Baby has flat head.... will it get better?

[Courtney10891]

Hey guys, so subject says it all my 15 week old has a flat head. I started noticing it around 10 weeks. I took him to the gp because I was Very concerned. I was told not to worry but obviously I’m worrying. I paid to go and see a cranial osteopath who diagnosed torticollis and plagiocephaly. The torticollis seems to have been fixed and he can now turn his head both sides but it is still quite flat on one side of his head. The cranial osteopath recommended getting my baby a helmet. When I said this to the physio who I saw through the nhs she said no way should I get a helmet and it would correct by itself. His head is very flat on one side. Does anybody have any advice or know anything? I don’t really want to get him a helmet. Will it get better?

I remember asking my midwife about a baby I knew who had a flat head. Her advice to avoid/reduce flat head syndrome was:

• Reduce the time baby spends lying on their back

• Keep baby at the correct weight. It's more common with heavier babies

• More common with bottle fed babies (whether there is breast milk or formula in the bottles) because babies feed more quickly from bottles than the breast, therefore breast fed babies are spending less time lying on their backs

• not all babies grow out of their flat head once it is established. Some still have visibly flatter heads as adults.

As babies start spending more time upright it starts to correct, and as people have said what might look very noticable in a small bald baby isnt nearly as noticable in adult sized heads! I'm a kids nurse and have seen much worse ones than in your photo (esp ex prem babies) and the difference as they get older is always incredible!

The advice we give parents is to encourage tummy time etc and when lying on their back awake put toys and things on the other side to encourage them to turn away from the flat side, but let them sleep however theyre comfy!

Thank you everybody for your replies it’s made me feel a lot better about it. I was considering a helmet but don’t know if I could make him go though that. Also I don’t think I’ve ever seen a baby in a helmet and I live in London and surely my son isn’t the only one with a flat head lol. He’s only 15 weeks so so still not able to sit up crawl etc so fingers crossed when he does it will start improving x

Have you ever seen an adult and thought 'Dear God that person has a flat head!' Because I haven't!

My son was born via ventouse and his head was proper weird when he was born and for a few months afterwards. Looking back at old photos I think it's quite obvious. I even asked my dr about it. His reply was 'I bet if I shaved your head you'd have a funny shaped head too'

Anyway, it's fine now and obviously my son is the definition of perfection (to me!). His head is now covered by a gorgeous mop of blond hair, but it looks prettty round to me!

Hi, I did choose to treat my son with a helmet. He only needed 2 months in the Helmet, which was good as we both found it really hard. We had tried cranial osteopathy, but I just couldn’t take the risk it wouldn’t round out naturally. He has a lovely shaped head now, but his ears are still wonky! I didn’t treat my first son, and his head shape is fine but his face is very asymmetric and I do wonder if I should have got him assessed..... if you at all worried, most clinics do a free initial check. I went back 3 times for monitoring over a month to see if it would get better before deciding to get a helmet. I didn’t find they did a hard sell but it is difficult to get truely independent advice. Most cases do resolve by themselves, but some don’t. It’s a difficult decision. Good luck.

My friend's son wore a helmet at around 4 months. Originally planned for a year but he had it off in 6 as the flat head corrected itself quickly. My friend and her DH were advised that their DS would have dental issues (that could then lead to other issues such as migraines) if the flat head wasn't corrected. (Not sure if they were also told it could correct itself without the helmet). Their DS seemed happy with the helmet and they as parents seemed to find it fine to live with day to day.

For context, my eldest, now 12, flat head, much much more so than your dc, no treatment. Was told cosmetic only, will improve etc. It did slightly, gradually, and wasn’t obvious by the time he started school (luckily he has extremely thick hair) but I can still see it at certain angles because I know it’s there. It also caused problems with cycle helmets due to the extra breadth at the back of the head. Second DS I was extremely careful with, special mattress etc (no help at all) tummy time, all the advice followed. By 5 months he had a virtually triangular head. We did our proper research and sold a much-loved but impractical car to pay for the helmet treatment- we lived 10 mikes from a well-regarded centre. Had loads of grief from health visitor who referred us to community paediatrician in disgust (I think because I refused to accept it would correct on its own). She was very supportive and had good knowledge of the process and the registered orthotics professionals (make sure they are HCPC registered) who ran it. Her view was that the nhs don’t provide this as yes it is ‘only’ cosmetic and because it is expensive. It was very successful and took 6 months in all for our DC. No problems with the programme/treatment.
Would I do the same again? Yes. Would I have got DC1 treated if I had known? Actually probably not as his head wasn’t as bad and it’s a bit of a pain. Also then we lived 150 miles from the nearest clinic so it would have been much more difficult. But your baby’s head is so mild in comparison to my DCs that personally I really wouldn’t in your situation unless it got much worse. In fact I’m not sure your dc would even be likely to meet the treatment criteria of the clinic we went to. Hope that helps, it’s so difficult to know what to do isn’t it.

OP just came across this thread and wondering did your little one's head ever round out? Little boy here 9 months with quite a flat head. Docs and HV all unconcerned and say it will rectify itself as he grows?

Hi. I was wondering the same. My son is 2.5 we were told it would sort itself out and it hasn't. I am feeling so depressed. I can't stop crying. I feel so guilty that I didn't do anything. I never left his sitting in car seat etc etc. I did all the things they recommend. I am so scared about the future now.