Torticollis in baby - anyone been through this?

[Cakehead]

My baby was breech and born with torticollis of the left hand side. She crooks her neck to the right and can't turn to the left. She's now 7 weeks old and we've been given exercises by a physio to help her, but aren't seeing any real improvement. SHe's also been having cranial osteopathy but with little effect.

I took LO to the doctor today to see what he thought, but he said he hadn't any real experience of torticollis in babies and has bounced me back to my very helpful health visitor, but she doesn't really know much about it either.

Just dying to hear from someone who's been through this and seen improvement. I feel a real meaning doing these exercises, which are clearly causing LO a great deal of discomfort - having to force her head the wrong way.

Go on to the plagiocephaly website via yahoo! and you can get exercises to do. You need to do something about or your child could develope plagio. Good luck.

My son had this as a baby and looked very woeful with his head to one side and just moving his eyes to see. We were given exercises to do at home and I was told that the one exercise that would most help him was to play 'aeroplanes' with him on his side and me holding him up in the air and gradually move my hand down to allow his head to drop slightly down more and more each time. He also had physio and I was told to turn him in the night in his sleep to shift his position otherwise he tended to stay in a fixed position all night. Not easy but the problem sorted and his was an extreme case apparently.

Thanks for that. I've wondered whether I should be repositioning her head at night - she's easiest to move then, as there seems to be no resistances to me stretching her neck round. How did you keep his head in the right place? Was thinking of rolling up an air blanket or something like that.

The baby I childmind had a torticollis and a degree of plagiocephaly. I had to do exercises with her and pay attention to positioning.

I also reccommended that the parents take her for cranial osteopathy, they did and it has helped enormously. In her mothers words- she was born with her face on the side of her head" she is lovely now!

Please make sure they check your baby's hips regularly as there is a link between torticollis and congenital hip dysplasia. I alerted the parents to a concern I had, and baby is now in a hip spica plaster cast as both hips, despite being checked by the physio, were dislocated. Take note and be alert to your concerns particularly as your baby was breech, this baby was for a while, and she is what is known as a 'moulded baby' because of her positioning in the womb.

I will be looking after her when she is in the cast, tomorrow in fact, to give mum and dad a day together as the op was quite traumatic and emotionally draining.

Your baby will be fine, it will take a little time. thinking of you.

We had to use positioning & physio for ds2. Once we had re positioned his head I rolled flannels & placed them under the cot/pram sheet like little bolster cushions, this stopped his head flopping back in to the wrong position.