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

Go and see a cranial osteopath. They are very gentle but work magic.

DS1 had exactly this. It was very noticeable until.he was about 6. It them righted itself. He's now 27 and has no trace of it whatsoever.

When he was little there was no Internet etc so I didn't know about helmets. I just trusted in the fact that you really didn't see adults with it, so I presumed it would sort itself out.

Same here - advice from our paediatric physio was that the helmet evidence was limited, we could do it privately if we wanted but she didn’t think it was necessary.

DC is 20 now and whilst they don’t have a perfectly spherical head you wouldn’t know they’d had plagiocephaly (and it had looked like a parallelogram from above at 8 weeks old).

I second cranial osteopath.

Everyone needs to realise that there will always be results in both scenarios.

People who smoked 90 a day and didn't get cancer, someone who never smoked or lightly and did.

Babies who wore a helmet and it helped.

Babies who didn't wear one and their head sorted itself out. That was not true plagiocephaly.

There is no way of knowing. A baby with a flat ear, or helmet, head rounded out, they were lucky. It does not mean those of us that used a helmet were wrong. It means our babies had an actual medical condition.

Babies who didn't wear one and their head sorted itself out. That was not true plagiocephaly.

It was, as diagnosed by the hospital paediatrician, but you tell yourself otherwise.

Flat head *

That's rude.

I am giving my opinion based on experience. If I'm wrong then fine but don't dismiss my experience.

Go private, get a helmet. The earlier you get one, the better the outcome will be. My son got one and his head looks so much better.

Are you London based? I can give you a referral.

But you dismissed my experience?

You said: Babies who didn't wear one and their head sorted itself out. That was not true plagiocephaly.

And I’m saying in my child’s case you are wrong. Pointing out that you’re wrong is being truthful, not rude.

you are talking shite🙄
waste your money on a helmet if you want….or wait and it will self resolve

@Kitkat1523 I said in a previous post it didn't resolve for my DS. It doesn't always resolve itself!!

I have heard good things about the perfect noggin, which you can put baby to sleep on until they start rolling:

https://www.theperfectnoggin.co.uk/

might help until you get a helmet or in lieu of one?

For PPs saying that their DC’s plagiocephaly was cured by wearing helmets…how do you know the helmet wasn’t a confounder and the real cure was time?

The anti-helmet thing is very English, helmet treatment for flat head is pretty standard in the US. Lots of pediatricians will recommend it. It was a bit of a shocker here that they’re so rare.

I couldn't take the risk again. My DS was severe and there was no way or would have resolved itself.

Same, we had so much other shit going catastrophically wrong I wasn’t going to risk it.

Have a look at "the noggin doctors plagiocephaly & torticollis parent discussion board" group on Facebook. Lots of helpful advice on there.

I disagree. I don’t think the UK is more ‘anti helmet’ than a lot of other places in the world, including most of Europe.

Id say the pro helmet view is unusually predominant in the States. Like a lot of other things that come hand in hand with private health care.

You can’t PROVE anything from that though. Maybe things would have improved just as much without the helmet.

There is no evidence that helmet therapy works and I'm not sure why some people believe that there's some sort of conspiracy involving multiple health professions to prevent children getting an effective treatment.

ebi.aomrc.org.uk/interventions/helmet-therapy-for-treatment-of-positional-plagiocephaly-brachycephaly-in-children/

It's a randomised controlled trial but yes, it does show there is no point.

My DS had torticollis and his head was very asymmetrical - flat on one side at the back.
I was worried at the side, but was assured by doctors that it would sort itself by the time he started school. It didn't, and he has quite fine hair so it was noticeable. However, he is now 12 and has a beautiful shaped head. No problems at all. It was resolved by the time he was around 8 years old. The only problem we ever had was getting a helmet to fit when he was scooting/cycling.

That would be because in US medicine you get as much money as possible and in the UK you look at the actual science.

Apologies @drspouse, the one I'd looked at just before was a systematic review..which also shows no benefit! Linked the wrong paper.