plagiocephaly correction success w/out a helmet?

groovygrl

Just wondering- did anyone have success fixing mild plagiocephaly in their LO without the helmet? DS has a mild case, on the right side & I'm trying desperately to get him to turn his head left more, putting him on his tummy more, changed arms I feed him with, but it is tough- I turn his head when he's asleep but he always turns it back... I finally bought some sleep positioners to try tonight to see if I can get him to sleep on his side but I was experimenting with it on the couch & he was definitely not loving it. 
I feel like without getting him off his head at night, there is no hope of it really correcting itself...

LucyPevensie

Groovy - try this plag support group on babycenter - I found it helpful when we were dealing with the same issue -

https://community.babycenter.com/groups/a52465/plagiocephaly_support

 good luck I know it's very stressful!!

LIAngel

Hopefully LucyP sees this post.   She launched operation "Reposition Jack's head".   From what I can remember she woudl do everything she could to move Jack's head.  Even when he slept.  But he would move onto the flat spot.   She compared it to a flat spot on a ball.  If you roll a ball on the round part, when you let go it will roll back and settle on the flat spot. 

Jack ended up in a helmet anyway.  He was in it for awhile (I believe all summer).    If you have any questions for her, page her.   I'm sure she would be happy to answer any questions. 

 

When my DS was 4 months old he had a slight flat spot and as he got more mobile and was sitting up and not flat on his back all the time his head rounded out.  Now he looks great!  

LIAngel

OMG!  Lucy you must have been responding while I was. LOL

mel72

DS favored his right side since birth.  I asked pedi at 1 month, 2 month and found a new pedi at 3 months!  She said be more aggressive at putting him the other way, which we had been doing, thanks again to Lucy P's suggestions, and he somehow figured it out on his own and now sleeps on both sides, GL!

LucyPevensie

I think I already gave groovy the LucyP plagiocephaly speech so didn't whip it out again!  Hang in there groovy. 

kittylove

We were! Riley had a mild case and so I wore him a TON, sat him in the boopy, tummy time like crazy, anything and everything to keep him off the flat spot. It worked!

groovygrl

Thanks all! LucyP I guess you're the resident expert . I signed up over on babycenter & posted...seems like a great resource!!!

So I've got him slightly tilted on his side right now w/ a positioner and he isn't freaking out yet, maybe it'll work out. I think my biggest challenge is that since he's a twin, I can't spend as much time holding/wearing/etc him b/c I have to tend to his (more high maintenance, colicky) sister a lot too so I have no choice but to put him in a swing, bouncy, etc sometimes. He seems to be taking more to doing tummy time on the boppy so that is helping, he even slept that way for like 1 1/2 hrs the other day (I was nearby the whole time, don't worry ) which I was thrilled about...

Thanks again!

groovygrl

LucyPevensie:

I think I already gave groovy the LucyP plagiocephaly speech so didn't whip it out again!  Hang in there groovy. 

hehe. you did & I know I'm redundant posting again, I'm just starting to feel helpless. I'm actually changing pedis but they couldnt get us in til 4 months (early Dec) but I'm going to try to make an appt in the next 2 weeks just about his head if I can... 

LucyPevensie

Not all all - you're not being redundant it is very stressful - you want to do everything you can to help their head be the shape it's supposed to be and sometimes even your best efforts don't seem to work (mine didn't ) and it's hard.  Some heads are stubborn, even after 15 weeks in a helmet - Jack's is not perfectly round.  However, he had some ear misalignment from the one side of his head pushing forward (unfortunately that's what can happen when one rear side gets flat - the brain still has to grow - so it grows forward and causes the ear misalignment and forehead bulge on that side too - he had that as well.)  His ears are now lined up perfectly and the forehead bulge is almost non-existent - but I am still sort of bummed that his head isn't perfectly round after everything we did.  I am hoping as he grows it continues to round out more on its own, we'll see.

Plagiocephaly sucks!