Flat Head

[DaisyDoo]

Just wondering if anybody has any experience with flat head?
My little girl is almost 12wks old, her head has become very out of shape and is only getting worse. We have bought her a special pillow to sleep on but that hasnt done anything. It is changing the shape of her face and the alignment of her ears.

We have a dr's appt on thursday and i think he is going to say she may need one of those special helmets. Has this happened to anyone elses baby?

Thank you

 

[HL28]

No experience sorry but My HV told us to hold a baby up over your shoulder, tummy time etc. I wouldn't leave my baby in a carseat for long either. We carry our baby a lot, hold her when she sleeps especially when she was tiny and use a sling. Hope doctors can help x

 

[HL28]

Forgot to say I know someone who's baby wore a helmet and he's now fine. And he got used to it pretty quickly xxx

 

[Nikkiportia]

My boy twin was born with a mis shapen head due totheppsitioning in the womb. In his case it has been slowly getting better, we also brought a MIMOS pillow, and we were advised to always put his head on the non flat side, so as to ush it over as such. We were told that they dont worry too much until 6 months old, then if still bad then helmet may be needed, but tbh we have seen so much improvement in 7 weeks, i am confident it wont be necessary.
Try not to worry too much, even if a helmet is needed, your girl will thank you for it in the long run!

 

[Lynds77]

do as much tummy time as possible. Even if baby screams! my wee girl hated tummy time, but all of a sudden one day just seemed to get on with it. Lying on you is also a good idea too

we got a clevamama pillow and it was great. Although my wee girls head was never too bad, just slightly flat at the back

 

[fresh]

We saw a cranial osteopath from about 3 months till 6 months, he just massaged his head for about 20 mins, really light touch, doesn't look like they are doing anything but you can see the difference after each session
He also said he could fix other ailments too, we'll worth the money

 

[Frankie_Lou]

I have a friend whose little boy has craniocephaly (hope that's how you spell it). He has to wear a helmet for 23 hours a day for 6 months. I don't know what the first signs of the problem were as they were already seeing a paediatrician when I met them. He started wearing it at about 11 months old and In the 8 weeks that he's had the helmet there's already a massive improvement in the shape so it's well worth the effort, and once it's on he's not too bothered by it.
However they were advised by the NHS doctors that he needed this helmet to correct the shape his scull was growing into but the NHS were not willing to pay for it as they class this treatment as cosmetic! (Don't get me started on how bloody ridiculous that is!) They've had to shell out £2000 for the custom fitted helmet but they're so pleased they went for it seeing the improvement.
I don't want to scare you as I'm sure it's quite common for there to be some degree of mis shape in babies heads but good that you have an appointment to get it seen x x

 

[CARNAT22]

James actually has a bit of a flat head still.

I've always assumed it is something that will correct itself over time (once he is sitting and crawling etc..)

I guess I need to see a dr about it????

xxxxxxx

 

[Les1504]

Harry had a very flat head and as Frankie said, the NHS won't pay for the helmet it can only be done privately! His GP just laughed really and told me to keep him as upright as possible and since learning to sit up/crawl it's almost a normal shape x

 

[DaisyDoo]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I have a mimos pillow too, we've only been using it for about a week and i wasnt expecting to see improvements already but we will keep on with it!
I did some research earlier about the helmets - eva has the one beginning with p (cant remember what it was now, but im very tired and its past 9pm haha!), anyway, i saw the cost of them then - i didnt realise the nhs wouldnt pay for them, thats pretty shocking isnt it. One website said that you can spread the cost over 4 payments, thats still not that great to be honest!!
i mentioned a cranial osteopath to dh earlier on, he wasnt convinced that they would be able to help, but i may look into that some more now!

i dont know if its worth still going to the gp with her, if they arent going to do anything i dont really see the point!

 

[Hope81]

I only put slept on her side to sleep,
I know its officially recommended to sleep on their back so I don't dare to advice you to sleep your little one on its side but maybe you can do it while awake and play time?
I was putting her on a different side every each nap, she has a perfectly round head you put maybe your baby to play on its side a different side after each nap?

 

[Emamay]

I got the Tomy sleep curve mattress.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B005HCU6VE/ref=mw_dp_mdsc?dsc=1

Cay's never had a problem with flat head at all, so I wholeheartedly recommend it. It's cheap as well, £60 for a good quality mattress (considering you can pay like, £170), and it has masses of benefits, not just skull-shaping.

I'd definitely point any expecting/new parent to it. Xx

 

[Mum2betash]

My lo has the same. I think it was about 12 weeks we finally took her to a cranial osteopath and wow what a differene it made!! She was born with a 'crook' in her neck so couldn't realy turn we head the other side.. Anyway, after the first session she could move her head the other way. I only wish I knew about it when she was born. Along with that, tummy time as much as possible and when asleep turn the head to the other side so she's not on it. Of you go out, maybe you could carry instead of in a buggy? That's what we did and it made a fantastic difference. Good luck cx