us to a paediatrician who sent him for an x-ray and then sent that to a specialist at Great Ormond Street as he wasn't sure about the outcome. Anyway, it was all 'fine' in that it is only plagiocephaly and nothing more sinister.

It will always be flat but with his hair it is less noticeable. It seems to have hardly improved though I think in the last year (he is 2.5 now) so I don't now how much better it will get (it is still really noticeable when his hair is wet).

What makes me cross is that if the HV had said she wasn't sure and referred us to the GP we might have been able to do something more about it - a helmet would have been an option, even if we had had to pay for it - but by the time we did see a GP it was too late for all that.

I now take everything HV say with a large pinch of salt and won't make the same mistakes with DS2!

Rant over.

My youngest DD also had this (although since diagnosed with a genetic condition) but initially was thought to have synostosis (where the plates in the head fuse too early). Referred to Great Ormond Street, scanned, x-rayed, etc. but synostosis ruled out.

Other things that can help are changing the orientation of things like the cot/change table/play mat so that to look at you/the middle of the room/TV/toys they have to turn their head onto the non flat side.

DS had a VERY flat head, with a lot of repositioning and tummy time etc it did even out a lot. 3 months is still very early and you should be able to avoid it getting worse if you limit the amount of time he spends on the flat spot.

Another thing we did was have a pillow for the change mat, the floor mat and the carry cot which definitely helped (google goi goi baby pillows, or just use an old flat pillow)

a bumbo can also help (DS hated his, but some children really like them)

Don't let him lie in the car seat for long periods of time either, that's quite a hard surface and won't help.

If this is useful, let me know and I'll try to think of other tips. Suspect the usual suspects will be along with far more useful information than me soon though.

x

We did have the helmet for our child and went to Harley Street to get it. Dh wanted to feel that even if it didn't work or it wasn't necessary we had done everything we could to help her. There is no regrets and her assymetry is only 0.2 more than her brother who didn't have any problems.

btw, not advocating that your 3mo watch TV but it's very good for getting their attention

My baby son had a flat spot (positional plagiocephaly) on the side of his head, caused by torticollis.

He also has metopic synostosis, the cranio facial specialists at Birmingham Children's Hospital told me that once the torticollis was sorted, and as he got more mobile the flat spot would correct itself over time and that actually very few of us have perfectly symetrical heads. We have noticed a big difference in the shape of his head after just one year.

He will need surgery for the synostosis so his flat spot is really the least of our worries.

I'm sure all will be ok and it will correct itself over time.

Thanks for your posts. Will get it checked and am considering the oesteopathy.