what would u do? (flat head syndrome)

[hearts81]

Sorry i keep going on about this subject but i've got a real problem now. We now have no way of getting the money for a helmet for Reece so we had one last try yesterday at begging doctor for a referal. Unfortunatley the doc we saw was very against these helmets and she did make a fair point about them. However she also told us that without a helmet Reece's head will not get much better and if it did we would only start noticing a difference in prob about 6 years He will be well into school by then and maybe already getting bullied because of it.

Me and Carl left the docs having completely different opinions from each other. He wanted to listen to doc and not get one- the no money situation is also putting him off. I on the other hand can not bear thinking about my baby maybe getting bullied for something that i could have fixed. So i'm stuck now as OH doesn't change his mind often

If i show you some pics of his head i took yesterday could you please give me your opinions on how bad you think it is and on getting a helmet. (i know most of you dont have any experiences of your own with the helmets but any answers will be great thanks x)

the pic below is his top profile. he is facing towards the top of the photo

 

[K X]

Hearts my Rebecca has it on her left side of the head, it is where she constantly lays on it, I have tried everything to get her to change postion, but the other side is just all lumpy, and must be uncomfortable for her. My HV said that it rectifies itself, isn't this true? That's the only reason I have left it!

I don't want her getting bullied, but there is no way on earth I could afford a helmet.

By the way your LO's head isn't that bad, I have seen a lot worse at my weigh in clinic.

 

[michelle82]

i dont think it looks terrible most kids wont notice that when they are little, and by the time he's older and spiked his hair with gell it wont be noticeable. Cant you get one of those sleep curve mattresses to stop it getting any worse?

 

[hearts81]

Hiya thanks for replies x

Kx -HV's always says it will sort itsself out but they dont tell you that it will prob take years if its as bad as Reece's and most of the time they will stay flat forever.(according to my doctor)

michell- its too late for Reece to get a pillow the damage is done.

I'm glad you's dont think its that bad though. Maybe i'm just panicking too much

 

[michelle82]

i guess its like once you notice something your eyes are drawn to it i honestly dont think its that bad, what age can they have the helmets up to? do they have to have them as babies?

 

[K X]

Your wee man is stunning hearts, flat head or not, nothing will take away that cheeky face!!

If I could I would post a pic of Rebecca's. it looks like someone has sawn half her head off at the back!

 

[hearts81]

Your wee man is stunning hearts, flat head or not, nothing will take away that cheeky face!!

If I could I would post a pic of Rebecca's. it looks like someone has sawn half her head off at the back!

Aww thanks. You've made me feel loads better ta Shame you cant show me Rebeccas. Bless her. x

i guess its like once you notice something your eyes are drawn to it i honestly dont think its that bad, what age can they have the helmets up to? do they have to have them as babies?

From what i've read on suject its better to get it done before 12 months. I think some specialists will do it to anyone under 2 but no later.

 

[Rosieroo]

Hearts have you tried this website?

http://groups.msn.com/PlagioUK

Here is Ella's head. It's hard to get some pics of it showing the worst angle.

 

[emilia]

Hearts & Rosieroo... neither of your babies heads look particularly bad. I thought it was much worse.

I hope you're both able to get some help/reassurance - big hugs from Oscar and I.

Emilia xx

 

[Dee1985]

why have i not read any posts on this before???

he dont look bad atall and i would never have noticed, i dont think young kids will notice and once hes older he can spike his hair,but it is a cruel world out there with nasty lil children..

my lil brother has big ears and iv always worried he will get picked on hes now 11 never bothered him...

your son is lovely iv always thought it and told you before..

sorry im sure u have discussed it many times but never read anyof the threads untillnow. but what agae did younotice it? and how do babies get it?is it through laying on their back? i sleep harley on his side...

so let me get this right... if you put a helmet on will it get better? or just prevent it from getting worse??

and if you dont put a helmet on will it just stay the same??

 

[Rosieroo]

The helmets round out the head - they make it grow rounder.

Ella's is caused by her only sleeping with her head on one side. The chiro thinks she has something called torticollis. This is basically a tight neck muscle that pulls her head to one side slightly. We've tried repositioning her but it doesn't really work. Her head looks worse in real life, it's hard to capture on a camera.

