Improving Positional Plagiocephaly (Flat Head)...

Hi there. Has anyone had success improving a baby's flat head without the use of a helmet. Both of our guys have plagiocephaly and we're looking at all of our options. It's a really scary and worrisome thing to deal with, but the helmets seems scary too!

 

My daughter has a flat spot. As far as my pedi and I are concerned, it is not a big deal. It will work itself out.

 

Both of my babies had plagio, Jake had it worse than Emma. I was able to correct it for the most part, just by positioning. Basically, I just never let them lay on the flat side. LOTS of tummy time. When they were in swings or bouncies, I would roll up a recieving blanket and put it under one of their shoulders so that they were unable to lay on that spot. The Boppy Noggin Nest, is good for their carseats as well. I saw a big improvement after a month of being vigilent about how they were positioned.

 

No, I didn't but I am wondering what is scary about helmets?

 

Actually, my girlfriend's baby had that and it was really pretty bad. Their ped recommended putting him as much as possible in an exersaucer and he has improved greatly. That's all I know, sorry.

 

We have an appointment for Jonathan next week with a specialist to see if he has plagio. I'm nervous, just like you. I've been working hard at trying to correct myself. He's been getting lots more tummy time, he sleeps on his tummy and gets more time in the exersaucer and jumperoo. It's hard to tell, but I swear he's improving.

One thing I wish I would have done earlier was get a bumpo seat. I think that would have made a big difference. We have one now, but he is such a chunky monkey, he hardly fits into it.

Good luck!

 

Thanks. I am setting my alarm to re-position them during the night (but they always seem to go back to their preferred sides!), pushing the tummy time, trying to get them to spend lots of time in their new exersaucers and jolly jumper, etc. The helmets are scary to me because they have to be worn for such a long time and they're very expensive. We have a doctor's appointment on Monday so I'll ask my pedi what she thinks. To me, it seems serious, especially Evan's - one of his ears is 1.5 cm further forward than the other and one side of his forehead sticks out more.

 

One of our dds had plagio (which was rated severe, an 8/9 on the pediatric neurosurgeon's scale) that we found at 2 months. We started with repositional techniques and LOTS of tummy time, and then, at a little less than four months, we really pushed the use of exersaucer and johnny-jump-up. She was a little too small to be stable, so we just stuffed her in with bath towels or blankets. She was very happy being upright, and we were happy to keep her off of her flat spot. Sleeping at night was the hardest position to change--it never did. We would move her head, and seconds later she would simply move back to her favorite position. So that one we just had to let go after months of trying to correct it. Now, at 14 months, it is a lot better. Still flat, but obvious only to us because we know it is there. To look at her face, her ear asymmetry is gone, which is really the biggest change to us. We're very relieved that it corrected nicely without the use of a helmet. Her hair is starting to grow which also camouflages the flat side of the head. While it's not perfect, nobody can tell it's even flat. The doctor had said that even a helmet wouldn't correct it perfectly. He said simply repositioning with the growth of the head and brain taking place during the first year would make the same amount of correcting as a helmet, the helmet merely accelerates the correction. Hang in there!

 

We never had any luck repositioning while sleeping...they just moved themselves right back, so we gave up with that. We focused instead on trying to keep them off of the flat spot while awake, and it's made a huge difference in only a couple of months. We're already noticing their heads are rounding out, and sometimes they even voluntarily sleep on the other side from what they used to.

Here were the tricks their PT gave us to sneak in 'tummy time' without it being dreaded. We carry them in the 'superman' position, so they are laying on their tummies on our arms. It's basically tummy time, but they don't see it that way because they are up high and like to look and see where they are going. We also put a full length mirror horizontally low on the wall so we can lay them on their tummies in front of that, which makes tummy time much more tolerable for them. We got bumbos and also put them in them in front of the mirror, or in front of their baby einstein play gym with the toys at the right level for them to grab them, or just facing each other. They like to kick each others feet and talk to each other facing in their bumbos. The PT said it doesn't need to be a 'therapy' session, but just introduce these little tricks throughout the day and you will have ended up sneaking in so much more time with them off their flat spots.

Good luck!

 

This may be a lot of b.s. ( as most of the things my old daycare worker said were) but my daycare worker swore that she massaged the babies' heads daily, and they had plagiocephaly that improved rapidly after starting with this daycare. Just an idea, but i'm not sure what she did. Maybe there's a website for that type of method?

 

I have heard of head 'rubs' that work also not sure who provides instruction on that as I am sure it takes a certain technique.

QUOTE
The helmets are scary to me because they have to be worn for such a long time and they're very expensive.
We did not pay one penny for Kyle's helmet, not sure what you mean by a long time (hours in the day or months?) but yes he had to wear the helmet 23/7 for 4 months but in the grand scheme of things 4 months is a tiny blip on the radar screen.

If there are facial features involved in the misalignment it is very rare that correction can come from positioning alone.

I am not trying to be a downer but this doesn't sound like your average flat spot in the back of the head that was caused by positioning and can be corrected by positioning.

I also wouldn't use the 'hair hides it' theory because hair does nothing when wet and while it may be hidden for the majority of the time, think of beaches/pools etc where head shape can be seen..................I have honestly met a child who will not get his hair wet because it will show his head shape...............is this something you want your child to potentially experience? I know this doesn't relate to girls but what if someday a boy wants a buzz?? Anyway, sorry I am hijacking and I will stop but I just don't but into the hair covers it making it ok theory.

 

I have to agree with Dianne. If features (including the ears) are that asymetrical it doesn't sound like something that repositioning is going to improve significantly. Helmets do not make things perfect, nothing does...there is no such thing as perfect. They do, however, make an immense difference. Joseph got his helmet on May 2nd and he graduates on Aug 8th. 14 weeks is what it has/will take to go from extremely severe brachiocephaly (flat back of head with some asymetry) to almost perfect. He wears it 23/7 (like Kyle did.) It took no time at all for Joseph to adjust to wearing it and he is so darned cute in the thing. I used to have a pic in my avatar but will attach it instead.

As for the cost, things are different in Canada so I cannot speak to it being covered by insurance...

Just wanted to let you know first hand (since we are currently going through it) that the prospect of a helmet is scarier that having/ dealing with one.

View attachment 900 - pic of Joseph in his helmet