Flathead syndrome

snowbunny

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My little boy has a flatter spot at the back, on right side of his head.

Is this the start of Flathead syndrome? Or am i paranoid?

Will it go away by itself?

Sarah X X X
 
Nothing to worry about hun! Its just wear hes been laying down. It will sort itself out when he gets a bit older and more active. Try not to worry yourself chick :hug: xx
 
Harley had it, it got worse over time by the time her was 12 weks it looked noticable. so i read up on the net and seen the pillows you can buy. i got Harley a normal pillow and he made him sleep on his side it soon went back to normal
 
My little boy has a flat spot on the left, it has got better with us repositioning his head so that he doesnt sleep on that side and basically trying to keep him on his front when he is awake as much as possible. The physio i saw about this advised me to keep him off his back as much as you can, ie no bouncy chairs, limited time in car seat and pram, a sling is much better as no pressure on the head. There is a special mattress insert you can but from sleep curve i think the company is called which has an insert for the baby's head to lie on to stop it getting any worse. Dont just do nothing as not all babies flat spots right themselves if left, repositioning works best if a baby is under 4 months when you start it. Hope this helps, the condition is called phlagiocephaly and if you google it you will find lots of info.
 
I got a pillow for Emma as well and it sorted itself out pretty quickly
 
pillows are not recomended untill they are 1 yr old, Harley has been fine with one, but if your worried

get a pillow put it on the mattress then put the fitted sheet over them both, they there is no way of baby suffercating.
 
They say to make sure they get plenty of tummy time and do not spend too much time in pushchairs and cars seats too.

I'm sure it'll be fine if you juist keep your eye on it and be aware of the postitioning etc.
 
urchin said:
They say to make sure they get plenty of tummy time and do not spend too much time in pushchairs and cars seats too.

I'm sure it'll be fine if you juist keep your eye on it and be aware of the postitioning etc.

Thats what i got told hun, lots of tummy time, my little boy had a flat side but it sort of sorted it self out over time :hug:

hope everything is ok hun
 
Thanks everyone! :)

I feel a little better bout it.

I've looked up on the internet and seen the matress by sleep curve. But how much is it and where can i order it?

I'm using my sling a lot more now to help and have been repositioning through day and night. Ive been using pillow behind back to stop him rolling on to back. Is that what you meant?

HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE TUMMY TIME. ALL MY BABY DOES IS CRIES UNTILL MOVED AGAIN? ANY IDEAS?
 
Health visitor thinks its nothing to worry about, and like you all said minimise time spent on back.

Will try massaging his back to encourage tummy time. WHAT TECHNIQUES DO YOU USE ON BACK?


Cheers everyone :D
 
Some info here on BBC website...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A880670

Reading it reminded me that the woman I saw on Baby Channel put her baby face down onto her thighs (she was sitting on a sofa and baby's head was at her knees and feet at tummy) which puts baby on a little tilt, which they find nicer if they aren't used to being flat on their tummies.
 
Hi Snowbunny,

Our son has suffered with flat head syndrome. I would hate for your newborn to have to go through the turmoil we've been through all because we listened to our GP who said the same as your HV. Which by the way is the standard response from most HVs and GPs on this matter.

In most cases it does not just go away on it's own it gets worse. Your baby is at the perfect age to prevent it from getting worse, what others have adviced on repositioning is really important for you to do.

When I looked back at our photos I realised that our son always slept on his left hand side and sure enough that's where he developed a flat spot. The GP said at his 8 week check that it was nothing to worry about that it would grow out. So I took her word for it and didn't take any action until we realised a few weeks later that it had worsened.

A search on the internet led me to 2 brilliant plagio forums and we found excellent advice on repo.

http://groups.msn.com/PlagioUK/plagiouk.msnw

http://www.plagiocephalycare.org/board/

We started repo from 14 weeks (9 weeks corrected age). We bought goi goi pillows for nappy changes, a sleepcurve for his cot when he'd moved into his cot at 4.5 months. It helped stabilise his flat head but it's best to use them from the off in a moses basket to help prevent plagio from happening in the first place.

Our son didn't like tummy time when he was very young either but we kept trying him. There are some toys around to encourage tummy time, like the ones with water in them or any toys with mirrors on that kind of thing.

Try using a bumbo seat when he's a litle bit older and a door bouncer, also a sling. It's not easy at all trying to find ways to keep them off their backs, it's hard work but worth it to stop the flat spot from worsening.

I've seen so many babies at various baby groups with really bad flat heads, it's such a shame the NHS don't give out more advice about the importance of tummy time and repositioning. Not just tummy time.


Our sons head did improve with repo when you looked at his head from a top down view but unfortunately it caused more of a flatness across the back of his head (brachycephaly). In the end we've had to resort to helmet treatment as we couldn't bare the thought of him being bullied for having such a flat head when he's older.

He's due to complete treatment in a weeks time after only 7 weeks and his head looks fantastic now.

I wish I'd had more awareness of it like you but at last the nightmare is nearly over for us and we have a baby with a normal looking head now :D
 

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