I'm taking her to Cardiff tomorrow, but I don't think we will go ahead with it unless they tell us that it's going to get worse. It's a lot of money (£1850) that my inlaws are going to lend/give us that I don't want hanging over me.

 

[mary70]

i don't think either looks bad i would not have noticed anything wrong if it had not been pointed out all babies r different

 

[Hypnorm]

I agree they both don't look that bad, i friends baby has a really flat head at the back its almost a right angle.

Its difficult to stop worrying - but if they are going to get bullied they will get bullied maybe for some other reason, i got terribly bullied at school just coz i was quiet!

 

[ToriElla]

i didnt notice anything until you just posted this. i thought most babies were like that anyway for a while. i'm sure eva's is a little bit like that. i dont think the kids will notice if people on here didnt! he is gorgeous

plus remember he still has baby hair now and it will be even less noticable when he gets thicker hair x

 

[Rosieroo]

Well we went today and it was really useful.

Ella does have plagio. Her's is in between mild and severe (manual measurement was 12mm (first time was 18mm), scan was 10mm). The doc we saw suggested we take her to see a private physio (NHS is taking too long) to get her torticollis sorted out pronto. Repositioning will not help if we don't get it sorted out. Once we start stretching and have seen the physio we can go back in a month and get her rescanned to see if it's worse/better/the same. It's the tort that's definately causing her to sleep on one side and has caused the plagio.

I'm pleased we made the journey to Cardiff as that is the most help we've had so far with this. Plus we know now that we aren't being anxious first time parents, there really is something wrong with her neck.

 

[hearts81]

Poor Ella Kina, hope everything goes ok for her x Thanks for posting pics of her head too its kind of relieving to see another baby with the same head if you know what i mean?!

Thanks for all your reassuring comments everyone. We've been disscussing it none stop over the past few days and we've decided not to get a helmet for him.

The main thing that made me change my mind were- the thought of causing Reece any distress and confusion would be heartbreaking and also i've been talking to people at work about his head and when one of them finally met him yesterday they were shocked at how normal his head looked to them! So it must be definatley worse to me than anyone else

ps. not sure if this will make much sense i've had half a bottle of lambrini and i'm nearly snozzled lol, cant handle it anymore

 

[weestar21]

Sorry ive just notticed this thread.

Both your kids look very happy and normal and such lovely wee things and i would have never had notticed it before either.

To be honest i always thought that when kids have a slight flat part on their heads was because of the way they were born
Adele had a slight flat part on the right side when she was born but within a few weeks of her laying on her tummy (in the special care baby unit) with her head to the left it went to normal.

I think its terrible the cost of these helmets and the NHS should provide them for parents in both your situations as if its going to help your kids then they should make them free instead of paying thousands of punds on methadone for junkies sorry i know thats way of the subject but they should get their prioritys right instead of making people pay for things that would make a whole big difference too.

Hope something gets sorted soon

good luck

Jean & girls
xxxxxxx

 

[Dee1985]

it is stupid that the nhswont pay, but iv got a few mates that have had boob jobs on the bloody nhs

 

[weestar21]

My sister had a boob reduction on the nhs and now she wishes she went private but her own fault if u ask me
anyway they made a complete mess of it not only does she have them lop sided one is bigger than the other too and its very notticable and she was in hospital for 8 weeks with infections but she swore blind she woukldnt go through it again to get it all fixed so now shes left with the scars

 

[melhoney]

sorry just notice this thread...hope it's not too late

I haven't got pictures of Maheen's head, but hers is a little bit flat as well.
I don't know if you can afford it, but we took Maheen to a cranial osteopath, just like this, to get her checked, on different issues (colics, sleeping, neck strength, and flat head)
she has had 3 sessions till now, and her head has rounded a bit already! the osteopath said her head has been a bit squashed during the last month of pregnancy and during labour (which is true! )
we pay £30 a session, so it's much cheaqper than the helmet, and maybe you can just give it a try, to put your mind at rest!

Mel xx