If your LO had/has plagiocephaly w/o a helmet, come in

KikiCohen · April 2014

When did you notice their head shape start to improve?

We noticed P's flat spot around 2 months and he has had weekly PT since then. At that time, he had a super strong preference of looking to his left, which caused the flat spot to develop. He has had major improvements in his range of motion and doesn't spend much time at all on his back (we put him to sleep on his back and he usually ends up on his tummy). We had him elevated by two specialists at 5 months and we were told not to helmet him due to his moderate case, no facial asymmetry, and evidence of longitudinal studies showing lack of evidence of their effectiveness.

Some days I feel like his head is rounder, but some days I don't. It's hard to tell from pictures.

longcat07 · April 2014

my kiddo was never diagnosed formally...i worried about it a lot because it was so pronounced, but his ped kept telling me not to worry about it and that it'd start working out once he started sitting up and crawling more. his flat spot was on the back left, because i'd lay him on his back to sleep and he'd always turn his head slightly in that direction. it took a while to start improving once he was sitting up (7m) and crawling (8m), but i'd say i was seeing improvement by his first birthday and it was pretty much cleared up by the time he was 18m or so. he's 4 now and if you're actually feeling his head you can tell where it used to be because it left a bit of a corner/knob toward the top, but you can't tell by looking at him, even when his hair is super short.

KikiCohen · April 2014

@longcat07 Thank you for your response! P's flat spot is on the back left too. Your experience is very reassuring to me!

Missa_g · April 2014

J's plagiocephaly required a helmet but S's did not. His tort resolved pretty quickly with PT and we noticed significant improvement in the flat spot by six months, then continued improvement up to a year.

Junebug060609 · April 2014

My DS had a mild case. Noticed at 4 months. PT from around then to ~6 months. No helmet. The difference was so minor that most days I didn't see a change (nor was I the one to notice the problem, pedi was). By the end the small bulge in the front had lessened by a few mm and the back had unflattened by about the same few mm.

In addition to what the PT did, it continued to improve as he grew and got more mobile. Sitting, crawling (or in my DS's case, rolling...boy preferred rolling to crawling for a few months) and walking babies don't spend as much time on the back of their heads so the improvements took off once he got better at that.

KikiCohen · April 2014

Michbot12 said:

I know we have discussed this before since Liv was in the same boat as your LO. I will say that we have seen the most improvement in the last month or two after a growth spurt (about 10-12 months). I can only tell when I wash her hair that it is slightly off on the one side. From what I hear it definitely takes a while and will continue to change/round out as they grow through 2 years. Try not to fret too much (easier said than done I know).

Thanks! I'm glad you're seeing improvement. That makes me feel better. I know his head shape won't ever be perfectly round and I'm okay with that. Sometimes I just catch it from the wrong angle and freak out.

ProfessorPedals825 · April 2014

We were told she wouldn't need a helmet at 6 months, and by 10-12 months we really noticed a difference. It was getting better by 9 months, but I still worried about the shape at that time. It wasn't really until she was refusing to lay on her back that things got better (even diaper changes, she wanted to roll to her tummy).

twotexans · April 2014

We are dealing with it. Our pedi is still watching it, but if he doesn't like it at her 9 mo check-up we will go for on evaluation. We started noticing her favoring looking to the right at 1 month, shortly after her NICU release. By her 2 mo check-up, she showed signicant flattening and some slight asymmetry. Our pedi referred us to PT for the tort, and we "sandbagged" her her constantly so she was off the flat spot. That seemed to immediately help with the asymmetry. We didn't start to see a significant difference unti she was about 6.5 months, once she was spending more time in her exersuacer and bumbo to her her off her head. A month later, I feel like it is still improving, but still looks fairly flat. Somedays it seems more improved than others. M's flat spot is on the right rear, just behind her ear.

KikiCohen · April 2014

@twotexans That's how I feel from day to day too. Some days I'm like "oh wow it's looking so much better" and the next I think it's not. Presently I have myself convinced that the other side is getting flatter, not that the original flat spot is getting rounder. Ugh.

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