Anybody else dealing with flat head?

I'll start by saying I've got a doc appt. this week to get a professional opinion on my daughter...

But one of my girls was squished to the side during my pregnancy, barely moved, etc. Her head was an odd shape at birth, but now at 5 mos. it's not looking so great.

I've searched the condition online, and hers doesn't look severe. Still want a doc's reassurance. But it's not "normal" either. I wish I'd known earlier that her weak neck muscles were a sign of this condition. (Or, more accurately, contributing to it.)

My hubby and I have implemented a "no back unless sleeping" rule to keep her off her head. We've already seen a huge difference in her muscle strength. But I'm really hoping she's going to be okay and she doesn't need one of those crazy helmuts. :-(

Anyone else dealing with this?

If you happen to know of any products, etc. that help keep the babes off their heads, pls. let me know.

I'm going to ask my doc if it's worth the risk of having her sleep on her tummy...

 

well we have 2 boys one with a flat head and one without....their daddy has a flat head too. as much as we have used wedges and trying to have ds sleep on one side and the other...Its still flat. at this point, I don't know, thank god he has lots of hair. I think you can use helmets? we will let the mamas that know what to do answer this one

 

I had one with a flat spot on the back and she wore a helmet for 8 weeks to correct it. I had another with torticollis, which is what your doctor is most likely referring to with the neck muscle thing. She had a very minor flat spot and we chose not to get a helmet to correct it. Now my DH wishes we would have for some reason. If you search this forum, you will find a few threads about this. Search "helmet".

 

My ds had a flat head due to his torticollis. I thought it was severe, but after going to a professional, he didn't think he needed a helmet and said it would go away eventually. {as long as we kept him off the back of head} He's now 2.5 and his head is looking very good. :good: Are you seeing a therapist for the muscle weakness? Or doing exercises?

 

My DD was always looking the same way since birth, which we noticed at 3 months. The right side of her head was noticeably flat (well for me, apparently nobody else noticed), and they both had a flat spot in the back. So we changed her spot in the crib, moved her head when she was sleeping etc so she faced the other way. After 5 months we put them on their tummy all the time (well except at night but she rolled over anyway), and honestly now even I barely notice it, and the flat spots on the back of their heads are gone. When we mentioned it to our pedi at 4 months, he said that usually it gets better by 2, and he doesn't believe in helmets at all.

I'd definitely check with your pediatrician though. I've seen some pretty severe cases, and I'd definitely have got them a helmet if mine had a really noticeably flat head.

 

THANK YOU so much for posting this. I was kind of freaking out, because one of mine has a similar issue--he never moved the whole time he was in utero, and the right side of his head had been pushed up next to my pubic bone. Now I'm noticing that there is a flat spot there. I had gotten myself all worked up that he was going to be brain damaged (darn you google and your medical searches). We try to spend a lot of time getting him to rest on the other side, or keeping him on his tummy (which he pretty much hates).

I'm glad to see that others went through this too.

 

Thanks everyone... I'll let you know how the doc appt. goes!!!

bekkiz, according to my research it doesn't affect their brain development thank goodness!!! It's just cosmetic. "Just." ;-P

I'll let you know what my doc says...

It's stressful, hey?

 

We're going through this with DS, although his is still pretty mild. I'm in the process of getting him evaluated by a PT for possible torticollis because we've noticed him turning his head more to the right than the left. The pediatrician told us that twins are at higher risk for torticollis, and it's usually Baby A because they're squished down there with a baby on top of them!

QUOTE(MyCrazyLife @ Feb 9 2009, 10:26 AM) [snapback]1182889[/snapback]
bekkiz, according to my research it doesn't affect their brain development thank goodness!!! It's just cosmetic. "Just." ;-P


It's not really just cosmetic, though, having a flat or uneven head can put them at risk for several medical problems later on, including developmental and vision problems. That's why it's important to get assessed, just in case.

Here's a website about it, which mentions that and gives studies about it:
http://www.plagiocephaly.info/

 

Mine both have flat head, Jackson is worse than Luke. Jackson was wedged far down in my pelvis pretty much throughout the pregnancy and Luke's spot is only slightly flat. Anyways we try to keep them off the backs of their head as much as possible except for night time. My sister in law said Jackson ready to sleep on his tummy at night but that is an absolutee no no for me. We try to wedge them at night on their sides but they always get out of it. I have found the best thing for them is the jumperoo-they both love it and it teaches them to hold their heads up.

 

Oh thank God I'm not crazy!!! We go to the Ped on the 24th and I was going to ask my Dr about my one DS! his right side of his head is flat...everyone notices and he's always looking to the right, I never thought about how he was wedged down there from about 29wks on! He does fine on his tummy and tummy time but if he needs a helmut I would rather do it now! At least I know I'm not crazy!! I'm going to google torticollis bc I've never heard of it! Thanks!

 

my guys are currently in PT for torticollis. they both turn left and tilt right. jacob turns more than he tilts and owen tilts more than he turns . they both have mild flatness but neither our pediatrician nor our PT is concerned because it's symmetrical. the PT feels strongly that they will round out as they spend more and more time on their tummies and start sitting up.

PT is important, though, because it helps increase flexibility and strength in the weakened neck muscles. unresolved torticollis can result in TMJ and even spinal misalignment later in life.

 

Wow, it's more serious than I thought... I didn't know about these other medical conditions it could cause!!! :-(

We took her to the doctor yesterday and we've been referred to a pediatrition next week. Nervous, for sure!!!!

