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Flat spots on baby's head

loveymayloveymay member
in April 2016 Moms
Ive noticed that my Lo always turns his head to the same side when he is sleeping. I try to turn his head to the other side when I lay him down or turn his body slightly to encourage him to turn his head the other way. It doesnt seem to work. Im concerned he is developing a flat spot on the side he always sleeps on, DH doesnt see it but I do. He is 3.5 weeks old, and I have been googling options to help prevent flat spots. So far Ive found the Tortle repositioning beanie, but Ive read a lot of reviews that say it comes off the baby's head very easily or fits too tight. There are also these pillow type things, boppy supports or noggin nest supports, does anyone have any experience with these products or recommend any other products? Any advice on how to have LO turn his head? the nurse at the hospital said we could put a book under his bassinet pad to help him turn his head from side to side, but I havent tried this method yet.
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Re: Flat spots on baby's head

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    Sarcasm101Sarcasm101 member
    I wouldn't worry about it. When LO gets a little bit stronger and is able to do tummy time things will even out. Once he is a little bigger, I would place a mirror on his changing table to encourage him to turn his head. 

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    MrsZkoMrsZko member
    It will probably resolve itself as he grows, and he moves around more. DS1 did this and I ended up taking him to an osteopath specializing in baby/children cranio sacral treatments. It really helped his case and he became more aligned afterwards, and the spot never got worst. Now he's 4 and you'd never know! 
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    korpatchkorpatch member
    I was told that babies that always turn to the same side might have a chiropractic issue. Have you taken your LO to a pediatric chiropractor? Favoring one side might signal something bigger going on. Or not... And by bigger, I don't mean catastrophic or deadly... Just something other than favoring one side or the other.
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    mrsladybug89mrsladybug89 member
    Research neck stretches for newborns. Ds always preferred one side and he ended up needing a band because he developed a flat spot. When we went to see the specialist about the band they showed us stretches to do with him. Our new lo does the same thing so we know what to do this time around and hope to prevent flat spots.
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    ejledejled member
    @loveymay is your LO sleeping in a crib? Try to change his position/orientation when you lie him down.  Ex: in the crib, put his feet where his head was previously: in a RnP, turn it 180 deg so it faces the opposite direction. This early on, the cranium is still plenty soft and will continue to change shape, so I would not worry too much quite yet.
    If you continue to notice this flat spot being an issue, you need to be concerned with torticollis developing (this takes quite some time to develop). With torticollis, the neck will bend towards the affected side, and will rotate/turn away. This is only just a physical therapy tidbit. These flat spots often resolve on their own with minimal intervention! 
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    Des321Des321 member
    *lurking from nov16*


    My son was born with this same issue and we ended up having to take him in for correction. It was torticollis. We tried the hat and that only helped during the day when I could keep putting it back on. But it didn't do much. You can do things at home with him to help stretch out the muscles that are tighter on one side but I think you should see a specialist to confirm that it's necessary. The sooner the better-our son had a severe case of flat head because of this and will never have a fully round head (though it is much better now at 19mos). 
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    elasticheart13 elasticheart13 member
    M's pediatric nurse told us he has flat spots and referred us to a physiotherapist that will help us get it fixed. He prefers looking to the left side at all times, even when he's awake. Hopefully it will work. 


        

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    loveymayloveymay member
    His pediatrician looked at his head last week at his one month appt and said his head was fine. Since I posted this thread, Ive been working get LO to turn his head to the opposite side while sleeping and playing (I lay him on a blanket and use musical toys to get his attention). I also let him sleep on my chest while he naps sometimes, but this is tricky because he hates this position and has to be pretty much in a deep slumber for me to lay him on my chest,  lol. He has been turning his head to both sides now and doesn't seem to favor the right side as much now. But I will keep working with him so a flat spot wont develop!
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