Does my baby look like she has a flat head?

[ThisMellowEagle]

I’m worried that my baby has a flat head but my family think it just looks like she does because her hair is light on the top, bald in the middle and dark at the bottom so they think it’s just an illusion. What do you think? She is almost 16 weeks.

It does look a little flat. More tummy time!

Possibly slightly but it's not a big deal. It evens out when they learn to sit and crawl in a couple of months and don't spend so much time on their backs.

Just keep up the tummy time and don't stress about it!

@CommissarySushi @PurpleChrayn Thank you both, I feel so guilty about it. I didn’t know that flat heads were even a thing until she was about a month old so she spent a lot of that first month on her back, in bouncers etc 😞 I think I need to look for some new ideas for tummy time so that she doesn’t get so fed up as I’m so worried about it worsening. I try to take her on walks in her carrier too as I’ve head that helps.

Really don't worry or feel guilty! It's barely noticeable and not any kind of permanent "damage".

One trick we did, was to roll them onto their stomach after every nappy change! Really makes the tummy time minutes add up. Maybe only works if you do all your nappy changes on the floor like we do.

They can also do tummy time in the pram, if you have the bassinet attachment!

Thank you, I am trying to stop beating myself up about it. We do change her on the floor so that’s a fab idea! She’s so long that she’s already outgrown her pram bassinet else that would have been great too!

Lying on your chest whilst you're sitting back is great, and she'll love it as it's cuddles and interaction. Mine all hated being on their tummies. However, tummy time wasn't a thing when mine were small as sleeping position advice has changed since then.

Yes it’s a little flat but how could it not be when babies are meant to sleep on their backs?! My daughter’s was flat and I bought this heart shaped cushion which was amazing. We were doing more tummy time than any of my “round head” mums 😂 so it’s just luck of the draw. I got mine from Jojo.

Not an expert but we would try to do sleep, tummy time, feed on rotation. Occasional dancing fruit on YouTube entertains well. Also you can make a simple tummy time board with cardboard covered in tin foil and some black and white images stuck on, or just a simple black and white baby book.
head looks a bit flat but nothing to worry about in my opinion. Just get baby on their tummy a bit more.

My DS had a flat part on one side, it was so hard as every time I'd put him in a different position he would want to gravitate to it. He's 14 now, hard to tell if he's okay with his hair but his head looks pretty ok now

I have a 16 week old with a flat spot due to her position before she was born. I have been repositioning her so that she doesn't lie on it from very early on, but this is difficult. I have worried about it and done extensive reading online to understand what is best to do. I even considered shelling out thousands on a helmet.

However, my mind was put at ease by a consultant paediatrician who says that young babies of this age come with all manner of misshapen heads. It is exceptionally common. Helmets are not shown to solve the problem. She told me not to worry and it would sort itself out as the baby gets older. She has two young children herself which adds to my faith in her advice. I wanted to pass on to you to put your mind at ease.

Please don’t feel guilty. Get some support from your HV or family hub if you have one locally. Tummy time is receiving some concern as the infant might not have the muscles to engage in that position for lengthy periods of time on specifically designed resources and as infants become more mobile their heads even out and muscle tone aligns with natural development.
We have so much pressure on us as parents and specifically mums, be kind to yourself.

Just to add, my oldest baby was born with a real pointed cone head due to ventouse delivery and a looooong labour. By a few months old he had a perfectly round bonce! Tummy time was not a thing 26 years ago (or not so prevalent advice as today!)

A bit flat - but not the worst out there by a long way! Keep going with regular tummy time & they will be rolling over before you know it - then will sleep however you find them as they move so much in the night once they can do it.

Honestly by the time your baby is 6 months old you'll look back and wonder why you got so upset about it. As a previous poster said babies heads round out by 6 months or so. As long as your baby feeds, is happy, curious and sleeps you have nothing to worry about.

There just seems to be something for mums to worry about all the time - never said anything to us 30 years ago. My friend had a baby that his mum nicknamed ET as he had such a long head after a forceps delivery. She never did anything and it just naturally resolved. I am sure my daughter had a bit of a flat head at the back for a while but I didn’t know I was supposed to worry about it! Lovely baby btw

@Saltysnack2003 Thank you, I really appreciate this! It’s nice to hear from someone with a baby of the same age too 😊

@LaLaLoca funnily enough, I’m actually 26 and my mum said the exact same thing to me about tummy time not being a thing when I was a baby and my head is fine. I do still worry though 😂

@Wimin123 Thank you. I completely agree, I think that there’s a lot of things around to scare new mums and it’s hard to tell which to really worry about. My mum has told me that if she had any concerns with us when we were babies then she would just ask the health visitor at the weekly weight clinic but the last time I saw the health visitor was when my baby was 2 weeks old, I had a phone call check up at 6 weeks and then they said I won’t hear from them again until she’s a year old! I do have a number that I can text but it’s not the same as speaking to someone in person so it makes things like this tricky.

Thank you so much to everyone for the advice and kind words 😊