Is my babies head too flat

[mondray]

I've got an appointment for his 16 week weigh in/vaccination next week so will check then.

But was just wondering if anyone has experience with this?
Should I worry?

Here's some advice from the Association of Chartered Paediatric Physiotherapists: apcp.csp.org.uk/documents/parent-leaflet-head-turning-preference-plagiocephaly-2020

Anecdata, but two of my nephews had really noticeably flat heads as babies/young toddlers but they completely corrected themselves with no intervention over time. Both are teens with short back and sides style haircuts now and have completely average looking heads!

My first had it on one side- his head preferred one side when he slept on his back. It sorted itself out when he could sit up and roll over himself. He's round again now. But I too was concerned at the time and even spent a few crazy weeks turning his head every hour in the night. Don't do that!

You can try just positioning him different in cot or bouncer. Generally they will face out of the cot or towards people in bouncer, so try swapping what end of the cot his head is at, and move the bouncer the the opposite side of where he currently faces

Lots of tummy time, try to change positions when holding and feeding him, also you can try turning him around half way through the night, my DC always wanted their face turned away from the wall which meant they would always turn the same wAy, so to use this to my advantage I put them in different ways Round if you see what I mean?

Sometimes they have a sore neck, so try watching to see if he always favours one side or other. Visiting an osteopath can also be really beneficial. But it will right itself as he starts moving an crawling, most adults do not have flat heads

@mondray you can still do snuggles and naps with your little one. I always reminded myself that my firstborn had that quality time when newborn and so my second deserved some quality time too. I had my second when my first was 2 and was in lockdown almost immediately

Beebies is your friend

Ds head was very flat as a baby (neck torticollis meant he always had his head turned slightly to the left resulting in a flattened patch on the back at the left). He could sit up at 5 months and was often on his tummy but it has still never rounded out fully. I think the fact that he was an amazing sleeper didn't help as he would spend 11 straight hours on his back and repositioning didn't help as he would jut move it back. It improved when he started crawling and sleeping on his front but has never fully gone back to normal. He's 2 now and I still think it is improving and having a full head of hair makes it a lot less noticeable. It hasn't hindered his development in any way, he's quite ahead with his speech and communication so dont worry that it will affect your baby in that way! Just try to keep them from laying on it as much as possible and hopefully it will correct itself naturally, but if it doesn't don't worry- I've scrutinised a lot of head shapes and there are a surprising number of adults with flat heads that I never noticed until I was looking for it!

Yes of course - you can't change sleeping position at night so focus on the times you can change.

If you can get him to turn his head to the side while lying on his back at night that may help. That's where physio or osteopathy etc can help if they have a tight neck.

These are some good links about babies hating tummy time:

mamaot.com/therapist-approved-tummy-time-tips-activities/

www.candokiddo.com/news/2015/1/8/3-tips-for-making-tummy-time-less-miserable?rq=tummy%20time