DS's head seems mis-shapen, is this normal?

[kekouan]

My 6 week old DS always lies with his head to the right (never really looks to the left) and because of this his head is starting to look really lopsided. Is this normal?

Do I need to worry about this, or is it perfectly normal? I don't want to look a fool at the doctors asking daft questions.

My ds2 has a very flat head at the back. When he was about 8 weeks we noticed it was flat and mentioned it to paediatrician (had a checkup appt as was very poorly at 8 days old). He felt his head and said that one of the plates had fused prematurely - nothing to do or worry about. Rather alarmed now looking at these posts! He seems fine now although his head is very flat on one side at the back. It is noticeable if his hair is short, so he is growing it long at the moment.

You really need someone who knows all about plagiocepahly which is generally not your average GP/Paediatrician.

Don't know if you fancy investing in a new mattress sleepcurve, but my ds now 7 months has had one since birth and has a lovely shaped head with no flat spots even though he has a rubbed patch with no hair. If you look in the piccies on my profile there is one of ds's head, which shows the shape well.

Thanks for all the replies.

I've been trying to reposition him, but he keeps wriggling back on to the flat side. Even if I put him on his side with a blanket rolled up to support his back, he somehow manages to get on his back, onto the flat side. grrr.

Does anybody know about the neck support pillows? Are they a good idea, or can they put strain on the back?

I was thinking about putting a wedge under his mattress to slope it slightly and encourage his head to turn to the left - is this effective?

NAB3 - thanks for all the info, don't worry - I get how important this is and wont let my GP fob me off, but you are scaring me a little

Oh, how do you pronounce these words please, so I actually look like I know what I'm talking about, when I go to the doctor...

A wedge under the mattress would be good; I have heard lots of feedback that that works. Or you could look into getting a Sleepcurve mattress

A neck support pillow - as in the ones that go round the neck - would be great for the daytime - in pushchairs, car seats and so on.

Pronounciations:

torticollis - tort-i-coll-is

plagiocephaly - play-gee-oh-keff-a-lee

I don't mean to scare you but this does need to be sorted out.

A lot of people whose babies had flat heads were only flat because the baby laid on that position and they were always going to round out once the baby started to sit.

With true pla-gio-seff-aly it won't round out on its own.

Wow, the sleepcurve mattresses are expensive... :-/

OK, will try the wedge thing and look into a neck support for his bouncy chair. Been making sure I'm holding him without putting any pressure on the flat bit as well... now all I've got to do is remind my partner to do the same.

Cheaper than a helmet, I'm sure.

Yes, a lot cheaper.

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www.goigoibabypillows.co.uk/

Ordered one today, along with a neck support.

Don't worry - even if the doctors completely fob me off, I'll get it sorted out. He's only 6 weeks old, so caught it in plenty of time.

Message withdrawn

The goigoi was great at preventing any further flattening, but didn't correct the plagio for us. Of course, that was only used in the times she was awake and lying down.
Babywearing/sling is great to keep baby upright and prevent any further flattening.
Make sure your GP checks for the torticollis though, and do the exercises, otherwise repositioning won't work.

Thanks - tried loads of repositioning techniques and his head always seems to spring back to the right side... I'm pretty sure he has torticollis, or at least stiff muscles, because I can't turn his head to the left all the way. I'll insist I get seen by the physio - if the GP refuses to refer me, I'll just go down to the office myself

The physio exercises were given to us by GP- we didn't actually see a physio- and that sorted out her torticolis

Hello
Just to add to other's stories/points:
dd had mild torticollis, not diagnosed until 6 mths, and also ended up with a helmet. Tbh, she was probably borderline, and I suspect would have sorted herself out enough without a helmet, & at 6 weeks, your lo head will still be super-maleable, so if you can work on the torticollis/repositioning, you have a really good chance of avoiding helmet treatment, I'd have thought. Don't know if anyone has said, but helmets are not available on NHS, except in a few areas/for very severe cases, & are expensive, so worth avoiding if you can!

I have a sleepcurve in the attic, that dd only slept on for about a week (she hated it!), if you want it?

in a bid to get a bit more advice...

DS's head has got worse, the HV has fobbed me off completely, and I don't know where to go from here - does anybody have any advice about getting a referral to the paed or the orthopods?

Please?

I got our referral through my GP, not my hv, maybe you could try them instead?

I've got an appt with my GP.. taking along DP for support.... will not leave that room without some kind of referral.

Had to apologise to my little DS when I got home today.. I feel so bad for not being able to do anything about this. Keep picturing him as a teenager with a flattened head, shouting at me for not doing something about it when i could... argh.