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Favoring one side/flat head

KikiCohenKikiCohen member
in Babies: 0 - 3 Months
DS favors laying with his head cocked to the left and now I'm afraid that the left side of his head is getting flat.  Even his ear seems smashed up against his head as opposed to his other ear.  Is this the beginning of torticollis?  Any tips?  We have his one month appt with the pediatrician on Monday, so we'll definitely be discussing it.
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Re: Favoring one side/flat head

  • PrimRoseMamaPrimRoseMama member

    Tummy time, and wearing him as much as possible. Also, do you room share or does he sleep facing you? Try turning him so he has to face the other direction to see you. The only cure for any kind of flat head is wearing and tummy time. 

    Keep trying! 


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  • TundraGirlTundraGirl member
    My little man favors his right side. He had his 2 month checkup today and his pedi is sending him to physical therapy because his neck muscles are so tight. Not sure what type of PT they will be doing.
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  • amyelewamyelew member
    We started physical therapy this week for the exact same thing. They taught us a series of exercises to strengthen and loosen the muscle in the left side. I've been doing the exercises for 3 days and I already see a difference. They also taught us tricks for tummy time. He's getting more out of it. We are going to pt every other week for 6 weeks. They said its great to be recommended to pt so early. It's easier to help the problem before they start to crawl and get mobile.
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  • DiFazetteDiFazette member

    imageamyelew:
    We started physical therapy this week for the exact same thing. They taught us a series of exercises to strengthen and loosen the muscle in the left side. I've been doing the exercises for 3 days and I already see a difference. They also taught us tricks for tummy time. He's getting more out of it. We are going to pt every other week for 6 weeks. They said its great to be recommended to pt so early. It's easier to help the problem before they start to crawl and get mobile.

    Would you mind sharing the tummy time tricks? 

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  • KikiCohenKikiCohen member
    imagePrimRoseMama:

    Tummy time, and wearing him as much as possible. Also, do you room share or does he sleep facing you? Try turning him so he has to face the other direction to see you. The only cure for any kind of flat head is wearing and tummy time. 

    Keep trying! 

    We do room share, but his bassinet is perpendicular to our bed due to spacing.  I haven't been able to find a carrier that is rated for his weight yet.  We have a Baby Bjorn, but he has to be 8 pounds.  We've been doing tummy time religiously!

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  • KikiCohenKikiCohen member
    image2013mommy:

    Definitely bring it up with your pedi. DS favored his left side as well but his doctor examined him and said it wasn't due to neck muscle issues just a preference so he didn't need PT. Also mention the ear, his doctor specifically checked the symmetry of his ears though I didn't ask why. 

    She recommended encouraging him to turn his head to the other side while awake, lots of tummy time, and to switch the direction we put him down in the crib. Doing all of those things from his 2 month to 4 month appointments I noticed the flat spot didn't go away but it didn't get worse. But since he started rolling and belly sleeping almost two months ago the spot has slowly gotten better! For a lot of babies it's just a positional thing and once they get more mobile it corrects itself. GL! 

    Thank you!  Definitely going to discuss both his head and ear with the doctor.

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  • opheliainwadersopheliainwaders member
    imageKikiCohen:
    imagePrimRoseMama:

    Tummy time, and wearing him as much as possible. Also, do you room share or does he sleep facing you? Try turning him so he has to face the other direction to see you. The only cure for any kind of flat head is wearing and tummy time. 

    Keep trying! 

    We do room share, but his bassinet is perpendicular to our bed due to spacing.  I haven't been able to find a carrier that is rated for his weight yet.  We have a Baby Bjorn, but he has to be 8 pounds.  We've been doing tummy time religiously!



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  • rlyttlerlyttle member
    Roll up a blanket and put it on that side so he can't look that way. Do lots of tummy time. DS did the same thing. He had a flat spot, but it evened out. 
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  • jlpevjlpev member
    I went through this with my son. He developed a flat spot. I caught it at 2 months. I was given exercises to do like stretching his neck by moving his head in the opposite direction. I also would roll a towel up and prop him up so that he would have to sleep with him not laying on the flatspot. That did wonders!!! I did a ton of tummy time. Wear him some. Face him with the flat spot away from the action so he has to look the opposite direction. Once he got big enough he sit in the bumbo a lot!!! I also took pics every 2 weeks to see if it was getting better. By 6 months the Dr couldn't tell there was ever a problem. Good luck!!
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  • TundraGirlTundraGirl member
    imageamyelew:
    We started physical therapy this week for the exact same thing. They taught us a series of exercises to strengthen and loosen the muscle in the left side. I've been doing the exercises for 3 days and I already see a difference. They also taught us tricks for tummy time. He's getting more out of it. We are going to pt every other week for 6 weeks. They said its great to be recommended to pt so early. It's easier to help the problem before they start to crawl and get mobile.


    Thanks for sharing your experience. We haven't gotten a call with an appt. time yet but it's nice to have an idea of what will happen.
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  • cwhitloccwhitloc member
    My SIL showed me with my first to sit them up on your lap sometimes and hold the head in place of course. Will help build trunk and neck muscles. Started doing this around 3 months, but I'm sure you can do it a little earlier.
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  • cokinisroycecokinisroyce
    This common condition is called Torticollis and if it's caught early, within the 1st 6-12months or sooner, it's almost always reversible and corrected with simple PT.  They say it's caused usually by trauma in the birth canal during birth or in the womb position that caused strain or tightness in the muscle on one side of the neck and as a result the LO is uncomfortable (just like a stiff neck) and starts to favor that side. it's usually quite some time before we think of it as being favored so by then the  muscle get's stiffer and stiffer. all of the comments that I read in this string are very consistent with what the doctors and PT therapists told me with mine and literally within 2 weeks she stopped favoring that side all together. I was definitely making it worse before I knew by always holding, burping, and laying her to the side she was favoring to begin with. At first she would really resist turning her head but after regular exorcises she was fine with it. The docs told me that some babies get so bad you physically can not turn their heads so it's best to watch for this early before it gets to that stage. Good luck! and Great advice from everyone! 
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  • StellaAnnStellaAnn member
    Our pedi recommended this item.  Best to correct the problem now rather than have to get a helmet later on.  www.myangelsguardian.com
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