My baby is 3 months old.. He seems to have
a flat head one side...
When i met my pediatrician today for my
baby's routine check up, i asked her abt
his flat head, she said it will be get
alright once he roll back on his tummy.
But still she said u cud meet neurologist
to determine whether my baby needs helmet
or not.
Whats ur opinion?
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little_mama_08
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 04 Mar 2008 Posts: 32 Location: CornCountry, IN USA
Thanks: 1
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Posted: 03-24-08 17:35pm
its probably just where he lays on that
particular side of his head more than the
other... it happens to alot of babies...
if it bothers you that bad, you could get
ahold of a neurologist to calm your
nerves, but chances are, its not
necessary... but you have to remember that
the bones in a babies head aren ot fused
together so they can shift... thats
probably all it is-- laying on that side
has shifted them toa position that they
sit flatter on that side.... so she's
right, once he is able to roll over and be
off of his head more, it should shift back
where it belongs
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susie3827
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 56 Location: Michigan, Displaced Canadian
Posted: 03-24-08 20:15pm
Hi, I had the exact same problem with my
son only it was the back of his head that
was flat.
And..it was REALLY flat.
I did not put him on his tummy much and
that is why the back of his head got
flat.
Like you, my pediatrician got me an appt.
with a neurologist..they checked him out
and didn't see a need for a helmut because
by this time he was already 7 months and
was starting to sit up (so some of the
pressure of always being on his back was
subsiding).
They felt he was just fine and didn't need
anything more.
I wouldn't worry at all about it....when
your baby starts sitting up the head will
straighten out...just try making sure you
don't leave him in the same position all
the time.
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sanravi
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 4 Location: ,
Posted: 03-25-08 17:43pm
little_mama_08
wrote:
its probably just where he
lays on that particular side of his head
more than the other... it happens to alot
of babies... if it bothers you that bad,
you could get ahold of a neurologist to
calm your nerves, but chances are, its not
necessary... but you have to remember that
the bones in a babies head aren ot fused
together so they can shift... thats
probably all it is-- laying on that side
has shifted them toa position that they
sit flatter on that side.... so she's
right, once he is able to roll over and be
off of his head more, it should shift back
where it
belongs
Thanks little_mama ur words are really
soothing for me
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sanravi
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 4 Location: ,
Posted: 03-25-08 17:48pm
thanks susie.. so shall i postpone the
appointment with neurologist.. I can wait
for another month or so to see for changes
isnt it?
Has ur son's head became round now?
Is it ok if i make him sleep facing up to
avoid him facing flat side?
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susie3827
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 56 Location: Michigan, Displaced Canadian
Posted: 03-25-08 20:51pm
Hi, it is preferable to have him sleep
with his face up...at least all the
pediatricians and the Academy of
Pediatrics now say that babies should be
put to bed on their backs.
This is part of the reason my son had the
flatness on the back of his head. But,
that alone wasn't the reason...I didn't do
enough tummy time with him which I now
regret because he also didn't learn how to
crawl...he hasn't crawled yet and he's now
progressing to standing/cruising so
crawling never happened for me.
If there are no other untoward effects, I
would wait awhile, once your baby is
sitting up and doing more things than just
lying on the side of his head, the head
should round out...but...it may not be a
bad thing to just get a neurologist to
"physically" look at him to see if he
warrants a helmut.
Yes, my son's head rounded out but you can
still see a bit of where it was flat at
the back, but only I can tell, you
wouldn't notice if you saw him now.
Hope this helps.
Sue.
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sanravi
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Mar 2008 Posts: 4 Location: ,
Posted: 03-26-08 13:42pm
Susie
Nice to hear that ur son's head b'cme
round hope my son's head
will also b'me round. I do give him tummy
time tooo.. Also i massage his head...Hope
that will help. but i noticed since he
sleeps facing dtaright now his back is
getting flat !!!!!!! God only shd help him
!!!!!!!
