LO Tight muscle causing head to tilt

Megan09140 · November 2014

The doctor said my 6 week boy has a tight muscle by or in his neck that is causing his head to tilt to that side. He said at his 2 month appt if it is still like that we will have to talk about it more. What will happen if it doesn't go away and what can I do to make it go away. I try rubbing it gently but idk if it is doing anything. Also would taking him to a massage therapist (we have 3 in our family) or to a chiropractor help?

jht14 · November 2014

My DD is like this. Our pedi said that it could eventually start pulling on the muscles in her face as well we have been referred for Birth toThree services but haven't started that yet. We have been doing a lot of tummy time and try to straighten her head when she is laying on the floor or we are holding her.

Lacyd1985 · November 2014

This is typically called torticollis. If it doesn't get better, he would probably see a physical therapist to stretch it out. I would recommend a lot of tummy time and encouraging your LO to look at things on the opposite side of his body to stretch it out. You could also try gently stretching it on your own, but I would be careful. I would recommend looking up info about torticollis.

bbadger22 · November 2014

I take DD to a pediatric chiropractor. It's really helped with nursing (she was having difficulty nursing on one side due to a tight muscle). The chiro does very gentle adjustments/stretches and also showed me stretches to do at home. It's definitely worth a try!

nilvero · November 2014

I took LO one to a chiro for bfing issues and it helped his tightness a lot. He use to always favor his left side but now is more balanced.

ashaw512 · November 2014

My DD has torticollis and couldn't therapy for a yr. I recommend doing lots of tummy time and holding your LO to the opposite direction. Also in the car seat/swing/bouncer use a receiving blanket and prop your LOs head up so the other side has to work to hold the head up while not doing tummy time.

Smallllmin · November 2014

We gently stretched our LO and started putting toys and mobiles etc. on the unfavored side. He is 3 months now, and much more balanced than before. It's usually caused by baby sitting breech for a period of time while inside you... it makes their head tilt to one side and stretches out the muscles.
It can also give them a flat head on the side where they lay most frequently.
I've also heard those turtle hats help... they have a little roll of fabric in the hat that you can position over the side where they lay most often, and then they can't lay that way anymore because the fabric is in the way.
I would try gently stretching and the turtle hat before going to a chiro... it's really not that big of a problem most of the time

Good luck!

Lobsterface22 · November 2014

DS doesn't have a tight muscle per se, but he has a definite preference to look to the right. We were concerned about torticollis, so we took him to the physical therapist when he was 7 weeks (he's 10 weeks now). She told us no muscle tightness, just a preference, but still encourage him to look to the left since it could become an issue later. She suggested holding him so that he has to turn to the non-preferred side to look at us, using objects to encourage him to track to the left with his eyes/head, wearing him in a carrier, limiting time in car seat/swing, etc. He still prefers to look left, but has improved a lot. We have just made it our mission to encourage the left side while he is awake

If you feel like something's up, I'd suggest seeing a PT. Even if nothing's wrong, it's nice to hear that from a professional

and it's always better to go early!!

pshaortao · November 2014

We believe our LO has torticollis. She has her head turned to the right most of the time and started to geta flat spot. We feel that the RnP may have been one of the causes especially after tons of research. Because of this, we went ahead and transitioned her to the crib. We're already seeing improvements in her neck movements although she still favors the right more. We also looked up stretches via youtube if you want to check that out.

A side note/need to vent... My DH brought it up with her ped and her reaction was just okay let's schedule physical therapy. She just took his word for it instead of checking for herself, showing concern or giving advice. So we'll see how PT goes (on the 21st) and maybe change ped.

Songbird2 · November 2014

My daughter has it. Chiropractic work is amazing. We also have her going to a crainiosacral therapist. Tummy time on a ball is number one!!! It really promotes neck strength.

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