Newborn with a 'weird' shaped head

[cosymama]

I have noticed in the last few days she has a really bulbous skull at the lower back of her head, so much so she can't actually lay flat on her head and always rolls to one side or the other.

It doesn't seem to be causing her any pain, it's definitely the shape of her skull and not a swelling/lump and after much googling I cannot find a result that fits what she has. She is just over 2 weeks old and is causing/caused no concern from any HV we have seen.

Has anyone else's LO had anything similar? Is it just a skull shape that go away/not cause any issues. We are seeing the HV tomorrow but just wanted to ask other mamas out there.

Thanks :)

What did the HV say cosy?

Hi @cosymama - yes, my LO was born with what they described as a 'rugby ball shaped head' - flat on top but elongated backwards. He was breech, delivered by ELCS and had been uncomfortably jammed under my ribs. He couldn't lie on his back without his head over to one side until he was maybe 2-3 months old. His head circumference was (and still is) over the 99th centile. They made a big song and dance about it all and we had a referral at 3 weeks old to see the paediatrician as two of his plates were overlapping and they wanted it checked. Paediatrician we saw then was great, looked at my DH and said it was obvious where the head size was inherited and suggested we get his parents to dig out some baby photos... Lo and behold it was the exact same head shape! By 6 months my DH's head had grown upwards to the same shape it is now so that was a relief! DS is now 5 months and his head has rounded off in the same way. The paediatrician said that he always tells his medical students to look at the parents before deciding there's an abnormality. If I were you I'd be seeing if you can find some baby photos of you and your DP to see how it compares to you both as babies. Good luck 🤞

What did the health visitor say?

DS1 was born with a very misshapen head.

We had paediatricians talking to us about it when he was a few hours old. Their major concern was whether it was affecting DS1’s brain - sometimes a baby’s skull plates fuse prematurely and that can mean that the brain doesn’t have room to grow. We had HV’s monitoring his head growth and follow up appointments with the paediatricians.

Fortunately, in our case, it turned out that DS1’s head was misshapen because of issues around the way he was born, and his head shape grew more normal as he got older.

Thanks for your replies ladies! The HV wasn't worried but wants to see her again in 2 weeks to measure and feel again. She said it felt like a slightly overlapping in the skull plates which was probably due to her very quick birth (3 hours start to finish) DH already thinks it's started to go down and I'm inclined to agree though staying cautious in case the HV says otherwise.