My baby will only turn her head one way

[SealMum]

We have an almost 4 month old baby. We've recently noticed that she will always turn her head to the same side (her left) when she falls asleep, is lying on her playmat etc. We've tried things like putting pictures in her pram on her right side or only putting toys on her right when she's lying down to encourage her to turn that way but she still always goes the other way, or contorts herself so she can see them without fully turning her head, or looks out of her peripheral vision! If I feed her lying down so she has to turn her head right, she will do it for as long as she's feeding and it doesn't seem to bother her, but then immediately turn her head the other way (sometimes quite violently!). She now has one cheek slightly larger than the other and we think it might be due to this.

Anyone experienced similar and what did you do? Various internet sites suggest tummy time will help but we already do quite a bit of this!

Hi, I'm not medically trained but it sounds like torticollis, my DD had the same due to being stuck in one position in utero. I didn't notice til she was about 2 months old and like your babe she had some facial asymmetry and flattening to the back of her head.
I went to the GP who like you've read advised tummy time however she just wouldn't tolerate it. The waiting lists for an appointment at paeds we're crazy.
After reading up online I booked in with a private paediatric physiotherapist who showed us some stretches to do with her and bought a...cot insert I guess called 'the perfect noggin' which she slept in overnight and for naps. It held her head in a cupped recess which allowed her head to grow in the right shape. I stopped using it when she started rolling, I picked it up 2nd hand from FB marketplace so it was affordable. There's a helpful FB group if you search perfect noggin it should come up.
She's now 11 months, has full range of movement in her neck and her head shape is lovely.
Don't be fobbed off with tummy time - if there's movement restriction she'd have to spend practically all day and night on her front for it to have a difference which obviously isn't possible. I was also told it would improve once she's sitting up but their heads grow so quickly in the first few months that by then the mis-shaping would have been too far gone. The NHS doesn't offer helmeting either, but that is a last resort.

It’s torticollis (wry neck). It’s not uncommon in babies due to malpositioning in the womb. See an osteopath who treats babies. We had 2 appointments and completely sorted it. I also went to the GP and his advice was, let’s just see if it causes a flat head and then we can get your baby a helmet to fix it. That didn’t seem good enough to me. I’d rather prevent it than try to fix it later.

My DS had this and we only actually realised when his head was slightly flat on one side and I felt awful. We saw an chiropractor who specialised in babies and children a few times and it was all sorted, it’s very gentle. She thought it was to do with how he’d been positioned in utero

@justsayso, @mindutopia, @Tbskejue thank you all so much for your quick responses - really appreciate it. We will look up paediatric physios/osteopaths/chiropractors tomorrow. Thank you again!

osteopath!! My baby had 4 sessions maybe and then was fine after treatment