This is really something ALL moms of twins should be made aware of... I'm still upset that my doctor didn't notice the torticillus (sp) on their 8 week checkup. (She rushed through ...) Because looking back, it's been a problem for a while. And if you've never experienced it before, you don't know what you're looking for!

Plus, as a mom, I have "beautiful baby" goggles on. I literally just suddenly "saw" how bad it was getting a few weeks ago. So mad at myself...

Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes....

 

My girls are six months today and still have a flat spot. Ariana has it worse than Sabrina... it's pretty noticeable. Sabrina's isn't so bad, but I still worry for both of them.

No issues in utero, but for the first two or so months, they would always look to the right. Their head was slightly tilted downward to the right. But all of this has since cleared up and it looks as though they have full range of motion. Also, even if we would turn their heads in their crib once they fell asleep, we'd find them in the morning with their head to the right again.

I don't know what's going on, since they move around in their sleep more now, and they're up and about most of the day. They hold their heads up perfectly, and they sit up without support, even, for a couple of minutes at a time. They're a lot more mobile these days, yet the flat spots don't seem to be getting better I guess we'll see what our ped says next Tuesday about it...

 

Around 12 weeks, I brought my son in because my sister told me he had torticollis. Is was at that time he began pt. After a few months of pt, I was thinking the flatness of his head should have made a bigger improvement then it did so I brought him to a helmet place. The measurements came back mild so he did not need one.

 

I wouldn't panic... but I would talk to your pediatrician ASAP.

At 6 mos. there's still time to resolve this... Once their skull plates start fuse together, it's too late.

(Keeping in mind that, from my reading anyway, it sounds like it takes time for these shifts to occur. My girls have started to become more active in the last 4 weeks, two, but maybe that's not enough time to start making a change? Or, maybe there needs to be pressure on the opposite side? Thus the helmuts/headbands?????? More questions for my pediatrition...)

Anyway, I really do think doctors of twin moms should be informing us about this. Premature babies and twins ARE more susceptable! (sp?)

And, I think the other issue is that twins likely don't get held quite as much as singletons because, hey, there's two of them!!!! So they're more likely to spend time in bouncy seats, etc. with pressure on their heads as moms try to interact with both at once, further exacerbating the problem.

If anyone else has experience with this, would love to hear from you...

QUOTE(andbabiesmake4 @ Feb 12 2009, 01:59 PM) [snapback]1187830[/snapback]
My girls are six months today and still have a flat spot. Ariana has it worse than Sabrina... it's pretty noticeable. Sabrina's isn't so bad, but I still worry for both of them.

No issues in utero, but for the first two or so months, they would always look to the right. Their head was slightly tilted downward to the right. But all of this has since cleared up and it looks as though they have full range of motion. Also, even if we would turn their heads in their crib once they fell asleep, we'd find them in the morning with their head to the right again.

I don't know what's going on, since they move around in their sleep more now, and they're up and about most of the day. They hold their heads up perfectly, and they sit up without support, even, for a couple of minutes at a time. They're a lot more mobile these days, yet the flat spots don't seem to be getting better I guess we'll see what our ped says next Tuesday about it...

 

My boys are almost 15 weeks and last week we took Izak in because he seemed to prefer to lay/turn his head to the right. Instincts told me that something wasn't right ... I guess when you have two babies you kinda compare one to the other (trying so hard not to do that as I want to make sure they know they are individuals and twins; but in this case it was hard not to). The pedi said he has torticollis and a little flat spot. He did say it was because of multiples and because he was "baby A" more apt to have it-- I totally agree with you that the dr./pedi should let twin moms know about this and that it could be a possibility. I had never heard about it until I googled it and thought for sure that's what he had. I guess Izak's case is mild as he prefers to do the turn and doesn't have so much of the tilt. I'm just worried about his features and the little asymmetry he has now. It seems like his right side is pushed out a little more than his left. Is that what you're finding too? The doctor said that it may even out and may not -- if it doesn't it won't be as noticeable as he gets older and grows hair, etc. I don't like that but we are trying to be agressive about putting him on his side to sleep... we have one of the wedge sleepers that has a memory foam for the head rest. I'm nervous about using it but for now he seems to pretty much sleep in that position most of the night. As he starts to squirm and move more we'll probably not use that. So it's like a catch 22 ... grrr!

And I totally agree with the pp who made comment about the twins finding themselves in bouncy chairs, swings, etc. It's so hard, especially when you're with them by yourself.

 

My twin A has plagiocephaly. It's where the head is more diamond shaped and jets out to the back and side along with torticolis. he is now 7 1/2 months and it was discovered about 5 - 5 1/2 months that his head was flat and had torticolis. It was obvious, but it took a few doctors to look at it to decide that it needed to be dealt with. Now, it's still flat, but better. Since he learned to flip and not cry when he was on his belly, we let him sleep on his belly at night. That really did help. Once they flip over, their risk of SIDS goes way down so we figured it was worth it for his head. With the PT, the torticolis is much better. He'll even sleep with his head turned to the left comfortably now (before he only faced right even though he could turn left...just not all the way). however, I am concerned with how slow the process is to get his head back in to shape. It really is a fairly severe case too, but at least I'm seeing some progress. The top of his head has evened out and the long part of the back of his head is not sticking out as badly as it was. I'm going back to see the doctor next week to determine if further assistance is needed to get his head back to normal.