Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Parenting

For free parenting resources please check out the Early Years Alliance's Family Corner.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5

Original poster

My baby's head is a strange shape and it makes me sad that I notice it

104 replies

Pinkflipflop · 03/03/2013 12:08

I have posted lots on here since my ds arrived over 4 weeks ago but I haven't been able to write about this before.

My ds has a strange shaped head, it almost looks like its oblong at the back, like he has a cyclists helmet on. It's not perfectly round, like I thought all babies heads are.

It makes me feel like I am picking faults with him by even writing this down. I'm not I love him to bits but his head looks funny. We have raised this when he was born, he has been checked out by doctors and they say there is nothing wrong with him, measurements are all fine but it looks funny to me. His head is fine when you look at him from the front but when you see a side profile of him or look at him from the back, there is an oblong shape to the back of his head.

I feel disappointed that his head doesn't look perfect. I feel disappointed with myself for noticing. I'm a teacher, so I'm worried that he will be teased at school. I can't believe I worried about this already as he's only 4 and a bit weeks.

What else can I do? The specialist nurse we took him to when he was a week old, said enjoy him, he's perfect. The said his hair will cover it, or he can wear a hat! So clearly she could see something was unusual.

Sorry, I'm rambling.

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

VisualiseAHorse · 03/03/2013 13:53

Pah, when have you ever known anyone on Mumsnet to be nice??

My LO has a ridge in a triangle shape above his forehead. It's got harder to see as he's got older, but made him look very angry as a small baby. I'll try and find a pic.

ShipwreckedAndComatose · 03/03/2013 13:53

We are not just being nice.

Please trust us as parents who have been exactly where you are now.

Fannyfair...now I am wondering about finding piccies of the cone head!!

strawberrypenguin · 03/03/2013 13:55

Scapocephaly IS sagittal craniosynostosis! Seriously having re-read your OP you could have been describing my DS's head at 4 weeks. Most HV's won't even know the condition exists I've had to educate all mine.
robin the ridge is not the fontanells they are two whole like dips at the front and back of the head. The ridge the op is feeling is where the sagittal line is.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Families General parenting

Lamazeroo · 03/03/2013 13:56

You could take him to a cranial osteopath if you're concerned. A friend of mine had a similar worry about her daughter (everyone else thought she looked just fine) and was delighted that her head shape seemed to change slightly after being treated. Do you know of a good osteopath in your area?

RobinSparkles · 03/03/2013 13:58

Ah, sorry yes - the ridge is further back isn't it? Sorry, I know nothing about heads!

He is gorgeous though PinkFlipFlop and his head looks fine to me :).

strawberrypenguin · 03/03/2013 14:00

I've dug up a photo with a pretty good angle of my DSs head but I can't PM it to you it won't let me copy it. If you want to PM me your email and I'll send it to you. (Don't feel you have to btw you can say no!)

MrsMushroom · 03/03/2013 14:00

Pink he's beautiful. Really gorgeous. When DD2 was smaller...new in fact, I was CONVINCED one eye was smaller than the other;...it possibly was...but it's ok now...they're so new, they sometimes have quirks. Your DS head seems normal to me!

MrsCosmopilite · 03/03/2013 14:02

My head is a strange shape! I have a large ridge at the back of it, with a flat bit below that. However, you can't see it under the hair.

Looking at old photos, it never particularly looked an odd shape, but I suppose it might have been noticeable to my parents.

WillSingForCake · 03/03/2013 14:05

I've seen loads of babies with odd-shaped heads, but your DS is most definitely not one of them. Looks totally normal to me. He is gorgeous and not helping with my constant broodiness at all

VisualiseAHorse · 03/03/2013 14:08

Added a pic to my profile of my LO at about 2 months old. You can see the triangle at the front of his head quite clearly, although it's not as deep as it sometimes appeared.

ProphetOfDoom · 03/03/2013 14:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

QOD · 03/03/2013 14:17

"I've uploaded a photo of the head now"

It's is rounded but not in a bad way, he's just so yummy that I think I want to eat him all up.

