How severe is this plagiocephaly?

[Tortycolies]

Hey all. My baby is now 3 months old and his head is completely flat on the left side. He always sleeps/leans on it, pretty sure it’s being caused by torticollis.

Our GP had a look and said it wasn’t his area of expertise, so we’re on the waitlist for a paediatrician but it’s already been a month now…

My first question is - is this a moderate or severe case? Second, any tips on special sleeping pillows that might help, or any other tools? Despite my best efforts (I’m doing the NHS physio exercises and turning his head manually) he goes straight back to leaning on his left. It’s making me lose sleep I’m so worried :(

Hi there
I'm not able to comment on how severe it is but I recently went to the GP because of the shape of the head of one of our 7-week old twins.

My concern was that her face was very long and thin, the head oblong front to back which looks like sagittal craniosynostosis, ie premature fusion of the bone plates of the skull.

The doctor we saw reassured me the shape of the babies in the first year will keep changing and there's nothing to worry about especially before they've learnt how to keep their head up. Until then, the heads will likely look and be misshapen because of sleeping a lot on their preferred side and that's 'normal'.

I'd say if your GP was really concerned, the referral would have come through by now. But it's most probably normal, as in, not permanent, so hopefully nothing to worry about really and it will get better as he starts holding his head up and spending less time just lying down 😏

My son had a bad flat head, we got fobbed off mostly saying it would sort itself. It got worse and the main worry for us was when you looked from above his ear was being pushed forward so one was further forward and his forehead was starting to bulge the one side. I spent ages reading about helmets but we bought a sleep curve mattress to try first and it made it a lot better. I can still notice a bit of a bulge sometimes on his forehead but it's not really noticeable.

Have you considered an osteopath? My daughter had torticollis (believed to have come from her tongue tie) and I found the osteopath really helpful and reassuring. Often DD would prefer to lie on the worse side and she encouraged me to do things like put her to bed upside down (as in head where feet usually go) as she liked to look into the room and it encouraged her to use the better side more. And the usual lots of tummy time. I read a book called The Flat Head Syndrome Fix which is written by an Occupational Therapist too which I found helpful.

Yes, i agree with this. DD2 has been seeing an osteopath as she had a one sided preference due to tongue tie and they have been great (although i find the whole process extremely strange as to how such gentle movements can make such a big difference!) Definitely worth trying whilst you wait for your referral.

Another vote for osteopathy. Works wonders

Same, we went to an osteopath for a few sessions and it sorted it

Don't do an osteopath for torticollis, you want a peadeatric physio because they are a protected discipline. My ds had the same thing, our physio gave us exercises for his neck and that sorted it out. Also lots of sling time and we did get a donut pillow for daytime naps when I was in the room with him.

One of the things they look at is how much it is affecting the baby’s face. When you look down from above is his forehead pushed forward on one side? Are his ears ending up unequal when you look from the front?

In the USA, that baby would be in a helmet lickety-split.

My DC was similar. No torticollis - just preferred one side. Her head was really mishhapen and her eye and ear were misaligned.

I did a lot of research and at the time there wasn't much evidence that a helmet was necessary or effective, so I opted for "agressive repositioning" which is basically as soon as they can hold themselves up, do whatever you can to keep them off that side of the head: tummy time, bouncer, bumbo, high chair, muslin under the shoulder in pram etc. Thankfully for DC, it sorted itself out and by 12 months you would never have known there had ever been an issue.

Try not to worry.

I agree, it's shocking that so many babies are left with such randomly shaped heads in the uk when other countries take it seriously. The NHS is broken and I fear for the future

Op I didn't any offence to your beautiful baby, I simply meant that we are fobbed off and it should be treated. You could go down the path of private to get this addressed?

@WitchyBits I don't think helmets are proven to actually do much.

You should tell that to the other countries that routinely use them. They used to be used in this country! But then we got the brexit/austerity cure.

A close friend of mine in the USA had her little boy in one and that gorgeous little chunk went from having a head like an adorable wonky Lidl potato to being perfectly normal in 9 months.

I would say it looks on the severe side. I took DD to Align clinic when she was 10 weeks as I had concerns. Hers was milder but we have improved it significantly with repositioning.

I also bought the baby love pillow for supervised sleeping and the perfect noggin for sleeping which has helped no end.

The Align clinic measurement and advice appointment was free you only paid if you had the helmet. We have decided against this as she is back in normal range for plagiocephaly now.

Keep him off the back of his head as much as possible. Use the sling / carrier instead of the pram. I bought a bumbo as well when she was around 4 months so no pressure on back of head when sitting. Happy for you to message if you have an questions x

The research suggests that your friend’s child’s head would have evened out anyway over nine months, helmet or none.

Thanks everyone for your lovely responses. Weeping as I read them, it’s so horrid when people downplay these issues and make you wonder if you’re being paranoid. The GP said he couldn’t even really see it but would refer on my request. My first born had a perfectly round head from day one so I bloody well know when something isn’t right!

Have called a local osteo (but noted the comment about trying a physio too, have an enquiry out with one of those as well!), and have ordered a curved mattress to prop him on his right side for naps that I can supervise. Bumbo chair is now down from loft. Otherwise will keep doing the exercises and monitor closely while (hopefully) being seen by a professional in the meantime!

Colour me sceptical (or unobservant) but I simply don't think if you look around classrooms of children you end up thinking "wow, Britain is full of wonky heads!". It's definitely not a Brexit/austerity thing, the guidelines saying helmets aren't effective have been around for ages (whether you believe them or not).

Don't use a bumbo fgs they are terrible for hip dysplasia

As in they can cause it? My child doesn’t have hip issues currently.