Flat head

[Mumofgirl1]

Hi,

Has anyone had any luck with the babymoov plus pillows and repositioning, tummy time to treat flat head?

My friends baby had flathead. She swapped to baby wearing during the day instead of the moses basket and baby chair in hopes that baby wouldn't have to wear the funny hat thing the health visitor mentioned. Her little girl looks perfectly normal now. I can't remember how long it took to get better though...

@Mysa74 thank-you do you mean a sling? I was thinking of getting a sling for during the day. I really hoping with lots of work it will rectify itself. I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow to get it looked but I think it’s to do with the way she was born and the muscles in her neck. My hv is due on Tuesday but I know she will just advise tummy time I’ve been doing this but my little one hates it and will scream blue murder.

I've noticed my little one started to get a flat area on the right side of his head at about 2 weeks old. We tried to re position his head during sleeping with a little success but always found he went back to his preferred side.
It did seem to make a bit of a difference but then we got a bit lax and it seems to be getting more noticeable now and more difficult to turn his head.
He's 9 weeks old now. I don't think he has right muscles as when he's really asleep he lays on us all the way over to the side but when in his crib his head always seems to be on an angle and never had either ear flat to the mattress if that makes sense.
I've been looking at the babymoov plus too as really don't know what else to try and don't want him to need a helmet.
When we saw the GP at 8 weeks she had no concerns although didn't really look fully

*tight not right

@MrsA2019 I’ve been doing repositioning with her but like your little one she always go back to her left side. I’m trying to keep her off her back as much as possible.I did wonder if she had tight muscle in one side of her neck and maybe this is what causing it, I’m going to discuss this with my GP tomorrow. I also don’t really want her to wear a helmet. I’ve been looking at the babymoov plus pillows now and they do have good reviews. Like you I just don’t know what else to do and I’m worried it won’t round out.

Let us know how you get on with your GP.
There is an osteopath in our town and I'm about to email them to see if it's anything they can help with. I feel if he's able to lay his head completely over to one side or the other it will help as he's on such an angle when he lays on his right that the flatness is at the back and to the right.
I also think it's affecting his sleep, only going about 2 hours between feeds at night and he's constantly moving his head like he's not comfy and I feel this prevents him getting into a keep sleep. Presumably because his head is on an angle and not flat and fully supported by the mattress.

@MrsA2019 yeah I will do I’m not holding up much hope with them I did email an osteopath yesterday to see if they could help with it I’ve not had a reply yet but it is the weekend so hopefully I’ll have something back tomorrow. Could you let me know what yours says please.I scored the internet for varies options and worried myself sick with everything that I’ve come across. I really don’t want her in a helmet. She sleeps well
But does prefer one side. I’m abit mad to be honest as I mention to my hv on her first appointment that she Always lay on her left side, she just brushed it off and side babies do tend to prefer one side. Im first time mum and live away from my family and friends so just went with what she was saying i wish I’d of pushed abit harder now.

Truly, the helmet is not at all bad, and makes a huge difference. We were more stressed than our child at the wearing of one! Ask your GP if your baby has torticolis (tight neck muscle on one side, pulling head the other way and helping to cause asymmetric flattening called plagiocephaly). Go to an osteopath specialising in paediatric cranial osteopathy. Anything you can do in first 8 weeks will make most difference. You could also try Lili kudis pillow, under fitted sheet rather than loose in cot). Good luck!

My DS had torticollis and a flat spot on his head. I found a cranial osteopath which definitely helped, and also just tried to carry him upright as much as possible and tummy time as much as he would tolerate.

@MalteserGeezee I have an appointment with my GP tomorrow and going to mention about tight neck I’d never heard of it before till I started google flat head nor was I aware of flat head there should defiantly be more awareness around this. My little one was a suction baby which makes me wonder if this has anything to do with it. I email an osteopath yesterday over this.

@wintertime6 was the tort d diagnosed by your’ll littles GP? What was the type of treatment the osteopath carried out I’ve never use one before and wonder what they did, did you see a physio aswell? I do think there is some underlying issue with her neck muscle which maybe resulted from the fact she was a suction baby. I’m abit mad with myself because had I of known the favouring one side could be an indication of problems with neck muscle and to look out for this I would of pushed the hv harder when i mentioned to her at her first appointment her preferring one side to the other instead of letting her brush me off

@Mumofgirl1 Mine was a forceps baby and very very overdue, so I definitely think that was the cause, wouldn't surprise me if same with ventouse. GPs we're frankly crap, I found private osteo most useful. It's very very gentle stretching. But NHS physio barely touched my baby and just gave me print out of exercises to do at home. GPs extremely reluctant to discuss helmet, but saw an excellent maxillofacial consultant who said it wouldn't harm, may improve. The Back2Sleep campaign has really increased instances of flat head. Don't be fobbed off on this, be prepared to ask a lot of questions, see specialists etc.

