plagiocephaly

[TanJ18]

Anyone's baby been diagnosed with this?

I feel so stressed out about it, my son favours sleeping one side....

Tanya

My little one wasn't diagnosed but I could see the flattening. From about 4.5 months he saw a chiropractor and at 19.5 months you wouldn't know he ever had any flat spots. Definitely something to look into!

Yes my DS had this. He got referred to physio and we were given exercises etc to do (he had torticollis which was a contributory factor). I also paid for him to go to a cranial osteopath. He's 2 now and still has mild flattening but it's not overly noticeable. I'd push for a physio referral and also have a look at cranial osteopaths in your area.

My son has this and he's almost 20. We weren't ever offered the 'helmet' thing that many use nowadays so he has grown up with a flattened head on one side. You could see it when he was a baby and would roll to that side in his cot but as he's grown it has become less noticeable and his hair covers it very well. It hasn't affected him otherwise. I hope this helps put your mind at rest, Op.

My DS’s head was very flat towards one side at the back from about 2 or 3 months onwards... it evened itself out by the time he was one. I think unless it’s extremely severe there’s no treatment recommended - baby’s skulls are very malleable. Why do you feel stressed about it?

DS had it. We did physio and cranial therapy and nothing really worked, so in the end we went for a helmet. I remember being really stressed at the time, but it made a difference and I almost forget we did it now.

My son favoured his right side, we went to the cranial osteopath from 4 months - 8 months, she helped with how tight his muscles were. We worked on repositioning him at home when he slept etc. Unfortunately for us none of it helped! He's 18 months now and you can only tell how 'bad' it is when his head is wet bless him.
The left side of his head protrudes more at the back and front than the right.

Our daughter has flat head at the back and she now has a helmet because it was 98% severe.

When we went for our free consultation with the band specialist he measured our sons head for us and said it was a moderate, but it's too late for him to have a helmet as it wouldn't make much difference.

I'm hoping that like a previous poster said, when he's 20 no one will notice. Fingers crossed.

If I could go back in time, I wish I had got him a helmet instead of listening to the Doctors and osteopath who said it would get better on it's own. Maybe it will, time will tell.

Another baby in our NCT was diagnosed with a severely flat head- the whole of the back of his head was flattened from ear to ear.
I noticed my DD's head was flattening too at one side. DP and family dismissed my concerns but I could see it worsening and no matter what I did she always slept with her head tilted that way to worsen it.
I did a lot of research and bought a theraline pillow for her and insisted it was used at all times- inside the Sleepyhead, Moses, pram, bouncy chair. This stopped the flattening from getting any worse.
As she's grown bigger and got hair it is now not noticeable but as PP days when she's wet I can see it's still there.
Link to the pillow here

www.johnlewis.com/theraline-baby-pillow/p231220357

I really appreciate you all sharing your stories with me....

He is under the hospital, because it's affected his head circumference measurements as well. He's 3 months but his head is not where it should be as well as being diagnosed with this.

I feel stressed because they have done some genetic tests on him but it will take 6-8 weeks for the results, I also worry about people bullying him, family members point it out to me quite a bit not being horrible on purpose but it is noticeable. I've just ordered him a pillow but obviously I will supervise when he uses it.

He's a really good sleeper which is great but he sleeps for a solid 12 hours on that one side, I keep trying to move it while he's sleeping as I've been advised to do it but he moves it straight back. I know he can turn to the other-side because I've tested it with the tv being on.

I just want to make sure I am doing everything I can to improve it or stop it

Xx

My son had mild plagiocephaly along with a whole load of other problems but it went away on its own without treatment.