Flat Heads *Update*

Recap: Almost a couple of weeks ago I asked you all about my twins' flat heads. I was just noticing it and wondered if I should wait until their 4 month wellness check to ask the dr. about it. THANK GOODNESS you all encouraged me to take them in sooner! After that posting I did lots of research on it and took them to the dr. three days later.

So the dr. said, "Yeah, I check for this at their two month and 4 month appts." I'm thinking, well he should have noticed it if he was LOOKING for it because I wasn't looking for it and happened to notice it shortly after our 2 month appt. So then I asked about Torticollis (some of you mentioned this therefore I did some reading on it). He seemed surprised that I knew what this was but said no, they don't have torticollis. He said since they are able to move their heads to the right, they don't have it. He continued to say there was also no tilt to their heads and torticollis was very rare. Then, I asked about PT. He said, "Well, I wasn't going to bring it up because I don't know if it would help. But if it's something you want to look into, I can write you a referral." When I left, I was told to continue the repositioning strategies I already began.

When I got home from that appt. I came here and asked you all if I should go to PT for an eval. You confirmed what I was already thinking.

Update: I am SO glad I took them in. We had their appt. this morning and guess what? She diagnosed them with Torticollis! They DO need PT. She was pointing things out to me, LIKE THE SLIGHT TILT IN ADDISON'S head! There were things I didn't notice before because I didn't know exactly what to look for, but I feel their pedi should have seen these things.

She also gave me the # of a place that fits helmets and said I could call them if I wanted to have them evaluated/determine if they need them.

First, I just want to say again how grateful I am for all of you on TS! Time is so critical with Plagiocephaly and Torticollis. I'm in tears right now because I know I may not have done all the things I have done for them if it wasn't for all your advice and experience you shared with me.
:thanks: a million times! :woman: <-- change that to plural

Second, I need your advice again! The PT mentioned I had the option of having them evaluated for helmets. Some of you mentioned you were able to correct plagiocephaly with aggressive repositioning. Since we've caught this fairly early, do I need to go as far as having them looked at for helmets already? It seems like maybe I should first try the repo strategies and stretching techniques PT gave me for a while. What do you think?

One thing for sure is I will probably change pediatricians. I'm sorry this post is SOOO long. I will stop blabbing now!

***ooops, how do you edit the topic heading for a misspelled word? I mean UPDATE.

 

If it were me, I would try the PT & repositioning first. But I haven't dealt with either plagiocephaly or torticollis before, so someone else may have a more informed opinion on that. But good for you for getting them in & getting them evaluated. They're lucky to have a Mommy who is on top of things!

 

That's great that you stuck up for you twins and have an answer. We are dealing with the same issues for one of my boys and they are almost 3months adjusted. They don't have torticollis, but definitely issues with the flat spot. They told us to try repositioning, but even more important for us, they told us was tummy time-lots of it!! Even if they don't like it..keep it going even for sevearl minutes at a time. Also we now have a bumbo chair and were told to use this and to use a carrier. Basically, they said repositioning is good, but even more important is to keep them off their head! I was a bit confused--didn't understand how that would help evenout the head, but they said brain would automaticall grow into the flat spot if it wasn't pressed up against something. So we are trying our hardest to do what we can to keep them up---obviously that is still very difficult without holding them all the time! But we want to avoid the helmet. They said helmet is last option and we could wait another 2 months to see how it goes. Did they scan the head? We had the boys heads scanned and will be scanned again in a month to make sure not getting worse. as long as not, then hopefully won't need helmet.

Anyway--hope that helps--good luck!

 

So glad they have finally been diagnosed with it and that you are able to treat it!! The knowledge on this site is invaluble. My girl is 6.5mths old now and i am sure she has it but i am yet to get a dr to take me seriously because like your ped they see she can look both ways so wont entertain the idea

I have heard great success stories when it is caught early and PT is done regularly.

 

if i were you i would defer to the PT's opinion about helmets. if he/she was willing to give you a referral to a helmet specialist for evaluation it might be worth the evaluation. in our case our PT felt the flat spots were mild enough that we could simply do repositioning and the exercises they recommended. sure enough they've rounded out at this point.

i should mention that my guys both had their flatspots right at the back of their heads so it was symmetrical. if your babies' flatness isn't symmetrical you might consider that a strong argument for the helmet.

one thing i wanted to mention is that you might forgive your pedi for not being more alarmed. pedis are like any general practitioner, they're great for wellness and illness and systemic problems. but when things start getting specialized like PT issues or GI issues, they're not the best resource. you did what you were supposed to do, which is know your baby better than your pedi and pursue a problem you knew existed. our pedi was also very relaxed about torticollis and left it up to me to insist on a referral. i don't hold that against him. the important thing was that he listened and gave me the referral without arguing or insisting that i was wrong.

i just wanted to say that because i think sometimes we get mad at pedis for not having every answer. lord knows i've been there, too.

 

This forum can really be invaluable! So glad it helped you and your babies!

I think, if it were me, I would probably go in for the helmet eval just to see what they had to say. I don't think it could hurt anything, and if you decide that you need to go that route, you will already have the ball rolling, kwim?

 

My son Michael has torticollis and a flat spot with facial asymmetry. I got him started in PT around the same age your LOs are and after just 7 weeks we've seen huge improvements. We have an appt with a craniofacial specialist at the hospital in a month. I'm hoping he'll tell us we don't need a helmet, but I want to be evaluated just to make sure.

As for your ped, you have to remember they really are just generalists. IMO, ask for the referals you need and go see a specialist for things you're concerned about. I like our ped, but she's advocated a wait-and-see approach for Michael's head; but I'm glad I didn't.

Good luck!

 

I am so glad that you stuck up for your twins. My oldest has a flat head and we did some repositioning and exercises. Both have been very successful. The largest thing we did that really helped was to put our boys on their bellies to sleep. I know about the SIDS thing, but I was really stressed out about the flat spot that was getting worse every single day. Another thing that I did was move the activity mat to the couch. The loveset is pretty flat and much softer than the hardwood floor with the rug we have.

I have noticed that his range of motion in his neck is SO much better and the head is rounding out!

Jenn

 

Same here. GL! So glad you were a great advocate for your kids. Great job Momma!!!

 

One of my girls just got her helmet yesterday. Aggressive repositioning didn't work and neither did the stretches for her torticollus. She is now in PT where she does must better than at home. I would get them evaluated. After six months their skull become more hard and it becomes harder to "mold" it back to a normal shape. Good luck!