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Babies: 6 - 9 Months
SaraAnn4486
member
Flat head :( Help!
SaraAnn4486
member
OK, Ladies. Looking for a little advice. I think my 6 month old DD has a bit of a flat head (not the worst I've ever seen, but too flat for my liking and I'm wondering if it will fully round out later). A bit of background...
She has always been a good sleeper (11 hours a night, all on her back, of course) and she really likes her naps, too (also on her back usually in her swing, usually 3-4 hours a day). She's never been a tummy-time fan but I've started pushing it harder lately, even if it means I flip her over after 30 seconds and try again a few minutes later. I give her as much time as I can sitting up with me, in the exersaucer, in the Bumbo and also bought one of those babymoon pillows for when she's on her back on the playmat.
What else can you suggest? Anyone's LO end up with a helmet (the doctor brought it up but didn't tell us to get one at the 4 month checkup), and if so, is it helping? Do they wear it all the time?
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Re: Flat head :( Help!
DS1 & 2 both had flat spots early on. At our 2 month appointments pedi suggested rolling up a towel and propping them on the opposite side of the flat spot while sleeping (they both had flat spots on the right, so we propped them facing left). This and lots and lots of tummy time. Also, "they" say to alternate which end of the crib DC's head goes every night. Since they like to face the "action" outside the crib, this will make sure they face a different direction each time, rounding them out.
For DS1, doing this for a couple of months was all he needed. He rounded out just fine.
DS2, however, was not so lucky. We started propping him early on (since we had experience from DS1), and after two months there was slight improvement, but not much. Doc still didn't say anything at his 4 month appointment, but when we went back 2 weeks later because of an ear infection, he looked again and referred us to a place that measures to see if things are bad enough to need a helmet (to see if he has plagiocephaly). It also turns out that he had a particularly tight neck muscle (torticollis) that prevented him from fully turning his head toward the left, which is probably why the other things we were doing didn't help too much.
DS2 did end up getting a helmet and going to physical therapy for the torticollis. He also went through multiple huge growth spurts while wearing the helmet and ended up meeting his goals after wearing the helmet for 2 months (thankfully, this is not the norm). We were expecting 3-6 months depending on growth.
The reason the helmet was the right thing for our son was not an issue of just a flat looking head (which is what people immediately think when they see it). It had started to visibly affect his ear alignment and, we found at later, was a contributing factor to the 4 ear infections he had between 2 months and 6 months, which drastically and obviously were affecting his hearing until we got tubes put in at 7 months.
I would definitely bring it up with your pedi. I still don't know why ours didn't care at his 4 month appointment but was concerned 2 weeks later. I always wonder what would have happened if he didn't have his ear infection and we didn't have to go back (the younger they are, the faster the helmet works due to growth speed).
I'm sorry for the novel. I just remember trying to find posts about this when we were going through it and not coming up with much, so I wanted to give you the limited info I have!
When looking at your baby's head - look at it the very top (looking down on it) - is it symetrical? Round?
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My DD has a helmet. She was referred to a specialist at her 4 month appointment and received her helmet at 5 months. We go in on Tuesday to see if we can take it off!
I would make another appointment with your pedi to see if he/she can refer you to a specialist to get your LO measured. If your LO qualifies for the helmet you'll want to get it sooner rather than later because the skull gets harder as they age and can take longer for the helmet to work.
Hi, I have been lurking over here the last few days since DD is going to be 6 months next week so I thought I would chime in on this. My DD has a flat spot on the back of her head, not bad probally about the size of a half dollar coin. Looking at the back of her head you can't tell and that is the same with looking right at her. However if you look at her from the top of her head down you can tell.
DD has been sleeping on her tummy for 3-4 months now. She just within the last two weeks has started rolling and can sit up with little to no assistance. She gets as much tummy time as she will allow me to give her, but often times she rolls over to her back to play for sometime and then back to her tummy. I have tried to get her to stay off the back of her head, but its hard.
While I am going to bring this up to our family doctor at her 6 month appointment next week, other mom's have told me that when she starts to crawl and can sit for long periods of time that it will start to round out. I have also done some googling of this and while there is a lot about helmets, there is also a lot about leaving it and that it will eventually round out, but it could take as long as 2 years and what doesnt round out will be covered by hair. Like I said though I am going to get the opinion of our doctor as well, but I am fairly confident that it will fix on its own as its not really bad.
DD2 has a flat head, at first a walk-in doctor that I asked said it was nothing. I wasn't convinced so I took her to Paediatric Rehab for it and they told me that since she has a bump on the back of her head that this is a great sign and the beginning of her head starting to round out.
They also told me to use a rolled up blanket to position her in crib so she is not flat. as well as lots of tummy time, bumbo, excersaucer, jumper, etc time when awake so she is not laying on her flat head.
Good luck!
"Just keep swimming, just keep swimming..."
My son is a little late in getting his helmet but he will be in it starting feb 18th. 7 months old and he has a very bad flat spot from sleeping soooooooo much on his back. We tried for months but the whole back to sleep campaign really scared us from changing that.
Get your Lo checked out asap the sooner you get it on (if needed) the sooner you get it off.
Good luck
Thank you, this is good advice. I was hoping to just bring it up to the pedi at DD's 6 month appt (which was supposed to be yesterday) but we had to cancel because of the ridiculous snow up here (we live in Western Mass) and they couldn't reschedule us for a "well-baby" checkup until 4 weeks from now. Maybe if I call about her head they will get us in sooner.
Thanks again for sharing your experiences. I would rather have the doc look at it and say I'm just an overly worried mommy then NOT have him look and end up needing her in a helmet for a lot longer because we waited; better safe than sorry.