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mominashoe
Moderator
Joined: 04 Dec 2007 Posts: 1703 Location: , KS USA
Thanks: 33
Thanked:18
Posted: 04-14-08 21:53pm
Staying in the same position too long is
what causes this and it's nothing to worry
about too much. You can try putting him
on his tummy when he is not asleep so that
it doesn't continue to be weighed down in
the back. There are also special
head-rests that you can buy that have a
round cushion with a hole at the back of
the head to minimize the flat head look.
The baby's head is very soft because the
skull has to be malleable to be born...
That's why it's so easy for this to
happen.
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jozzie
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 May 2006 Posts: 83 Location: Ont. Canada
Posted: 04-18-08 10:38am
This subjuect is pretty near and dear to
me as I had a bad experience.
Because my family Dr was not comfortable
making a diagnosis he sent us to the
Plagiocephaly (flat head syndrome) clinic
at a childrens hospital. We noticed the
flat spot at about 3 months but didnt
think it was anything to be worried about
and so at his 6 month appointment
mentioned it to our family Dr.
We had to wait 2 months to see the
specialist at the clinic (he was now 8
months) and they told me that he had a
condition called tortacoolis which is
basically a tightening of the neck muscles
which causes the baby to have a preference
to turn his head to either the left or the
right. In our case it was a preference to
turn to the right which results in a flat
area on the left side of the head.
We were shown pictures of babies left
untreated who had sevear disformations and
how it had an impact on facial beauty. It
was very scary stuff to see. We were told
that our son's condition was not as savere
but they reccomended a helmet (for the
flat spot) and physio to regain the lost
mobility in his neck...THIS WAS A COMPLETE
SHOCK to us because we never thought in a
million years that his head was that
bad...we only agreed to go to the clinic
because or family dr asked us if we would
LIKE to go even though he thought it was
no great concern.
So to make a long story short, we went to
see the therapist and she looked at us
like were insane. She siad that she had
never seen a reccomendation for a helmet
or physio for such a mild case of "flat
head". She even said that she would make
note that perhaps the clinic was pushing
parents in the wrong direction. What a
relief for DH and I to hear that! We are
from Canada where health care is free but
the corrective helmet is considdered to be
a "cosmetic" device and therefore not
covered by any insurance. The cost would
have been about $1700 and he would have
had to wear the helmet for 23 hours a day
for 6 months.
We were torn about what to do because
every parent wants the best for thier baby
but we just felt that his head shape was
no big deal and bearly noticable. So we
were blown away when the dr said that we
should get a helmet.
I would go with your gut and not make any
rash decisions. We were told that his
head shape would improve as he started to
spend more time "upright" and they could
NOT guarantee that the helmet would make a
difference either. Sooooo we could have
ended up spending a lot of money on a
helmet that would have caused our little
boy a great deal of stress to see no
results...NO THANKS!
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susie3827
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 25 Jun 2007 Posts: 56 Location: Michigan, Displaced Canadian
Posted: 04-18-08 19:27pm
Jozzie: did they have you go to Sick Kids
Hospital in Toronto by any chance?
Susie.
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jozzie
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 May 2006 Posts: 83 Location: Ont. Canada
Posted: 04-22-08 19:56pm
No...we went to CHEO in Ottawa.
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ladybug007
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Posts: 2
flat head on baby Posted: 04-28-08 02:49am
Hi. I guess, welcome to the club. Daniel
is my second child, so I thought that I
was a pro. , because I had no problems
with my first. Now, my 4 month old son has
same problem. We got a little bump on the
left side of his forehead and a little
flat spot on the back. At our last visit
with Dr. she said that his head definetly
a little bit flat, but it will go away if
he will spend more time on his belly. She
mentioned as well that option with helmet
and X-ray. I have no idea what to do, and
what is best. I found some information
online, that this problem will not affect
his mental health and brain growth in a
future . I
live in TN and summer is really hot here,
as well as humid. He just learned how to
turn him sefl from the back to his tummy,
but then he falls a sleep, he likes to
turn his head to the side anyway.
. I
live in TN and summer is really hot here,
as well as humid. He just learned how to
turn him sefl from the back to his tummy,
but then he falls a sleep, he likes to
turn his head to the side anyway. 
