Severe plagiocephaly baby

[10AngelO]

Hi all, I’m after some advice and/or reassurance. My 10 week old has severe plagiocephaly, or flattening of the back of the head. It seems to noticeable almost overnight at 7 weeks. He does favour sleeping on his back at night, we have tried turning his head but most of the time he turns it right back. We try and keep him off his head as much as possible during the day, plenty of tummy time, using the carrier instead of the pram. He has a special pressure pillow for the bouncer and changing mat. No matter what we do nothing seems to help, and I have never seen a baby in person with flattening like this. It’s got to the point where I hate taking him out without a hat for fear of judgy looks and comments. I’m a FTM and people seem to think I just leave him on his back all day which is not the case. It’s making me so upset and stressed , I am obsessing over it. The suction cup was used at birth so he came out with a slight cone head, which I’ve heard could play a part. Some people have said when he is mobile and sitting up it will even out, but it’s so flat I can’t imagine it happening. The hv didn’t seem worried at all. And the gp was useless, just told us to keep repositioning. I don’t have the money for a helmet and I’ve heard they are a waste anyway. I’m praying time will sort it out as he keeps growing. Has anyone been in the same boat? Did the flattening get better naturally over time, if so, when? Any help or advice appreciated. Thank you! Photos attached

My DD had this. Fobbed off by medics I'm sure because I had PND and had me down as a worrier.

We went to Harley Street as the NHS wouldn't help. DD started with the helmet at 10 months. Her asymmetry started high and ended at 0.3. Her brother was 0.2 so an excellent result. I suspect she also had undiagnosed torticullis.

The problem is for some babies it will sort itself out, for others it won't. It's really an impossible dilemma.

Any questions, feel free to PM me.

But get his asymmetry measured. That is crucial.

We went for the helmet and it was absolutely not a waste. Had to travel for visits fortnightly to have it adjusted but my son wore it from 7-14 months old and it gave him a symmetrical shape where he had been very flat and lopsided. Yes, they may get less flat over time but I wasn't prepared to take that chance. I'll find before and after photos as child is now pre-teen.

I think you can see the changes here, bottom right after his helmet treatment.

One of my twins had severe plagiocephaly. I had midwives, Dr's and people who think they know it all tell you it'll correct itself, helmets are just for the rich parents etc. I went with my gut and got her the helmet and it made a massive difference. I would highly recommend it. If its severe, it will not correct itself. Good luck

Helmets are definitely not a waste from my experience. My friends little boy and one and really shaped his head perfectly.

My kids both had way worse plagiocephaly than that, and really asymmetrically as well. They both have normal shaped heads now. There is no evidence for the use of helmets. Try not to worry, it will sort itself out. You don't see classrooms full of wonky shaped heads!

This is naive in the extreme as well as dangerous.

I am not the only poster who can PROVE there is evidence for the helmet. My DD improved so much not only was she like her brother the doctor wrote a paper on her.

The reason you don't see a classroom full of kids with wonky heads 🙄is because of a myriad of reasons. The kids where it sorted itself out did not have the issues the kids where it didn't, had/ have. Your child was fortunate.

We also went for a helmet , privately, as the NHS says it’ll sort itself out. The problem is you can only see that at a later stage and by then it’s too late if it hasn’t sort itself out. My dds head was flattened quite a bit to the side and we didn’t want to take the risk.
It improved very quickly with the helmet and am glad we took that decision - she’s now 15 btw 😄

@BirthdayRainbow how on earth is it dangerous?? Even if you end up with a slightly asymmetrical head there is nothing dangerous about it! Your comment literally makes no sense - you don't see classes full of wonky headed children because as they grow their head shape will return to normal!

www.bmj.com/content/348/bmj.g2741

Systematic review published in reputable medical journal.

If your child doesn't have this sorted and they need glasses it is much harder to get them fitted. Jaw issues are also a potential problem.

SOME kids will work itself out.

I for one wasn't going to take that chance. For us a helmet was necessary and the right decision.

This.
if course you see “ dramatic improvement “ with a helmet. Natural resolution is also pretty dramatic once kids get up and mobile.

@BirthdayRainbow you'll never know! Evidence would suggest that the outcome would have been the same with or without a helmet. Clearly, having paid for one, you are going to insist that without it your child's head would have stayed a funny shape!

Before a helmet try cranial osteopathy with a paediatric specialist. They will get the skull plates back where they should be. I assume it was a long birth if needed suction to get him out?

I do know and you know what? I don't care what you think. My child is fine and I know I did everything I could. She was TEN months when she started with the helmet. It was never going to sort itself out as it wasn't flat head because I'm a baby lying on my back.

And actually, if it was a waste of time I would say.

I took her for some unrelated treatment and that was a waste of time. He was clearly a crank.

The helmet doctor was not.

Funny shape? Bloody hell.

Your baby is very cute OP 😍

My cousins baby had similar, but not just flat but also bulged out on 1 side. My cousin is very petite, maybe a size 6, it was her 1st baby and he was over 9lbs! She had a very long labour and ended up with forceps and ventouse. He was a cone/wonky head at birth. He had other health issues and was told it would fix itself. He is 10 now and still has a wonky head. I'm not saying a helmet would have corrected it, but in his case, it did not naturally fix itself.

I worked with a man who had the flattest head I've ever seen. TBH- I didn't noticed though till we all went to the pub, and his 'trick' was to balance pints on it!

Have you asked for a paediatrician referral from your GP so it can be measured properly? I don't know the criteria for referral, but would be worth asking.

I second cranial osteopathy with an osteo that specialises in infants.

My son was also ventouse and had torticollis so favoured one side and ended up with a real flat head.

The osteo sorted his tension out in one session (Altho we had two in total). Once he was comfortable doing tummy time, which he wasn't before the torticollis was fixed, his head shape started returning to normal.

I wasn't going to pay the prices for the helmets when they're not always necessary.

we had this a little with DS - I was worried but not the extent of involving a Dr (DH is one and was a bit 'meh'). However I got a baby beanbag with body strap and put him in front of the tv with the snooker on - boring as hell for me but lovely bright moving colours for him. Put the bean bag whatever orientation makes him turn his head to watch (away from the flat bit) and it worked! He started sleeping not always on the flat bit and his head is fine now

should have said, he was always lying in the same position ie on the flat bit as it was clearly more comfy. Even a baby pillow did not help and it was getting worse, hence beanbag...

Both of my DS had the same issue. I was told my first DS would rectify itself and it didn't. My second DS had a helmet and we had a great result. My first DS struggles with baseball caps, glasses, has jawline issues and hates his head shape as it's wide and flat. His forehead also protrudes.

My son had this when he was tiny. His was mild though. The paediatrician monitored him and it resolved itself by the time he was about 3 months old.

I think pretty much all small babies have flat heads?! Mine both did and I remember whenever I was concerned about it I would look around baby groups and everyone else's baby did too! DC2 was worse than DC1, we didn't do anything and he's now 2.5 and seems to have a perfectly ordinary shaped head!

I should have said also, both my kids were born via ventouse. The coning affect from that disappears within a few days and isn't related.

Samw for my son. It's fine now he is 17, no treatment at all