@Mumofgirl1 I only really noticed it about 6 weeks and then asked the GP about it at the initial baby review. She thought it was torticollis and referred us to a paediatrician but it was a couple of months waiting list so I paid to go privately instead. The paediatrician I saw was great and said that the torticollis should have been picked up in the hospital when he was born so he just put us straight into his own NHS clinic.

DS had actually been referred to physio soon after birth because he had positional talipes in one of his feet, and I think that appointment came through around the same time as the torticollis was recognised, so she was very good and gave us some stretching exercises etc to do.

I don't honestly know what the osteopath did!! He applied gentle pressure to different parts of his skull and neck. I guess it was probably a combination of the osteopath, physio, and keeping him off his back when he was awake that helped. He's 3 now and I still notice the flat spot a little bit but it's definitely not as prominent as it was, and other people would probably never notice it.

I had low amniotic fluid in that pregnancy which was known, and they put it all down to that because he probably wasn't able to move about very well in the womb when he got near term.

We used this www.johnlewis.com/theraline-the-baby-pillow/p231220357
It helped but her head was pretty flat on one side to the point where her ears weren’t symmetrical 🙈 she’s 14 months now and you don’t notice it to be honest as she’s got hair, you can feel it but you can’t see it unles you specifically looked for it.

She was a dinky thing that always slept, we got the pillow at about 8 weeks but the damage was done already.

I’ve not thought about it since she was little to be honest!

@MalteserGeezee would you think with instrumental births they should advise of things to look out for like this. My nearest paediatric osteo is 70miles away ( Manchester) I’m over in Lancashire but I don’t mind travelling I’ll do what I can for her if it helps. Is there anything you can recommended that I should ask/say when I speak with my GP about it tomorrow i don’t want to be fobbed off.

I had a prem baby with severe plagocephaly, I cried about ruining his life and now he's at school and no one notices, it's only if you feel his head you notice a bump.

He has no issues with wearing safety helmets.

He is gorgeous and honestly unless you used a ruler to analyse his head you wouldn't know.

There is no scientific evidence behind helmets, they are just out to grab funds from worried parents.

This was the analysis of his head, age two.

DD had a sternocleidomastoid tumour (not as scary as it sounds!) which was basically a muscular lump in her neck. It was probably there when she was born but it took me 4 weeks to spot it. If she was lying on her back she couldn't actually turn her head to one of the sides (now can't remember which!) so had become very flat on the one side she could put her head on.

I got a pillow similar to the one you mention OP. I think it did help but its important to only use them when you will be awake to keep an eye as it goes against SIDs guidelines to use anything like this. I used the cushion for all of DDs naps and when she was in the pram.

At 7 weeks I got jumpy about not having received our NHS referral for physio and paid for a private session with a paediatric physio who got us started on the exercises. The NHS referral came good at about 12 weeks and we had nearly a year of physio from that point.

It was arduous to be honest - exercises that needed doing every day on top of all the other challenges of looking after a baby but it was so so worth it. The lump went and she eventually was able to move her head to the other side and her mishapen head isn't at all obvious. DD is three now.

@FlanBake to be honest I’ve cried about this too just feel awful about. I’ve worried myself sick about when she’s older.

Has your littles rounded out or is it still the same? Did you do anything or purchase anything to stop it getting worse?

You probably need to get this moved op it’s in Q&A

@Sleazeyjet how do I do that Im new to mn

I’ve reported it for you but if you click the report on one of your posts and explain, mumsnet should move it for you x

Good luck I hope things work out for your wee one.

Hi

I think a physio referral would be a good idea. I have seen quite a few cases (I'm not a physio) and there hasn't been one that I have seen which hasn't resolved tbh as the baby's gross motor skills develop. I remember one baby who only breastfed from one breast - until she was over 2 - and her plagiocephaly
whilst severe in the first year, drastically improved by the time she was 2. There were no other health or development worries.

@MrsPatrickDempsey. Thank-you that makes me feel better. I know once she has hair I probably won’t notice it as much. I’ve read so much on the internet about it not correcting itself I got myself into a flap. I feel awful about. I have an appointment this afternoon ( telephone call due to covid) with my GP I’m going to push for a physio to get the neck muscle checked. I’m guess I just want it to right it’s self overnight I know this won’t be the case tho.

We're moving this thread over to our Children's Health topic. Thanks to everyone who's given the OP advice so far.