He's got a little neck at the mo, once he gets a bit meatier you won't notice!

tethersend · 03/03/2013 14:19

Pink, it's more than likely your DS' head was squashed up into your ribs too- it's hard for their heads to grow 'upwards' IYSWIM.

It's also completely normal to project all your anxieties onto one perceived physical defect- I know I did. DD1 is now 4 and absolutely beautiful. Try and relax- anxieties over how your precious baby will fare in the world are completely normal and part of getting your head around the huge amount of responsibility you're faced with; not to mention the huge amount of love you're feeling. It's bloody exhausting

Anyway, you won't stop worrying, but you'll soon find something else to worry about, and you will learn to manage the worry so it becomes a part of normal life rather than provoking a huge amount of anxiety.

Look after yourself

GoodtoBetter · 03/03/2013 14:21

DS had a reeeeeeally pointy head when he was born because of the ventouse. That went down but then he got a flat head on one side from lying on his back. I was a bit worried about that but it all evened out and he's got a perfectly normal head now and has had for ages (he's 4). I don't even think your DS has a particularly weird head at all. He's lovely. You've had it checked, it's nothing to worry about. xx

Original poster

Pinkflipflop · 03/03/2013 14:28

Visualise your son is absolutely gorgeous!

OP posts:

Original poster

Pinkflipflop · 03/03/2013 14:37

I've put a terrible picture on my profile for a short time. It's my dh and baby and tried to capture their heads.

Dh tis baby's head is a little bit strange but says all babies have funny heads!

OP posts:

tethersend · 03/03/2013 14:41

It's exactly the same as DD1's was, even down to the ridge; BUT I notice it because I'm looking for it. Nobody else will notice, and it will go in a month or so.

VisualiseAHorse · 03/03/2013 14:44

Aww, thank you pinkflipflop! That's one of the few photos I have where his awful cradle cap wasn't too bad!!

Your's isn't too bad either ;)

Inclusionist · 03/03/2013 14:44

My DS had a head the shape of a wedge of cheese. I googled and convinced myself he had metopic craniosynostosis. Scared the shit out of myself reading how it pretty much invariably leads to learning difficulties.

He doesn't have that! I totally feel your pain in terms of the worry though.

Your DS looks perfect to me but if you are worried push for a proper paediatrician to look at him and put your mind at rest- better than weeks of worry!!

smellysocksandchickenpox · 03/03/2013 14:50

DS's head is really long out the back, like the monster in Alien, gonna take him to a chiropractor because he hates lying on it and only naps in slings or in thr croo of my arm

DD's was perfectly round as she was a CS birth, then I ruined it by letting her sleep in her pram all the time so it went flat at the back, still is flat 4 yrs later

its normal to notice these things. I also noticed that DD looked like Bart simpson in her scan pic.

Primrose123 · 03/03/2013 14:51

Pink, your baby is gorgeous, and his head looks like a normal head to me!

I mean this in the nicest way, do you think you could just be over anxious? I was similar with my second baby. I was cuddling her when she was about 2 months old, and convinced myself that one foot was too turned in. I looked it up and thought she had a club foot. I worried all night and took her to the doctor the next day. I was told she was perfectly fine, it was just a tiny bit turned in, but they said that was probably due to the way she was lying in the womb. The doctor was right and 12 years on she has perfect ankles!

pictish · 03/03/2013 14:51

That one normal, extremely cute, teeny newborn baby!

Another one here who had a baby whose head looked odd to me, but no one else.

I am laughing at you OP. But good naturedly. Motherhood turns you into a right banana sometimes. Bless you. xx

smellysocksandchickenpox · 03/03/2013 14:51

crook

pictish · 03/03/2013 14:56

Pinkflipflops - please keep this thread, and read it when he's three. I think this thread is adorable.

MrsSpencerReid · 03/03/2013 15:09

I daren't look at the photos vis they will make me broody but when my DS was born he had pointy ears I was so upset, he is 10m now and they are perfect his friend also had a weird shaped head, he was referred for it so def weirdly shaped, they didn't do anything about it and it looks fine now, try not to worry,

Flip

1 2 3 4 5