Flat head

[Malsmum]

Hi, can anyone help? I have a 4 month old who has a flat head on one side. I have seen a paediatricain who has confimred that it is positional and will correct itself as he starts to sit up more. I want to do what I can to help it improve, which is fine in the day as I can prop him up in ways to make sure that he's not resting on the flat bit . The problem is at night when however I position his head, he always ends up on the flat part. Has anyone got any ideas / found any useful solutions to this??

My nephew has this. He has seen a specialist who reckons it will sort itself out when he is more mobile.

Can't remember where but I heard or read that putting a hand towel under the flat side of the head when they are lying down helps to even out the pressure on the back of the head iyswim.

Also to encourage tummy time I think as this will help to strengthen the muscles in the neck.

You can actually buy a special type of pillow which'll help,but like QE2 has said once your ds is more mobile it won't be so flat.
Our ds also had a very flat head as he fractured his skull when he was just 3 weeks old.
Thankfully,now he's nearly 8 months old and on his tummy much of the time,it's not so flat which has been a huge worry for us.
I would personally wait a few more months and if you're still concerned then speak to your GP,but we have found the last couple of months have really changed the shape of his head and it certainly doesn't look strange anymore.

Hi,
I swaddled my dts then put muslins to the sides of their heads to try to encourage them away from the flat spots. It is difficult to stop them at such a young age, but they do usually grow out of it as they get more mobile. From about 6 months my boys started front sleeping and their heads are roundign out gradually now. One is barely noticeable, thought the other had it worse, so still needs time.

my dd had a 2 very flat parts towards the back of the head as she was lying in icu for five weeks and even when they repositioned her her head would have to stay a certain way for the ventilator. they became very sore as well. she's now 20 months old and i can't see where the flat parts were even when her hair is wet! try not to worry we were told that it happens all the time and it will correct itself over time and especially once they're moving. we always lay dd in the normal position in her cotbed and let her choose which way she wanted her head to face.

Thank you all - makes me feel much better about it just sorting itself out!

not wishing to alarm anyone here but it doesn't always sort itself out

No startlover, it doesn't always sort it self out. My DS still has severe plagiocephaly at 4 years old and our only option now is surgery.

DS was late to reach motor milestones - sat unaided at 12 months, crawled at 16 months, walked at 18 months and was dx'd with autism at 3.5 years, so this may be why his head didn't round out very much.

Repositioning should help but some parents are choosing to 'helmet' or 'band' babies with plagio. The treatment is usually only available privately and costs around £2000. PlagioUK is a really good source of info on the treatment/prevention of plagiocephaly.

Obviously, if we could go back to when DS was a baby we would have chosen to start helmet therapy straight away as he was born with plagio. Having said that I've seen plenty of friends baby's develop flat spots and asymmetry which resolves soon after the baby becomes mobile. I did read a report recently that indicated that babies with brachycephaly (flat at back of head often from the neck to the crown) are less likely to experience rounding from repositioning alone.

HTH a bit.

If you do a search on 'flat head' and 'ChicPea' you will see where I have posted on previous threads. Sorry, but I can't do links yet. My DS had a helmet from Dr Chris Blecher and we were delighted. Unfortunately it went on at 9mths which is late as we listened to 'professionals' who said it would sort itself out. It doesn't. It occurs in babies who are placid and do not move around much not because there is anything wrong with them but because they are happy in that position and the flatter the head becomes, the more they continue to lie in that position. You can also search 'Chris Blecher' to find the previous threads as this is the doctor we used. Don't delay if you are really worried. This is the best time to correct a baby's head.