Babies head at 4 months

[pmoore]

My LO is 15 weeks and I'm a bit worried that she has got a flat head one side. It is the side that she sleeps on, watches her cot toy on and when I breast fed her- preference was that way for both breasts. When we sit her up she holds her head on that side too. I wouldn't have been worried but people are now commenting. When will she hold her neck and head straight? Should I be worried?

dd started showing flat head at about 14-15 weeks and i worried to death. she is 21m now, still shows little mishape, we saw gp and consultant at hospital, all said it should be when she grow older(fnger crossed) i know your feeling i used to cry, i tried everything i can. btw, dd was breech at birth and dr said she may have been breech while, and baby has less space when upright therefore she get used to oneside and etc... if seriously worried you can get helmet fitted but its over 2000 pounds and need to be changed every so often.i also heard, its due to having tarvel system, where newborn spends more time without disturbing. im due soon again, and its going to be big issue to me,too.
plz try not too worry, i used to cry and shout at dh for not being understanding, also try recommended mattress i think its sleepcurve sells at toysrus. supposed to be good and shaped for newborn head.
hth,
diva

I wouldn't notice it was a problem only because someone commented. I wondered if it was where her bones were still so soft.

i never had ppl commented, but it was very obvious to me, she had lots of hair, therefore ppl may not noticed. every night we had bath and it looked bad to me. honestly try sleepcurve mattress. these days we are told not to put babies facing down or side way, so we have no choice really. they never look straight up. so most kids ended up with misshaped head.
i remember posting here, and lots of ppl said they had the same problem and when they kids are over 5 they dont seem to see any misshape in their head, so lets hope our lo`s will be fine,too

If you become worried about it, and it continues flat even after she starts spending a lot of time sitting up (ie 7-8 months of age onwards), go to your GP and and ask to be referred. Do not take no for an answer! Especially if the mis-shapenness gets worse.

There is a condition which can cause problems if left untreated, and a former acquaintance of mine, who is a NICU nurse, had to fight for months to get any medical professional to take it seriously. It turned out that her son had prematurely fused skull bones on one side of his head (new babies' heads are made up fairly mobile plates joined together with tough rubbery stuff- it allows for brain growth; if they fuse early, the brain grows any way it can- ie into the places with no fused plates) and needed an operation.

Having said this, many babies have a slightly flattened head on one side, but if you notice it getting worse, do access the medical profession (repeatedly if you have to).

It sounds like your little one could have positional plagiocephaly. My son had it and needed a helmet to correct it. There's a good support website at groups.msn.com/PlagioUK

You can get more info there, and there are some tips about something called repositioning, where you minimise the amount of time the baby spends resting on the flat spot. If you do this dilligently, you can avoid the head getting worse, and it could also improve gradually over time.

Also, there's a condition called torticollis, essentially a tight neck muscle, that means a baby can have trouble looking one way. This can make plagiocephaly worse, but it can be sorted out with physiotherapy - ask you GP or HV for a referral to a paediatric physio.