misshaped head

So, you of our boys head is growing to an odd shape. It is getting flat on one say, growing up on one side on the top, and in the front there is a slight dent in it. Is this normal? will it go back? The side that is flat is the side he lays on and no matter how many times I move his head to the other side, he moves it back.

 

Here is some info on plagiocephaly. My son had it due to his torticollis. He got PT for his toticollis and the plagio was corrected by positioning and lots of tummy time. His case though was more mild/moderate. He was baby a and torticolllis is common for baby a of twins.

 

Both Jake and Emma had flat spots. We caught it early, and luckily, we were able to correct it with positioning, although that is not the case with all babies. I would speak to your doctor, and for now, I would be sure that they are not laying on the flat spot.

 

I'm a pediatric physical therapist and the most common reason I treat infants is for torticollis, a tightening of the neck muscles that cause your baby to favor looking in one direction and can cause the plagiocephaly mentioned. You should get a referral to physical therapy from your pediatrican as soon as possible. The younger the baby, the easier the problem is to fix. Some kids respond very well to therapy and parent home exercise program and the problem of the tight muscles are gone in a few weeks, other kids take several months, but either way, you should be evaluated so you can start on the home exercise program. Feel free to message me with any questions! G. Luck!

 

QUOTE(1stTimeMom26 @ Jun 5 2008, 08:52 PM) [snapback]812952[/snapback]
I'm a pediatric physical therapist and the most common reason I treat infants is for torticollis, a tightening of the neck muscles that cause your baby to favor looking in one direction and can cause the plagiocephaly mentioned. You should get a referral to physical therapy from your pediatrican as soon as possible. The younger the baby, the easier the problem is to fix. Some kids respond very well to therapy and parent home exercise program and the problem of the tight muscles are gone in a few weeks, other kids take several months, but either way, you should be evaluated so you can start on the home exercise program. Feel free to message me with any questions! G. Luck!


I want to ditto this. If your baby does have tort, (which you did not mention anything about it so I dont know if he does) then it is best to start as soon as it is noticed. We began pt at 8 weeks and I am so thankful for that.

 

Our son didn't have torticollis, just a very strong gaze preference. The PT couldn't do anything, except recommend a ton of tummy time.

We were told they wouldn't consider a helmet to correct the shape until 4 months - adjusted. And until then to try our hardest to correct it by positioning.

We were advised to wedge under the shoulder he preferred, so that gravity would work against it. Well, that didn't work, he would scoot away from it.

We did wind up devising a sleep and head positioner out of components of other products. It kept him from being ABLE to lay on that side. Now he has a flat spot on the back, but that is MUCH better than on the side. And THAT is rounding out as he grows and he's spending more and more time on his tummy and upright. We COULD get him a helmet, but we would rather not because it is steadily improving.

If he doesn't have tort and you want to hear about my sleep positioner, PM me - it's too complicated to describe here!

 

My older son developed a flat spot on the side of his head. No matter how hard I tried his head always went to the same side when he slept. I started to prop him on his sides to sleep so I could alternate which side of his head he was laying on. Once he started to sit up and like tummy time his head started to round back out. The right side of his head is still a little flatter then the left side....the doctor said it may always be that way. I would talk with your doctor and find out if it is something that might need to be fixed. I never had any problems with the twins because they slept on their bellies from maybe 2 months on (bad I know!)

 

It's "common" for multiples. If you do a search for torticollis on Twinstuff - you'll find a ton of info. You've caught it early..... so that's great. I would bascially insist that he sees a physical therapist. That's what I did. I did not want my little guy to end up in a helmet.