Flat Head

My DD is 15 wks old & her head is pretty flat on one side. We asked the ped. about it & he said it should round out on its own once she starts rolling over & crawling. In the meantime, we're trying to reposition her as much as we can. My question for you is...have any of your babies had flat heads that rounded out on their own? I read about a lot of babies here who've had to wear helmets & I just wonder if we're postponing the inevitable?

 

Some people are very successful with repositioning. We were not, even though we began when Joel was 5 weeks old. His torticollis was too severe to allow him full range of movement in his neck, and despite our best efforts, the flat spot and assymetry grew progressively worse.

If I were you, I would seek an opinion from a specialist, just to be sure. Oftentimes insurance covers the helmets if there is more than a certain percentage of assymetry. Also, if the flat spot is caused by torticollis, in most cases physical therapy is also needed to address the root cause of the problem.

Edited to add--at 15 weeks old, you are approaching the target timeframe they want kids to start wearing helmets. If repositioning is to work, you want to give it a chance to do so BEFORE they are 5 months old, and the target time to wear a helmet is between 5 and 8 months. Later than that, and kids end up needing to wear the helmet much longer because they have already passed the timeframe when they hit their big growth spurts while the head is still soft enough to remold easily.

 

without a doubt I would get an evaluation from a physical therapist. an asymmetrical flat spot is a good indicator of torticollis which should get PT treatment for the best outcome. pediatricians often wait too long to refer to PT and then the muscular tightness is worse and the older the child the harder it is to treat (think bad habits harder to break) Good luck!

 

QUOTE(ladybenz @ Aug 21 2008, 05:07 PM) [snapback]941399[/snapback]
If I were you, I would seek an opinion from a specialist, just to be sure.


:good: That would be my suggestion as well. My son had severe torticollis that made his head very misshaped {to my eyes} and we went to see a specialist at the Childrens Hospital and it turned out he did not recommend a helmet. He told us by the time he's three it would get rounder. So far, it's proven to be true for our son. His head is much better now. Good luck.

 

My dd had a pretty obvious flat spot on one side of her head. I was ready to order the positioners for her but ended up holding off. I am happy to report her head has rounded itself out on its own.

 

We were successful with repositioning. Beth had a flat spot, and we kept working with her. Our pedi. gave us some tips and things to do at, I think it was, her 2 month check-up. We kept an eye on her, and she did fine with just us working with her and no helmet.

 

My daughter had a pretty flat head. I didn't do anything about it and by the time she was one her head was much rounded. I'm more worried about my boys because my dad is bald and if they get his genes I want them to have a nicely shaped head.

 

I waited since my pedi wasn't concerned, but finally called back and asked for an appt. b/c Chloe's head looked like it was getting worse. I have been taking both of them to Children's Hospital once a week for PT, and do it 2-3 times a day at home. (They also have to sleep on certain sides at night.) They are looking so much better already, and are not going to need further intervention for their heads. If their torticollis isn't resolved before insurance stops paying for the PT, we will have an EI consult. I would get the PT consult now if I were you.

 

My Sofia's head rounded out without a helmet. I always put her toys and her sister on the side I wanted her to look and I rolled up a receiving blanket to put behind that shoulder as well.
I also repositioned her during the night so she wasnt sleeping on it (which woke her up sometimes!) but after only 2mo she could turn both ways and her flat spot was almost unnoticeable! So it can be done.

Good luck!!

 

My son had a flat head. It used to drive me nuts because it was like he had a point in his right temple and his head was triangly shaped. =) But it all rounded out fine. he would only look one way for the longest time, we didnt' have to do anything to make it happen. Just fixed itself once he became mobile.

 

My DD pushed her ear forward quite a bit. By four months, I really pushed for her to sleep on her belly (since she could lift her head well and was starting to roll). I also only let her be in the baby saucer when she was awake. I noticed in a couple months it was starting to even out. So yes it can be done. Oh and she went to the Chiropractor to help with the tension in her neck muscles.

 

Our DS's head was an irregular shape from sitting up in my ribs during pregnancy - we were worried in the beginning and the dr told us they wouldn't do anything until at least 4 months old, so we just tried to reposition him when he slept (which worked until he could turn his head and roll on his own). But his head has seemed to even out all on its own, it's not perfect yet but getting better all the time. So sometimes time does help even things out.

 

We just got back from the specialist about Finn's head. They told us that they still wanted to wait and see on recommending a helmet, but that they felt his head would round out on its own. Finn doesn't have any facial asymmetry, though, and no torticollis, which was part of their comfort with a wait and see approach. And he sleeps on his tummy now (we put him down on his back, he flips), and we try to keep him off the back of his head as often as possible (no swing, limited bouncy chair--mostly saucer or tummy/sitting up floor time if we aren't holding him).

He was born with what I would consider a significantly misshapen head (partly because he was on the bottom in utero and smashed against my pelvis--not good for either of us; and partly because he got stuck on the way out, which resulted in an unplanned c-sxn). It continued to get worse until he was about 4 months old, which our pedi said it would; but we've noticed an improvement in the last month since he's really started being upright more and enjoying tummy time (he hated it until he was about 4 months old).

Our pedi has said all along that he thinks he'll be fine without treatment; but he referred us to the specialist for our own peace of mind.

If you are concerned, I would talk to your pedi about a specialist. My own two cents--I would try to see a cranio-facial plastic surgeon who does not sell the helmets himself. The helmet guys are in the business of selling helmets; and I know a lot of people have had excellent results with them. For myself, I would rather talk to someone who is a little less inclined to recommend a particular course of treatment and get a more objective opinion of what needs to be done.

By all means, if we go back in six weeks, and they say "helmet," then we'll do it; and I don't mean to imply that folks that go the helmet route are making a bad decision. Every case is different. So please don't be offended if your baby needed/needs a helmet.

Good luck!

 

One of my daughters had a pretty significant flat spot on her head that had rounded out on it's own. The left back side of her head was flat and her head sort of came to a peak at the top back as a result. Our pedi said it would work itself out on it's own - and sure enough, you can't tell at all now at 15 months. She had no torticollis, so we repositioned her, put a blanket under her shoulder so she couldn't turn her head to that side at night, and did a lot of tummy time until she could sit up.

 

My middle, Jordan, had this too. We kept flippin him around to try an fix it. His head is still flatter on his right side an hes 7. We didnt do a helemt an the CT said his head an brain were ok.