7-8 week old baby has poor head control - has anyone experienced this?

[Qwerty93]

Hi everyone. I’m posting because I’m really worried about my little boy and would really appreciate hearing from other parents who may have experienced something similar.
He is 7 weeks old, nearly 8 weeks, and I’m concerned about his head control and movements.
At the moment, he doesn’t seem able to hold his head upright at all, even for the faintest second. When I hold him upright, his head seems to flop around rather than him being able to control it. He also has quite significant head lag.
He doesn’t really lift or turn his head when on his stomach either, whether that’s during tummy time or lying on my chest.
I’ve also noticed that his movements sometimes seem asymmetrical and a bit jerky rather than smooth. His right-hand grip seems noticeably stronger than his left. I’m not sure whether this is normal variation at this age or something that should be concerning.
Our health visitor did his 6–8 week check and wasn’t happy with his head control, so he has now been referred to paediatrics and we’re due to see them next week.
His birth was quite difficult. He was in the birth canal for around 2–3 hours and there was some distress because his heart rate dropped below mine. However, he was born with an Apgar score of 9, and his cord gases were apparently on the low side of normal, so nothing further was required at the time.
I’m absolutely terrified that this could be cerebral palsy. I know nobody on Reddit can diagnose him, and I’m not looking for a diagnosis, but I’d really like to hear from parents whose babies had very poor head control, head lag, asymmetrical/jerky movements or a weaker side at around 7–8 weeks.
Did it turn out to be something completely different? Did their head control suddenly improve over the following weeks?
I’m trying so hard not to Google myself into a panic, and all I’m getting is cerebral palsy but I’m really struggling with the wait until the paediatric appointment.
Thank you ❤️

DS1 had similar difficulties to what you describe. Although he was premature so milestones needed correcting and some of his presentation when young was put down to that. He has complex needs including CP. However, what you describe isn’t always cerebral palsy. It is good that the HV has been on the ball and you have been referred.

thanks for the reply. aye! Hopefully he’s just a lazy boy. How is he now with his head? My little boy didn’t come early and his apgar score was reassuring. So I dunno if I’m in over drive etc and I’ve actually just not done any head work. What were your first signs with your son?

It is really difficult when all you want is answers, but I would try not to get bogged down with internet searches. Hopefully you won’t be waiting long to see the paed.

Some areas have drop in physio sessions you can take DC to. It might be worth checking if your area does.

If it turns out to be something more in the case of your DS, depending on where you live, there are places who can provide support as DS gets older. I don’t know if you are anywhere near these, but Paces in Sheffield, the Rainbow centre in Hampshire and Ingfield Manor School in West Sussex offer free sessions for young DC. There are other places who offer sessions as well, some free, some charge, but I can’t remember them off the top of my head. For some of these, you don’t need a diagnosis, only a confirmed delay &/or disorder.

DS1 is a teen now. His head control is much better than it was when he was a baby. Although he has hypotonia of the core, hypertonia of his limbs and dystonia, so control of his body is not typical and he has some unwanted movements. The first sign I noticed was asymmetry - e.g. as a neonate his core was floppy even by neonatal standards but his limbs stiffer/more rigid more so on one side than the other, he had a preference for moving his arm and leg on one side of his body much more than the other side, he didn’t really kick his legs in a typical fashion, he mostly only looked one way, when flat on his back his head would turn to one side all the time. I know asymmetry can sometimes be normal, but it was different to my other DC. He also had some other differences, e.g. a higher pitch cry than my other DC. When DS1 was small a lot of his difficulties were put down to other things - e.g. prematurity, having a sibling who will do all the moving for you (e.g. why roll/crawl/walk to get X when you have a sibling who will do it all for you), other medical conditions, we had some unrelated difficult family circumstances. For quite a while before he was diagnosed with CP, he had a ridiculous non-diagnosis of ‘CP like presentation’ because professionals couldn’t agree.